By
Dan
McCaffery
The Sarnia Legionnaires staged an utterly dominating performance
on the
road
Friday,
blanking
the St.
Marys
Lincolns
6-0.
The victory gives the team six straight wins to start the
Western
Ontario
Hockey
Conference
season.
And
that's
the
fastest
Sarnia
has come
out of
the gate
since
the fall
of 2008,
when it
won
seven in
a row.
More impressive still, the Legionnaires moved into sole
possession
of first
place,
two
points
ahead of
the idle
LaSalle
Vipers.
They
also
kept up
their
sizzling
pace of
scoring
an
average
of six
goals
per
game.
The heroes for coach Dan Rose's club in this one were Davis
Boyer,
who had
a goal
and
three
assists,
and
goalie
Cornel
Felder,
who
earned
the
shutout
with a
28-save
performance.
But truth be told, the whole team played a near-flawless
game.
Indeed,
the
score
actually
flattered
the
Lincs,
who were
saved
from
humiliation
by the
brilliant
work of
netminder
Andrew
Masters.
Special teams shone for the Legionnaires, who scored three
times on
eight
power-plays
while
killing
off all
five
shorthanded
situations
they
faced.
Quick
start
The road team opened the scoring before most fans had settled
into
their
seats,
with #10
Cody
Trowell
collecting
what
turned
out to
be the
winning
marker
at the
1:04
mark.
Boyer
set the
play up,
passing
the puck
out from
behind
the net
right
onto the
stick of
Trowell,
who was
all
alone in
front.
Trowell now has a team-leading seven goals on the campaign.
Before the period was out the Legionnaires would get the
first of
three
power
play
goals
when
Kyler
Keating's
point
blast
eluded
Masters.
Trowell
and
Boyer
assisted.
In the middle stanza Boyer got his first goal of the season
when he
came
roaring
down the
wing and
cut
right in
front
before
slipping
the
rubber
by
Masters
from
close
in. The
marker,
which
was set
up by
Trowell
and
Tyler
Prong,
came
just
3:23
into the
period.
Prong got his first of the season near the end of the frame
with
another
point
drive.
The
goal,
which
came
with
Sarnia
enjoying
a man
advantage,
was
assisted
by
Keating
and
Trowell.
Two other Sarnia goals were disallowed, but the visitors
still
went
into the
second
intermission
ahead by
four
goals.
In the third period Brad Campbell made it 5-0 with a blast
from the
top of
the
faceoff
circle.
Prong
and Bob
King got
helpers
on the
play.
Campbell,
a
defenceman
who was
moved up
front
three
games
ago
because
the
Legionnaires
are
short
one
forward,
now has
five
goals to
his
credit.
Ryan Trottier rounded out the scoring when he took a feed
from
Boyer
and
backhanded
home a
shot
from the
slot.
For Boyer it was his 10th point of the season,
including
one goal
and nine
helpers.
Felder, a rookie, now has three wins to his credit. He is
also
sporting
an
impressive
2.00
goals-against-average
and a
save
percentage
of .914.
The Legionnaires will face a stern test Sunday when they
travel
to
Chatham
to face
the
Maroons.
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