Sarnia Sting vs Windsor
January 31, 2010
By DAVE BORODY
special to
WINDSOR – The month of
January can’t end soon
enough for the Sarnia
Sting. The Sting played
13 games during the
month and lost all 13.
The latest loss came
Sunday afternoon when
the Windsor Spitfires
defeated Sarnia 4-1
before 6,499 fans at the
Windsor Family Credit
Union Centre.
It’s believed the 0-13
marks the first time in
the team’s 16-year
history the Sting failed
to win a game in a month
in the Ontario Hockey
League.
After a scoreless first
period the powerful
Spitfires exploded for
three goals in period
two before the teams
split a pair of goals in
the third period.
Sting head coach Dave
MacQueen commented on
his team’s effort.
“I thought we did a good
job in the first period.
We seemed to frustrate
them a bit while Shayne
(Campbell) made some big
saves to keep is in the
game. But in the second
period our defence gets
beat one-on-one for
their first goal. That
goal gave them some
momentum and life. They
are the type of team
that can seize the
opportunity. Before you
know it it’s 3-0.”
MacQueen added, “it’s
frustrating at times
because we have 14 or 15
guys competing, but we
have four or five
playing with long sticks
and not getting
involved. We can’t get
20 guys to go to war.
It’s not as if Windsor
tried to hammer us
physically. But we have
some guys who refuse to
go to the dirty areas.”
The loss overshadowed
another solid effort in
goal by Campbell. In
back-to-back games
/Campbell faced 82 shots
(41 in each game)
allowing eight goals.
“That’s certainly a
positive,” said
MacQueen, “especially
after his game at home
on Friday night. The
test now is can he keep
moving forward instead
of going backwards. We
see him go into places
like Kitchener, London
and Windsor and win
games, but then he goes
south. He needs to step
up to the plate and
battle for a job.”
Sarnia managed just 18
shots on Windsor goalie
Troy Passingham. He had
his shutout bid snapped
by Brandon Francisco at
18:08 of the third
period.
Francisco came from
behind the net and
whipped a wrist shot
over the goalie’s
shoulder for his eighth
of the season.
Justin Shugg was tops
for Windsor with two
goals while Eric
Wellwood and Stephen
Johnston added singles.
Next action for the
Sting is Friday night
when they host the Owen
Sound Attack beginning
at 7:35 p.m. at the RBC
Centre. It will be the
only game of the weekend
for Sarnia.
- Sarnia was again
missing four regulars in
Kyle Flemington, Anthony
Donati, Ben O’Quinn and
Brent Sullivan.
Defenceman Anton
Zupancic was up from the
Sarnia Legionnaires.
- Over the last 13
games, Sarnia has scored
only 27 goals and 12 of
the 27 came in three
games.
- Sarnia ranks 19th out
of 20 tams in goals
scored with 131, second
only to Brampton. In 30
of the 52 games to date,
Sarnia has scored two
goals or less in 30 of
those games.
- Windsor was
two-for-six on the power
play and Sarnia
zero-for-four.
- The Sting has a 1-5
record vs. Windsor this
year. The two teams meet
one more time in Sarnia
on March 13th.
- Defenceman Joe
Rogalski will be the
lone Sting
representative at the
annual OHL all-star game
Wednesday night in
Kingston.
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