By DAVE BORODY
SAGINAW, Mich. – No team
likes to lose a game,
especially in overtime.
But for the Sarnia Sting, a third period rally at least produced a
valuable point for the team
against the Saginaw Spirit
Saturday night.
The Spirit scored at 3:24 of the five-minute overtime to post a
4-3 victory in front of
3,982 fans at the Dow Event
Centre.
The loss dropped Sarnia’s record to 0-1-1-0 in the Ontario Hockey
League, but they did pick up
a valuable point.
The Sting put forth a much better overall effort than they showed
in their season opener 24
hours earlier in Sault Ste.
Marie.
However, special teams proved to be the difference as the Spirit
had two power play goals,
the second being the
game-winner, along with a
shorthanded marker. Sarnia
again struggled with the man
advantage going zero-for-six
on the power play. Saginaw
finished two-for-five.
Sarnia was outshot 16-9 in
the opening period, but
managed to come out of the
period tied at 1-1.
Saginaw took a 1-0 lead at
13:19 when Luke Cairns
scored on a power play.
Sarnia tied the game two
minutes later when Vladislav
Kodola fired a wrist shot
between the legs of the
Spirit netminder. Jakob
Chychrun and Pavel Zacha
garnered assists. For both
players it was their first
career OHL point.
The Sting dominated the opening five minutes of period two, but
could not beat goalie Nikita
Serebryakov.
Some bad luck then hit the Sting. Just after killing off a penalty,
an unfortunate bounce off
the glass failed to clear
the puck out of their zone.
Seconds later Saginaw went
up 3-1 at 8:35 when Mitchell
Stevens tipped a pass past
Sting goalie Justin Fazio.
A giveaway at their own blue line resulted in Saginaw’s third goal
at 15:32, shorthanded, as
Blake Clarke scored on a
breakaway.
But the Sting battled back showing some character in the third
period.
Davis Brown cut the lead to 3-2 at 4:16 when he finished off a nice
pass from rookie Troy
Lajeunesse. It was
Lajeunesse’s first career
OHL point. Alex Renaud also
assisted.
The Sting kept pressing and finally tied the game at 18:49. Kodola
notched his second of the
night when his
innocent-looking wrist shot
from well out found the back
of the net past a screened
Spirit goalie. Chychrun
recorded his second assist
while Nikita Korostelev also
assisted.
That set the stage for overtime and Saginaw cashed in on a power
play as Stephens scored his
second of the game putting a
rebound past Fazio from
close range after Fazio made
two great stops.
Fazio bounced back from game one with a solid performance between
the pipes for Sarnia as he
faced 46 shots. Serebryakov
had an equally solid game
for Saginaw as the Sting
fired 36 shots at him.
Sadly, the Sting did not get
a shot on goal in the
overtime period.
After opening the season with two road games, the Sting will play
their home opener on Friday
when they host the Barrie
Colts beginning at 7:05 p.m.
at the RBC Centre.
A number of special events are planned to kick off the team’s 20th
anniversary, including a
tailgate party beginning at
3 p.m. Tickets for the game
are on sale daily at the RBC
Box Office, by calling
519-541-1717 or going online
at Sarniasting.com
It will be the only home game as Saturday Sarnia travels to Erie
while they play Sunday
afternoon in Mississauga.
-
The Sting will welcome back talented defenceman, Anthony DeAngelo
for their home opener
Friday. DeAngelo, a
first round pick of the
Tampa Bay Lightning, has
been attending the
Lightning training camp
and played a game on
Friday against Dallas.
-
Also not dressed were Noah Bushnell, serving the second of a
10-game suspension. Out
with injuries are Taylor
Dupuis, Matt Ciccarelli
and Connor Schlichting.
-
Stephens was the first star with Cairns second star while Chychrun,
with his two assists,
was third star.
-
Sarnia and Saginaw will play eight times against
one another this season.