Losing streak. What losing streak?
The Sarnia Sting snapped an eight-game skid with a
solid 4-0 win over the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds,
Thursday night before 2,755 fans at the RBC Centre.
The victory was Sarnia’s first in the Ontario Hockey
League since Nov. 8 when they defeated Ottawa in
overtime.
The Sting deserved full marks for last night’s
victory as they outworked and outplayed the
Greyhounds over the 60 minutes.
Sarnia jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first
period and held a commanding 4-0 advantage after 40
minutes.
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Adam Courchaine turned aside all 35
shots he faced to record his first
shutout in a Sting uniform and Sarnia’s
first white-washing of the season.
“It felt good to be back,” said
Courchaine, who missed almost two weeks
with a shoulder injury. “It’s always
tough sitting on the bench watching your
teammates practice and then sitting in
the stands during the game.
“I was able to have a couple of good
practices this week, including one this
morning to help get me ready. We were
able to score the first goal and that
was big. The guys were able to stick to
the system and they played well in front
of me.”
He added, “winning the first game of a
three-game weekend is always good,
especially when the next two are the
road. The team needed a win after what
we’ve gone through in the past few
weeks.” |
Although Courchaine didn’t have to make any
outstanding saves, Sting head coach Dave MacQueen
provided that special intangible.
“He was solid. He didn’t have to be spectacular, but
he was able to bring some confidence to the guys
playing in front of him. Guys were blocking shots in
front of him. But one of the big keys tonight was
our penalty killing. Your goalie has to be the best
penalty killer and Adam provided that tonight.”
MacQueen added, “We limited their scoring chances to
under 10 and zero in the first period. Defensively
most nights this year we haven’t been that bad. It’s
our offence that has struggled, but tonight we
scored on our opportunities.”
Sarnia opened the scoring just over four minutes
into period one when Brandon Francisco took a
goalmouth pass from J.C. Campagna and fired a low
shot past Greyhounds netminder Bryce O’Hagan. It was
Francisco’s third goal of the year.
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The Sting then scored their first power
play goal in six games at 8:24 when
Brett Ritchie deflected home a point
shot from Anthony Donati. For Ritchie,
it was his fifth marker of the year
while for Donati it was his first OHL
point.
“It feels really good to get the first
point out of the way,” said Donati, who
was playing his third game in a Sting
uniform since he was acquired in a trade
with Plymouth. “It was a nice tip by
Ritchie and a nice pass from Zack
MacQueen to me.”
Donati, who was playing junior B in
Sarnia before the trade, is happy to be
with the team.
“This is the level I want to play.
Everyone has made me feel welcome since
I got here. Jordan Hill is a great
captain. It doesn’t feel like I’ve only
been here for a week.” |
Although out played in the second period, Sarnia
scored a pair of goals to put the game out of reach.
Kale Kerbashian scored his ninth of the year just 34
seconds into the period when he tipped in a perfect
pass from Brandon Alderson while Jesse Stoughton
scored his fourth of the year at 17:45 when he
converted a centering pass from Brett Appio.
“Obviously the first period was huge for us,” said
MacQueen. “Getting the first goal was a big thing.
You could see the guys were alive. Then our power
play clicked. It’s been a long time for a power play
goal. That goal gave us some confidence.”
MacQueen was not happy with the second period.
“In the second period we looked like a team with no
confidence and had lost eight in a row. We were
playing to lose instead of playing to win. But
scoring two goals was big. I thought in the third
period we were very, very good.”
The Greyhounds held a 35-25 edge in shots on goal.
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MacQueen says the win was much needed.
“You can only go through a streak so
long without the guys don’t feel good
about themselves. We probably deserved a
better fate in a couple of those games,
but it didn’t happen. Winning should do
great things for this bench. It’s been
while so it’s important to get these
guys smiling. It’s something to build
on.”
The Sting resume action tonight playing
in St. Catharines against the Niagara
Ice Dogs while they are in Erie on
Saturday to face the Otters. |
- Courchaine was first star with Stoughton second
star and defenceman Brent Sullivan third star.
Sullivan was on the ice for all four Sting goals and
was a plus three.
- Kyle Neuber was serving a one-game suspension for
the Sting.
- Defenceman Nathan Chiarlitti of the Sting was
named OHL academic player of the month for November
in the West Division. The 17-year-old is a grade 12
student at Northern and is maintaining an 85 per
cent average in three university preparation
courses.
- The Sting defeated the Greyhounds for the first
time is three meetings this season. They meet five
more times.
- Sarnia was one for four on the power play and the
Greyhounds zero for five. Remember Sault Ste. Marie
scored five power play goals in their 7-1 win over
Sarnia last Saturday.
- Sarnia’s next home game is Thursday against the
Plymouth Whalers at 7:35 p.m. at the RBC Centre. It
is the annual Teddy Bear Toss. Fans are encouraged
to bring a stuffed animal and throw it on the ice
after the first Sting goal. The animals will be
donated to charity.
