ST. CATHARINES – The Niagara
IceDogs has one of the best home
records in the Ontario Hockey
League this season
The Sarnia Sting got a close up
of that on Saturday night.
The IceDogs scored early and
often as they cruised to a 10-3
win over the Sting in front of a
sellout crowd of 3,145 fans at
the Gatorade Garden City
Complex.
The loss was Sarnia’s fourth in
a row as they continue to
struggle in the final stages of
the Ontario Hockey League
season.
Niagara scored on their first
shot just 28 seconds after the
puck was dropped to open the
game. Before the game was nine
minutes old the IceDogs had
jumped out to a commanding 4-1
advantage. They led 6-1 after
two periods.
The IceDogs sport an impressive
24-3-1-3 home record in the cozy
confines of their arena. They
also know how to protect a lead
with a 23-5-1-2 record when
leading after one period and a
31-2-0-2 record when in front
after 40 minutes.
Falling behind has been one of
the major problems for the Sting
all season long. They are now
8-11-11 when behind after one
period and 6-19-2-1 when
trailing after two periods.
Giving up goals has become a
real concern for Sarnia. They
allowed 10 goals for the second
straight game. They have now
allowed 291 goals, second worst
in the OHL.
Niagara outshot the Sting 56-18.
“That’s a good hockey club,”
said Sting coach Trevor Letowski.
“They are probably one or two
years ahead of us.
They play hard, they play fast
and they crashed our net. They
are a lot to handle in this
building.
“He added, “They won the game
early. They got an early lead
and we were chasing them after
that.”
For the first time this season
the Sting lost one of their
goalies for fighting.
After the play had been blown
dead at 6:07 of the third
period, Sting rookie netminder
Brandon Hope challenged IceDogs
goalie Dalton McGrath to a
fight. The pair met at the
Niagara blue line and Hope
proceeded to win the one-sided
match landing a number of
punches. McGrath left the ice
bleeding with a large cut on his
face.
“I’ve been in a fight in major
bantam,” said Hope after the
game. “He shot the puck at me
and I decided to challenge him
and he agreed. We met near
center ice. I was just trying to
get the guys going.”
As for strategy in the fight
Hope said, “I like to take my
arm out of my chest protector. I
think I connected on a few. I
had my tie-down on and he
didn’t. I think it was an
advantage for me.”
When asked about the goalie
scrap, Letowski said, “I’ve seen
a few in my day. That’s Hope.
He’s fiery and he’s a gamer.
He’s only 16 and took on a
19-year-old. He’s a tough kid.”
Both netminders were handed
fighting majors and game
misconducts. Troy Passingham
finished the game in goal for
the Sting and Mark Visentin for
Niagara.
Scoring for the Sting were Nail
Yakupov (45th), Kale Kerbashian
(32nd) and Alex Galchenyuk
(25th). Call up Jesse Drydak
from the Sarnia Legionnaires
assisted on the Kerbashian goal.
Andrew Agozzino and David Pacan
led Niagara with two goals
apiece while Alex Friesen,
Steven Shipley, Jason Wilson,
Ryan Strome, Darren Archibald
and Dougie Hamilton added
singles. Pacan also had four
assists for a six-point game.
Niagara was three-for-seven on
the power play and Sarnia
one-for-five.
The Sting complete weekend play
with a Sunday afternoon game in
Erie against the Otters. The
opening faceoff is at 4:30 p.m.
Sarnia’s next home game is
Thursday when they host the
Guelph Storm beginning at 7:05
p.m. at the RBC Centre.
STING NOTES
- Sarnia and Niagara split their
two meetings this season with
the Sting winning 6-5 on home
ice back in December.
- Sarnia went with the same
lineup as in Friday’s game with
Sault Ste. Marie. Josh Chapman
and Jesse Drydak were up from
the Sarnia Legionnaires junior B
team while Jesse Stoughton,
Brett Ritchie, Anthony Donati
and Dean Pawlaczyk all did not
even make the trip.
- This is the third season the
IceDogs have played out of the
tiny Gatorade Garden City
Complex. There are no immediate
plans to build a new arena,
whether it is in St. Catharines,
Niagara Falls, or somewhere else
in the Niagara region.
- Sarnia has slipped to 18th in
the league in both the power
play and penalty-killing
statistic.