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 The
Sarnia Sting dropped a 7-4 decision to the London
Knights in Ontario Hockey League play, Friday
afternoon in front of 3,743 fans at the RBC Centre.
The loss snapped a modest two-game winning streak
for the Sting who once again dipped under the .500
mark at
15-16-3-1.Sarnia is now three points back of London
and Guelph for the final playoff spot in the Western
Conference.
Sarnia and London meet again Saturday night at the
John Labatt Centre in London to complete their
traditional end of the year mini-series.
The Sting got off to a quick start against the
London jumping out to a 2-0 lead before the game was
five minutes. But
London rebounded to tie the game after the first
period and held a 5-4 advantage after 40 minutes
before scoring the
only two goals of the third period, one into an
empty net.
Sting head coach Dave MacQueen gave this assessment
of his team’s performance.
“We warned our players before the game that London
plays a simple, safe game. They chip pucks in and
chip pucks out and try to lull you to sleep. Well,
that’s exactly what they did.
“We got off to a quick start, but they scored four
in a row. We were able to tie it up in the second
period, but
defensively we are making poor decisions in our end.
It’s not just the defencemen. But we make those
mistakes and the puck ends up in the back of our
net. Until we get committed in our end, we are going
to have nights like this.”
MacQueen also didn’t like London’s fifth goal on the
power play, which turned out to be the game winner
in the
second period.
“We told our guys to watch the back door play and
what happens, they score off the back door.”
The Sting had plenty of scoring chances in the first
and second periods, but London closed the door in
the third period.
“They shut down the netural zone and give you zero
space to operate in,” said MacQueen. “They have a
big defence
and they were winning the battles along the boards.
When we did get a chance their goalie made the
save.”
Any momentum Sarnia night have generated in the
third period was quashed when London scored their
sixth goal at 9:15.
“The goal was scored from our goal line. We didn’t
get any freebies like that. You could see that goal
really
deflated our team,” MacQueen said.
Vladislav Namestnikov led London with two goals,
including the winner, and was named the game’s first
star. Jared
Knight had a goal and three assists, Seth Griffith a
goal and two assists while Colin Martin, Dane Fox
and Daniel Erlich notched single goals.
Craig Hottot had two goals for Sarnia, giving him
nine on the season. Nail Yakupov recorded his 24th
of the year and
added two assists while Alex Galchenyuk scored his
11th and second in as many games.
 Michael
Houser was the winning goalie making 25 saves while
John Cullen stopped 27 for the Sting.
London was two-for-three on the power play and
Sarnia one-for-three. There was one fight when Kyle
Flemington of the Sting got the better of Jarred
Tinordi.
MacQueen says he doesn’t expect anything different
for Saturday’s game in London.
“I expect the same thing. They don’t change a lot
whether at home or on the road. I’m sure they will
come out
harder. We need to be patient and not turn the puck
over in our own end.”
Defenceman Jack Kuzmyk played his first game in a
Sting uniform after being acquired in a trade with
Owen Sound. Kuzmyk gained an assist in his first
shift of the game on Hottot’s goal.
“We talked to him before the game he knew he might
not play that much,” said MacQueen. “He hasn’t
played a lot
this year. He needs to practice a few times so he
can get accustomed to his new team-mates and the
systems here. He knows that.”
STING NOTES
- Namestnikov was first star with Yakupov second
star and Griffith third star.
- Defenceman Joe Rogalski was back in the Sting
lineup after missing five games due to a concussion.
Brent Sullivan was also back after missing two games
with a back injury.
-
Sarnia started the game with only 10 forwards.
Midway through the opening period Brandon Francisco
was shaken up when he collided with one of his
teammates. He was used sparingly the rest of the
way.
- With the addition of Kuzmyk, Sarnia now has nine
defencemen on their roster. They dressed eight for
the London game.
- Sarnia’s home record is now 10-8-0-1.
- After Saturday’s game in London, Sarnia has a pair
of home games next week as they host Kitchener on
Thursday night and Windsor on Friday night.
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