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 The
Sarnia Legionnaires were beaten by a better hockey
club Thursday night.
The
Strathroy Rockets had their hands full at times, but
demonstrated superior overall skills on their way to
a 6-3 win before 1,212 fans at the Brock Street
Barn.
With the victory, the Middlesex County squad moved
into first place in the Western Ontario Hockey
Conference, one point ahead of the idle London
Nationals.
Sarnia, meanwhile, slipped into eighth place, one
point back of Leamington and Chatham. The
Legionnaires have a game in hand on the Maple City
team.
Coach Dan Rose's club was able to keep things close
for two periods, before finally succumbing.
The
home side got into trouble early, falling behind 2-0
and losing starting goalie Kyle Washer to an injury.
Washer, who has one of the best won-lost records in
the league, left the game at the 12:46 mark of the
first frame when he was run over in his crease. The
offending Rocket received only a minor penalty for
goaltender interference.
Washer, who did not return, had made seven saves
when he went down.
Shawn Waldie got the Legionnaires back in the game
at the 11:47 mark with a sneak attack that took the
visitors completely by surprise.
With Sarnia killing a penalty, Waldie raced behind
the Strathroy net, stripped a startled goalie Marc
Nother of the puck and tucked it into the cage.
Needless to say the goal, Waldie's 12th
of the year, was an unassisted effort.
Unfortunately, Strathroy stuck again before the
first frame ended to take a 3-1 lead.
Good second stanza
Sarnia played a strong second period and it paid off
with two quick goals.
Jesse Drydak got the first at 3:47 when he caught
the top corner on Nother's glove side to cut the
deficit to one. Brent Sauve got the only helper on
the marker, which was Drydak's team-leading 27th
of the season.
 The
Legionnaires kept pressing and they were rewarded at
the 4:53 mark when Captain Tyler Cicchini deflected
home his 10th of the year to square
matters at 3-3. Brett Thompson got an assist.
Sarnia kept Strathroy penned in its own zone for
prolonged periods after that but couldn't get the
go-ahead marker.
The
Rockets, meanwhile, scored late to go into the
dressing room nursing a one-goal lead.
In
the final frame the visitors controlled play and put
it away with two goals.
Game notes:
·
Goalie Sean Parker made 30 saves in the Sarnia net
after coming on in relief of Washer. Overall, the
shots favoured Strathroy 43-35.
·
Owen Rogers was ejected early in the contest for
checking from behind.
·
Stathroy was 1-for-6 on the powerplay, while the
Legionnaires were 0-for-3.
·
Sarnia has now lost three in a row.
·
Drydak now has 50 points on the season.
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