Sting Lost in Shoot Out
FEBRUARY 14, 2015
BY DAVE BORODY
GUELPH
– You almost had to be there to
believe it.
Despite outshooting the Guelph
Storm by a whopping 61-26
margin, the Sarnia Sting lost
4-3 in a shootout, Friday night
in front of 4,811 fans at the
Sleeman Centre.
And make no mistake about it;
the shots on goal were legit.
The Sting dominated the play
from start to finish. The
breakdown on the shot totals was
20-7 in period one, 18-8 in the
second frame, 18-8 in period
three and 5-3 in the overtime
period.
Guelph goalie Justin Nichols
deserves most of the credit as
he made a number of outstanding
saves and was easily the game’s
first star.
Sting head coach Trevor Letowski
said he didn’t say anything to
his team after the game.
“I left them alone. The coaches
had done a lot of talking prior
to the game. They are
disappointed, no question about
it as they wanted to win this
game badly. But I think they
realize if they play like that
all the time it’s a recipe for
success.”
Letowski added, “Our
five-on-five play was
exceptional. The energy level
and pace was probably the best
it’s been all season. It really
showed the character of our
team. We just fell a little
short.”
Letowski said the power play let
them down, as they were
zero-for-eight with the man
advantage.
“We just couldn’t score with the
man advantage. But you have to
give their goalie a lot of
credit. He made some incredible
saves.”
The first period was scoreless,
but there was plenty of action,
most of it in the Guelph zone.
The Sting enjoyed nine minutes
of power play time, but despite
a number of golden scoring
opportunities, were unable to
beat Nichols.
Guelph forward Tyler Hill was
handed a five-minute head
checking penalty and game
misconduct after he drilled
Sting defenceman Kevin Spinozzi
along the boards in front of the
Sarnia bench. Spinozzi was
shaken up, but returned to the
lineup.
The period also featured a
thunderous check by Sting rookie
sensation, Jakob Chychrun as he
knocked down veteran Guelph
forward Jason Dickinson who was
driving to the net. Dickinson
left with what appeared to be an
upper body injury and did not
return.
The Sting finally solved
Nichols at 1:33 of period two on
a goal by Nikita Korostelev. The
shifty winger snapped a shot
over the goalies shoulder while
falling down. Alex Renaud and
Spinozzi assisted on
Korostelev’s 17th goal of the
year.
Guelph tied the game at 6:48
when Tyler Bertuzzi’s high shot
surprised Sting goalie Taylor
Dupuis.
After the Sting couldn’t
capitalize on a two-man power
play for over a minute, they did
regain the lead at 12:22 when
Renaud drilled a wrist shot home
from point blank range. Zachary
Core gained the lone assist on
Renaud’s 11th goal.
Sarnia extended their lead to
3-1 at 2:48 of period three when
Anthony Salinitri took a
cross-ice pass from Jordan Kyrou
and fired a high shot into the
net. Troy Lajeunesse also
assisted on Salinitri’s sixth
goal.
But the Storm came roaring back
with two quick goals to tie the
game at 3-3 as Pius Suter scored
on a deflection at 3:21 and
Matthew Hotchkiss at 4:40.
Both teams had good scoring
chances the rest of the period,
however both goalies made a
number of solid stops.
Guelph had the best chance to
win the game at 18:25 when
Bertuzzi was awarded a penalty
shot, but Dupuis stopped him.
In the overtime session, Dupuis
robbed Suter with a great glove
stop on a two-on-one break.
That set the stage for the
shootout.
Korostelev gave the Sting the
advantage scoring on a backhand.
But the Storm scored on their
next two attempts by Chris
Marchese and Bertuzzi while
Kyrou and Stephen Pierog missed
for the Sting. Pierog’s shot
beat Nichols, but rang off the
goal post.
Next action for the Sting is
Saturday night when the Niagara
IceDogs make their one and only
appearance in Sarnia. Game time
is 7:05 p.m. at the RBC Centre.
The IceDogs feature ex-Sting
netminder Brandon Hope.
The Sting will also be home
Monday when they tangle with the
first place Sault Ste. Marie
Greyhounds. The opening face-off
is set for 2:05 p.m. for the
annual Family Day game.
Fans are reminded they kids 12
and under will be admitted for
just $6. There will also be a
special Skate with the Sting
immediately following the game.
Tickets for the remaining nine
home games in the regular
schedule are on sale daily at
the RBC Box Office, by calling
519-541-1717 or going online at
Sarniasting.com
STING NOTES
-
Nichols was first star with
Bertuzzi second star and
Renaud third star.
-
Not dressed for the Sting
were Josh Chapman, Pavel
Zacha, Patrick White, Davis
Brown, Connor Schlichting,
Matteo Ciccarelli and Josh
Defarias. Franco Sproviero
was a callup from the
Lambton Shores junior B
team.
-
Sarnia is 1-1 against Guelph
this season. They meet two
more times, including on the
final day of the regular
schedule in Guelph.
-
Guelph was zero-for-four on
the power play.
-
Sarnia’s record now stands
at 24-22-4-3 as they did
pick up a valuable point for
their effort.
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