By DAVE BORODY
WINDSOR – When Josh
Defarias was
obtained by the
Sarnia Sting at the
OHL trade deadline,
not too many people
paid much attention.
It was termed a
minor deal as the
Sting gave up a
seventh round pick
to get Defarias from
the London Knights.
But the 17 year-old
rookie has paid big
dividends for his
new team, especially
with all the
injuries of late.
Defarias scored his
first two career OHL
goals, including the
winner in leading
the Sting to a
much-needed 6-3 win
over the Windsor
Spitfires, Sunday
night in front of
5,447 fans at the
WFCU Centre.
The win snapped a
three-game losing
skid for the Sting.
“It feels awesome,
one of the best
feelings for sure,”
said Defarias after
the game. “I knew we
were short a couple
of guys so the coach
asked me to move up
and play forward. I
said sure. I guess I
was in the right
place at the right
time.”
Defarias, who likes
playing both forward
and defence, talked
about the trade to
the Sting.
“It was a last
minute thing. I got
the call minutes
before the deadline.
I couldn’t be more
excited coming to
Sarnia.”
He was named the
game’s first star.
Sting head coach
Trevor Letowski was
happy for Defarias.
“He had a great
night. Josh is low
maintenance. He has
good speed and good
energy. He was
excited to get the
opportunity tonight
and made the most of
it. He went out and
did the job and is a
pleasure to coach.”
Defarias described
his two goals.
“The first one I was
skating through the
neutral zone and saw
that their guy was
going to make a
cross-ice pass. I
was able to
intercept it, skated
in alone and found
the back of the net
on the blocker
side."
“The second one I
was going hard to
the net. (Stephen)
Pierog threw it out
front and he put it
right on my stick. I
just saw the open
corner and let it
go.”
Defarias said the
win was important
for the team.
“It was a big game
in the standings as
things are really
tight. We definitely
needed the two
points.”
Letowski agreed.
“Those were two big
points. We were
short-staffed again
and it was our third
game in three
nights. It wasn’t
real pretty, but we
kept grinding away.
We had a terrible
start, but showed
some good push back
after that.”
He added, “Our
penalty-killing was
excellent tonight,
(Windsor was
zero-for-five). We
had some big kills
at key points in the
game. Then there was
Taylor Dupuis in
goal. He was the man
tonight. He’s a
leader on our team
and he showed it
with his
performance.”
Windsor held a 44-28
edge in shots on
goal.
The opening five
minutes of the game
belonged to Dupuis
who made several
point blank saves to
keep the game
scoreless.
Sarnia jumped out to
a 1-0 lead at 6:24
of period one.
Defarias intercepted
a pass at center
ice, skated in alone
and snapped a quick
shot past goalie
Brendan Johnston. It
was his first goal
as a member of the
Sting and the first
of his OHL career.
Anthony Salinitri of
the Sting delighted
family and friends,
(Windsor native),
with Sarnia’s second
goal at 17:29 when
his wrist shot found
the top corner of
the net. Zachary
Core drew the lone
assist on
Salinitri’s fourth
goal of the year and
third since joining
the Sting in a trade
with Sault Ste.
Marie.
Windsor cut the lead
in half at 18:53
when they pounced on
a Sting turnover as
Trevor Murphy fired
a wrist shot past
Dupuis.
Alex Renaud
continued his fine
play of late for the
Sting when he
increased the lead
to 3-1 at 5:04 as he
backhanded home a
rebound off a Jakob
Chychrun shot. It
was Renaud’s ninth
goal and third in as
many games.
But the Spitfires
closed the gap to
3-2 at 14:34 when
Jamie Lewis scored
on a breakaway.
The Sting broke open
the game with two
quick goals to start
the third period.
Defarias got his
second of the game
at 3:39 when he
finished off a nice
centering pass from
Pierog. Then it was
a nice individual
effort by Pierog on
a wraparound goal
for his ninth of the
year. to widen the
gap
After Windsor’s
Logan Brown made it
5-3 at 11:41, Daniel
Nikandrov of the
Sting scored
Sarnia’s sixth goal
into an open net
with 15 seconds
remaining.
The Sting will
remain on the road
for a pair of games
this weekend as they
travel to Ottawa
Friday night to
battle the 67s and
then take on the
Kingston Frontenacs
Saturday night.
Sarnia’s next home
game is not until
Feb. 5th when they
host the Kitchener
Rangers at 7:05 p.m.
at the RBC Centre.
Tickets for all
remaining Sting home
games are on sale
daily at the RBC
Centre Box Office,
by calling
519-541-1717 or
going online at
Sarniasting.com
Sarnia has 11 home
games left before
playoffs.
-
Defarias was
first star with
Dupuis second
star and Murphy
of Windsor third
star. Murphy was
given a match
penalty after
Sarnia’s sixth
goal for
punching a Sting
player on the
bench.
-
Not dressed for
the Sting were
Justin Fazio,
Noah Bushnell,
Pavel Zacha,
Patrick White,
Connor
Schlichting and
Nikita
Korostelev. With
no junior B
players
available,
Sarnia played
with 16 skaters,
two under the
limit.
-
Sarnia’s overall
record improved
to 23-17-4-2 and
their road
record to
10-11-2-0.
-
The win also
avenged
Saturday’s 3-2
overtime loss at
home to Windsor.
