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Sarnia, ON –
After a slow start in the first two periods, the
Sarnia Sting managed to score four goals on Saginaw
Spirit goaltender Jake Paterson, as the Sting hold
on to a 4-3 victory Friday night in preseason
action.
The Sting
didn't have their fire early on, as the first period
saw little action in front Paterson, allowing the
Spirit netminder to glove any rebound, and keep the
Sting off the scoreboard. The Sting powerplay that
was electric in earlier preseason match ups was held
scoreless, going 0 for 6 in the first period,
including a 5 on 3 powerplay.
Making
matters worse, while on the penalty kill, Julian
Luciani tried to clear the puck away from the front
of his net, but instead of shot it into the back of
his own player and watch it get past Sting goalie
Brandon Hope to put the Spirit on the board. Despite
outshooting Saginaw 20-7 in the period, the Spirit
came away with the first period lead.
In the
second period, Hope was challenged early on odd man
rushes, first making three saves in a row off a 3 on
1 Saginaw attack, stopping each player going in on
goal. He would then save a 2 on 1 attempt, keeping
the Sting in the game.
Sarnia
again would find themselves unable to score in the
second period despite outshooting Saginaw 9-7, and
having three more powerplay chances in the period.
With the
Spirit still up 1-0, the third period looked to be a
change of pace for Sarnia, as the Sting crowded in
front of goalie Paterson, creating traffic. Craig
Hottot was rewarded with a goal after deflecting a
Charlie Sarault slap shot to tie the game up at 1-1.
23 seconds
later, with traffic again in front, Jack Kuzmyk
would let a laser beam go from the point, getting by
Paterson and giving the Sting the lead for the first
time in the game.
Sarnia
would take the momentum with them onto the
powerplay, and would finally be rewarded with their
first powerplay goal of the night, as Alex
Galchenyuk would get another tip in goal of a Nathan
Chiarlitti slap shot to give Sarnia the 3-1 lead.
Paterson
would come up with two big saves on Nail Yakupov at
the side of the net, which seemed to recharge the
Spirit, as Peter Hermenegildo would beat a sprawling
Hope to get the Spirit to within one. 39 seconds
later, Dalton Young would come off the blue line
into the high slot and send a wrist shot into the
back of the net to tie the game at 3-3.
Sarnia
would get their chance to recover, as the Spirit
took two penalties and the Sting found themselves on
a 5 on 3 powerplay. It would only take 11 seconds
for a one timer pass from Alex Basso to Nail Yakupov
to find the back of the net, as Yakupov scores the
game winner, as the Sting hold off the rest of the
period still on the powerplay, and take their second
preseason victory.
Sarnia
outshot Saginaw 45-22, making it the third preseason
game in which the Sting have outshot their
opponents.
"I bet you
we had 25 scoring chances," said Head Coach
Jacques
Beaulieu. "We are not getting any traffic around the
net, and the kids are playing a little cute, but we
managed to get four by them. Paterson I thought was
outstanding."
The Sting
were without Anthony DeAngelo and Connor Murphy, who
has yet to play for the Sting this season, but has
arrived in Sarnia. Sarnia was also without their
entire second line unit of Brett Ritchie (Dallas),
Taylor Carnevale (Los Angeles) and Ludvig Rensfeldt
(Chicago) who were all at their respected NHL
training camps, leaving the powerplay duties in the
hands of Yakupov, Galchenyuk and Reid Boucher.
"With all
my guys being away at pro camps, I'd rather be on
the powerplay right now."
Beaulieu
noted the Sting worked on the powerplay over the
week in practice, and keeping things simple is what
scored the two Sting goals with the man advantage.
With the
load of new talent, chemistry is still building
within the Sting locker room. Beaulieu added that
they trust each other, but a few bus rides may be
needed to get everyone together.
Sarnia is
now 2-1 in preseason play. Earlier in the week, the
CHL released their top 10 teams, and the Sarnia
Sting were listed as #8.
"I don't
worry about that to much," said Beaulieu. "It's good
hype, it's good for the city. It means that they
respect what we have done here. Eight is good, but
we would rather be number one then eight."
Sarnia
will travel to Saginaw for the return game of the
home and home series. They will take on Windsor the
following week.
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@sarniasports.
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