Halloween night
certainly brought out a strange tilt between the visiting Sarnia
Sting and the host Erie Otters.
Erie’s high powered
offence proved that they didn’t need many chances; ousting the
Sarnia Sting 4-2, at the Erie Insurance Arena.
The Otters, came
into the game as the second best offensive team with 60 goals,
behind only the London Knights (71) - against a Sarnia team that was
the third stingiest defense in the OHL, allowing a total of only 39
goals, so something had to give.
On top of that
Sarnia limited Erie to just 22 shots, while out shooting the Otters
32-22 in the contest. Aiden Hughes got his second start making 18
saves and played well enough. Devon Williams had 30 saves for Erie.
Alex DeBrincat had
a goal and an assist to lead the way for Erie. Jake Marchment, Nick
Betz and Taylor Egan rounded out the scoring for the Otters, with
one each.
Erie swept the
three star selections with Williams the third star, Egen, the second
star and DeBrincat as the number one star.
Erie took advantage of their opportunities scoring twice each in
the opening two frames before allowing Sarnia two third period goals
of their own, late in the game.
Josh Jacobs with
his first and Brandon Lindberg netted his second of the year, 74
seconds apart, with less than two minutes left in the game. Hayden
Hodgson drew the assist on Jacob’s goal, firing the shot on goal
that gave Jacobs a fat rebound with Williams out of position. Ryan
McGregor had the lone assist on Lindberg’s goal that came with just
3.3 seconds left in the game.
Erie jumped out to
a 2-0 first period lead. Despite the score, it was an evenly played
opening 20 minutes.
Betz scored the
first goal, even strength at 7:06. Travis Dermott dropped the pass
for Betz and he want in alone and beat Hughes on the glove side.
Kyle Maksimovich, also assisted on the play.
The Otters
increased their lead to 2-0 on a power play goal from Marchment
after he received a centering pass from behind the net, with less
than six minutes to go in the opening frame.
Sarnia had two
excellent chances to score but a great save from Williams who
stopped a Pavel Zacha shot following a 3 on 1 chance. The goalies
best friend prevented the second chance as Chase Campbell’s shot
rang off the cross bar. Both teams had 11 shots on goal in the
first.
For a second
straight period the Otters added another pair of goals and stopped
three scoring chances for the Sting.
Egan, netted his
first career OHL goal early on, blasting a point shot that eluded
Hughes. DeBrincat added the only assist. The score went to 4-0 Erie
following a tally from DeBrincat, who scored his league leading 17th
goal.
Salinitri had a
good chance in front for Sarnia, but he was late getting off a shot
with an open net and the Otters were able to get in front,
deflecting the opportunity to the side of the net.
Later on in the
middle period Daniel Nikandrov was denied with another blocked shot
from Erie defenders, while the Sting were shorthanded.
Sarnia was 1/2 on the power play and Erie was 1/3 with the man
advantage.
The loss against
the Otters is the second in as many meetings after Erie beat Sarnia
in the home opener 5-4.
Sarnia is currently 1 and 2 on the four game road trip and will
finish things off Wednesday, November 4th in Owen Sound against the
Attack. They will open a two game home stand on Friday night,
November 6th, as the Flint Firebirds, formally the Plymouth Whalers,
make their initial appearance at the Sarnia Sports and Entertainment
Centre. On Sunday night, the Saginaw Spirit will be on hand to close
out the Weekend.
