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Sarnia, ON
– With a four goal second period, the Lambton
Shores Predators earned their third win of the
season after a 7-4 victory over the Sarnia
Legionnaires Thursday night in Sarnia. The win marks
the first time in team history the Predators have
defeated Sarnia.
"It was a
hell of a hockey game, our kids played really well,"
said Predators Head Coach Mark Davis. "We didn't
panic, we got our first goal, felt relax, and right
after that we just started playing our game."
The
Predators started the game down a man after a delay
of game penalty put them on the powerplay for the
opening faceoff, as the Predators did not get off
the ice in time. Sarnia capitalized on the powerplay
chance 45 seconds into the game as Jesse Drydak puts
a shot passed Brandon Campbell to make it 1-0.
Sarnia
controlled the tempo of the first period, but the
Predators would be the ones to strike back, as Cody
Trowell came out from the corner and picked the top
shelf on Legionnaires goalie Sean Parker to tie
things at 1-1 after the first period.
Sarnia
would come out in the second with another penalty to
start, and much like the last period, capitalized
early. Evan Dixon would come off the bench and get
right into the play, receiving a pass from Anthony
Donati and wristing a shot passed Campbell to make
it a 2-1 game.
But that
lead last all of 16 seconds, as Kyle Brothers picked
up a rebound that couldn't be controlled by Parker,
and after multiple hits, puts it into the back of
the net.
Lambton
Shores would get their first lead in the game, as
the number one powerplay in the league stepped onto
the ice. The Legionnaires got caught playing with
the puck behind their net, and a pass out went right
onto the stick of Brendon Merritt beside the net who
put slow on Parker to make it a 3-2 game.
The
problems for the Legionnaires continued as Sam
Jasmin was sprung on a breakaway after a bad line
change left no defencemen to cover, and Jasmin
picked the five hole on Parker to make it a 4-2
Predators lead.
The high
scoring period did not end, as the Legionnaires cut
the lead in half after Donati walked in over the
blue line and sent a wrist shot on net that Campbell
got a piece of, but not enough as it trickled into
the net.
But like
the last time the Legionnaires scored, the goal
would be answered quickly, as Adam Arseneault gets a
cross crease pass from Kyle Brothers for his first
of the game, just 32 seconds after the Sarnia goal,
making it a 5-3 Lambton Shores lead after two
periods of play.
In the
third, Sarnia wasted no time cutting the lead back
down. Brett Thompson got a wrist shot off in the
slot that beat Campbell to make it a 5-4 game.
Sarnia began to pump shots onto Campbell, but the
netminder sucked them all in, allowing very few
second chances for Sarnia to bang in any rebounds.
With a
powerplay being rewarded to the Legionnaires, it
looked as if Sarnia may tie things up. But
Arseneault would pick up the puck near the
Legionnaires bench and move in on a shorthanded
breakaway, beating Parker, and restoring the two
goal lead.
Lambton
Shores would add an empty net goal to make it a 7-4
final.
"We got
our legs back underneath us, and we just
started listening to the details," said Davis of the
Predators explosive second period. "We got some guys
who don't listen, and the young guys want to learn,
and all of a sudden they started clicking in."
In the
third period Sarnia outshot the Predators 15-2, as
the Predators laid back and waited for the
Legionnaires to come at them.
"We were
waiting for them instead of going to them because we
didn't want to make a mistake," said Davis. "You're
chasing instead of playing your position."
Coming
into Thursday's game, Sarnia Head Coach Dan Rose had
commented on his teams willingness to win games, and
showing up every night to play hockey, which Rose
felt, the Legionnaires again lacked on Thursday.
"It was
just a bad hockey game all around," he said. "Give
Lambton Shores credit, they came out and played
hard. A couple times we did battle back we turned
around and gave them a goal. I have to do a better
job of getting them prepared to play the game and be
in focus during the game."
"It's
almost like everybody is waiting for the other guy
to do it, and we have to work as a five man unit,"
said Rose. "Everyone competing hard and moving the
puck. We were reaching for a lot of pucks tonight
instead of just go getting it. This is a character
builder."
Sarnia
held most of the control through the first period
and third, but Rose felt his team did not play well
most of the game. A still relative new squad, Rose
says the boys will need to continue to stick
together to get through this tough opening start to
the season. Rose is not pushing the panic button,
and will weather the storm as Sarnia continues
forward.
Sarnia is
now 1-3-0 on the season and will travel to St.
Thomas on Sunday to take on the Stars.
:Lambton
Shores is 3-3-0 and will take on Chatham at home on
Saturday.
Follow Sarniasports on twitter
@sarniasports.
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