By DAVE PAUL
The Sarnia Sting lost a
heart-breaker to an
injury-depleted Sault
Ste. Marie Greyhounds
team, Friday night at
RBC Centre.
Gabe Guertler scored his
second goal of the game
with only 1:21 left in
the third period to give
the Greyhounds a 5-4 win
in a hard-fought, and
sometimes nasty contest
between the West
Division rivals.
With the win -- in a
game that game that
featured three fights in
addition to a lot of
chippiness -- the
Greyhounds became the
first OHL team to reach
100 points this season.
Playing without stars
Nick Ritchie, Darnell
Nurse and Justin Bailey,
among others, the
Greyhounds still looked
strong in the early
going on Friday,
outplaying the Sting in
the first period on
their way to a 2-0 lead.
They stretched the
advantage to 3-0 early
in the second period and
appeared to be on their
way to a relatively easy
win over the home team.
But the Sting battled
back, starting with a
shorthanded goal by
Stephen Pierog at 4:38
of the second period.
After nearly scoring a
second time on the same
penalty kill, the Sting
continued to play with
inspiration throughout
the middle frame.
They outshot the
Greyhounds 19-11 in the
second period and made
it a one-goal game on
the power play, just
past the 12-minute mark
on a Jakob Chychrun
power play goal.
The Soo scored another
early goal in the third,
on the power play, to
re-establish a two-goal
lead.
But the Sting took
advantage of some
generous rebounds from
Greyhounds goalie Joseph
Raaymakers (who looked a
bit shaky throughout the
game) and tied the
contest on goals by
Pavel Zacha and
Alexandre Renaud.
Sarnia applied some
pressure and nearly took
the lead when Jeff King
hit the post on a
breakaway with about six
minutes left to play.
But they could come no
closer to scoring before
Guertler's go-ahead goal
gave the Hounds the last
lead of the game.
Sarnia got a power play
chance with 1:10 left in
the third when ex-Sting
defenceman Anthony
DeAngelo fired the puck
over the glass for a
delay of game penalty.
But they never really
came close to getting
the puck past Raaymakers,
who made 35 saves for
the win. Taylor Dupuis
stopped 38 of 43 shots
to take the loss.
DeAngelo, who had three
assists, was named the
game's first star, and
celebrated by repeatedly
pumping his stick in the
air as he skated onto
the ice to a chorus of
boos.
Next action for the
Sting is Sunday when
Guelph visits the RBC
Centre. Game time is
4:05.
Post Game Interview with
Andy Delmore
