Those dreaded shorthanded goals.

A second period shorthanded marker by the Erie Otters turned out to be the game-winner as they edged the Sarnia Sting 3-2, Saturday night before 2,921 fans at the RBC Centre.

The loss marked the first time in five games the Sting has failed to pick up any points in the Ontario Hockey League.
Sarnia’s overall record falls to 13-18-1-1 while Erie improved to 14-14-4-1.

Shawn Szydlowski’s second period shorthanded goal put the Otters up 3-1 at the time. Sarnia got one goal by before the second period ended, but despite outshooting Erie 12-3 in the third period, could not get another puck past Otters goalie Jaroslav Janus.

Janus made 29 saves overall and was the game’s first star.

Sarnia has now allowed seven shorthanded goals this season.

“I thought we played well enough to win,” said Sting head coach Dave MacQueen. “Their goalie made some key saves and we hit a couple of posts early. In the first 10 minutes of the game we didn’t have the jump or energy level we should have, but after that we controlled the play. It was a tough battle and we played hard. We just couldn’t find a way to bury a couple of picks in the third period.”

The Otters jumped out to a 2-0 first period as Stephen Genua scored both goals. His first came at 4:49 when his slapshot from the left wing dropped almost a foot and eluded Sting goalie Adam Courchaine.

His second was scored at 10:36 when the Sting got beat on a two-on-two rush and Genua was able to get a quick shot off from close range.

The Sting held a two-man advantage for over a minute late in the period and had several glorious scoring chances, but Janus was able to keep the puck out of his net.

Sarnia finally solved Janus early in the second period, but it took video replay to confirm the goal. Jesse Stoughton sent a goalmouth pass from Brandon Alderson that Janus appeared to stop. But when he got up the puck was in the net. The officials went to video to confirm the puck has crossed the line giving Stoughton his fifth goal of the year.

But just over a minute later, Erie regained their two-goal lead with the shorthanded marker. Szydlowski outraced a Sting defenceman for the puck and slipped a low shot between Courchaine’s legs.

Tyler Peters pulled Sarnia to within a goal at 11:17 when he took the puck in front of the net after a weird bounce off the boards and slipped a backhand between the goalies legs for his ninth goal of the year.

Sarnia carried the play in the final period but could not come up with the equalizer. They pulled their goalie in the final minute, but did not register a shot on goal.

MacQueen felt his team put some pressure on the Erie defence after the slow start.
“Erie was playing their third game in three nights and went with only five defencemen so we wanted to put pressure on their defence. We were able to generate chances in behind their defence. But at times we either panicked with the puck or their goalie make a good save.”

He added, “it’s frustrating when you can’t score. You are never happy when you lose, but the effort was there and competed hard in a lot of areas. We just ran into a hot goalie.”

Stoughton assisted on Sarnia’s second goal for a two-point night.

“I thought we played pretty well, but it wasn’t a full 60 minutes. We didn’t stick to the game plan early and didn’t get pucks deep. That hurt us getting behind 2-0. We worked hard, but didn’t get any bounces around their net. We hit a couple of posts and if they had gone in it would have been a different story.”

Sarnia finished with a 31-24 edge in shots on goal.

Sarnia is back in action Sunday night when they play at Sault Ste. Marie.

“We have to let this one go and go up there, scratch and claw and try and get some points,” said MacQueen. “They are going to be a little ornery after we beat them 4-0 recently.”

Sarnia’s next home game is Thursday when they host the Kitchener Rangers at 7:35 p.m.

• Janus was first star with Stoughton second star and Genua third star.

• Last night’s game was the first time in four games the Sting has not gone to a shootout.

• The Sting was zero-for-six on the power play and Erie zero-for-three.

• Sarnia played without forward Miroslav Preisinger who bruised a hand blocking a shot against Plymouth. He is listed as day-to-day. Jesse Drydak was up from the Sarnia Legionnaires.

• Sarnia’s home record fell to 7-8-1-0 while Erie is now 5-9-2-1 on the road.

• Erie has now won two of three games against the Sting. They meet one more time in Erie next month.