Written
by Carl Chimenti
Newly acquired Travis
Konecny was dynamite in his
Sarnia debut, scoring three
goals. Pavel Zacha, back
from the World Juniors,
added two assists on the
same line, but it was not
enough as the Owen Sound
Attack beat Sarnia 5-4 in
overtime before a large
Friday night crowd of 3,388,
at the Sarnia Sports and
Entertainment Centre.
Together the pair were named
first and third star
respectively.
Bryson Cianfrone, scored at
1:11 in the extra period
with the Attack on the power
play to spoil the night for
the Sting and their
faithful.
Brandon Lindberg also scored
for Sarnia, who battled back
three times to tie the score
before ultimately falling
5-4. Justin Fazio was solid
in net, stopping 27 of 32
shots for the Sting.
Ethan Szypula, had two goals
for Owen Sound and was
selected as the second star
of the game. Jacob Friend
and Kevin Hancock (who had a
three point game) rounded
out the scoring for the
Attack. Goaltender Michael
McNiven turned aside 27 of
31 shots.
Sarnia got on the scoreboard
first, following an
interference penalty to Pave
Zacha when Lindberg caught
Owen Sound sleeping as he
picked up the puck and broke
in alone to beat McNiven on
the short side at 9:47 of
the opening period. The
shorthanded goal, was
unassisted. It was
Lindberg’s fifth goal of the
season. Owen Sound tied the
game less than four minutes
later on a goal from Szypula,
with Kevin Hancock drawing
the assist. Sarnia out-shot
Owen Sound 13-8 in the
opening frame.
In the second period, both
teams failed to score a goal
until the final two minutes
of the frame. Owen Sound
scored consecutive goals
with Sarnia replying with a
goal of their own in the
dying seconds.
Szypula, scored his second
of the game on a break away
with Kevin Hancock picking
up the assist at the 18:41
mark. Thirty seconds later,
Friend put the Attack up 3-1
with Szypula and Trenton
Bourque adding the helpers.
Konecny paid quick dividends
following his acquisition
from Ottawa, scoring his
first goal as a member of
the Sting with just four
ticks left on the clock. It
was a blast from the slot
that eluded McNiven. Jeff
King was credited with the
assist. Owen Sound out shot
Sarnia 12-9 in the 2nd.
The third period was a goal
scoring fest as both teams
put the puck in the net with
regularity. Konecny added
his second from Zacha and
Anthony Salinitri, which
tied the game at 3-3 at
8:51. Hancock restored the
one goal lead for Owen Sound
at 10:34. A minute later
Konecny made it a hat trick
in his Sting debut, with the
equalizer.
Sting Notebook:
The Sting featured a
different look, with three
new players in the line-up
tonight. General Manager
Nick Sinclair was busy,
making two significant
trades to bolster the second
half stretch drive and what
hopes to be a long playoff
run this spring. Sinclair,
sent promising rookie Sasha
Chmelevski, forward Chase
Campbell and a number of
draft picks to Ottawa for a
pair of forwards Travis
Konecny and overage Sam
Studnicka. In addition to
their skill set, both
players will also add
veteran leadership to the
Sting dressing room. In a
separate trade, later in the
week, Sarnia acquired an
experienced goaltender in
Charlie Graham, from the
Hamilton Bulldogs, which
gives the Sting a strong
one-two punch in net for the
remainder of this season.
Overage winger Matt Mistele,
who was acquired a few weeks
back from the Oshawa
Generals, has been an
important contributor to the
Sarnia Sting, since his
arrival. The Whitby, Ontario
native has appeared in 11
games and is scoring at more
than a point a game clip,
with 9 goals, 7 assists and
16 points. Despite the loss,
Sarnia managed to run their
point streak to seven games.
It was the first loss for
the Sting in three meetings
against Owen Sound. Earlier
this year Sarnia beat Owen
Sound 4-3 on the road and
1-0 at the SSEC.
Sarnia is back on the ice
for two road games to finish
of this weekend. Saturday
night will see the Sting in
Saginaw and then from there
a Sunday afternoon game in
the Soo, against the
Greyhounds.
