There’s nothing like an
overtime goal to snap out of a losing
streak.
Miroslav Preisinger’s
goal in extra time provided the Sarnia Sting
with a 2-1 win over the Ottawa 67’s, Sunday
afternoon before 2,930 fans at the RBC
Centre.
The win snapped a
three-game losing skid for the Sting in the
Ontario Hockey League as they moved back
over the .500 mark with a 10-9-1-0 record.
Preisinger’s goal, his
fifth of the season, came at 1:07 of the
five-minute overtime period on a power play
when he tipped home a perfect goalmouth pass
from Kale Kerbashian
“I came on the ice and
saw Kerbashian going hard down the left win.
I just went hard to the net and he made a
nice pass. It was a little bit of luck, but
it went in the net,” said Preisinger.
Preisinger is into his
second season with the Sting. He is from
Slovakia.
“We didn’t start well in
this game. It was very slow, but both teams
picked it up in the third period. For me I’m
getting more ice time this year and I know
the league a little better.”
Sting head coach Dave
MacQueen preaches going hard to the net and
in this case it resulted in a winning goal.
“I can’t say it was a
play you diagram up. But funny things happen
when you go hard to the net. Miroslav busted
his way past the defender and Kale made a
perfect pass,” said MacQueen.
Another happy player was
Sting goalie Adam Courchaine. He was dealt
to the Sting before the season began after
spending his entire OHL career in Ottawa. It
was his first game against his old team.
Courchaine turned aside
31 of the 32 shots he faced and was named
the game’s first star.
“Today was lots of fun
for me,” said Courchaine. “I know most of
the guys well over there and have seen them
shoot a lot in practice. They do have new
jerseys this year and do have some new
players so it’s not exactly the same time
from past years.”
He added, “I thought we
played okay today. There were a couple of
good scoring opportunities both ways. This
was a big win for us because we haven’t
played well lately and knowing we have to go
back into their building next Friday.”
MacQueen felt Courchaine
was solid between the pipes and made
reference to one great save in the third
period.
“There would never have
been overtime if not for the save Adam made
midway through the third period on that
one-time shot. All you ask of your goalie is
to give your team a chance to win and Adam
did that.”
The only goal Courchaine allowed came six
minutes into the first period when Marc
Zanetti drilled home a low slapshot from the
top of the circle. The goal came off a
face-off and just three seconds into an
Ottawa power play
The score remained that
way until the 10:40 mark of the second
period when the Sting tied it. Kerbashian
sent a pass to Nathan Chiarlitti at the left
point and his wrist shot went through
traffic past goalie Chris Perugini. It was
Chiarlitti’s third goal of the season.
“That was a tough game to
play,” said MacQueen. “Ottawa almost played
the ideal road game. At times we were better
than we’ve been over the past few games. We
generated more scoring chances. At other
times we were back on our heels. But it’s a
start. It’s two points that no one can take
away from us.”
He added, “any win is
important, but this one helped considering
we had lost three straight and also the fact
we are heading out on a three-game Eastern
road swing next weekend. We play in three
tough buildings and you want your team
feeling good about themselves for that
trip.”
The overtime goal was the
only shot in extra time as the shots were
even at 32-32 at the end of regulation time.
Sarnia finished
one-for-five with the man advantage while
Ottawa was one-for-two
“Our power play continues
to be a work in progress. We’ve dropped
almost 10 spots in power play percentage
recently. We need to be better in that area
and it’s something we have to keep working
on,” MacQueen said.
Next action for the Sting is Thursday in
Peterborough. They also play Friday in
Ottawa and Sunday afternoon in Kingston.
Their next home game is Nov. 20th
when they host the Windsor Spitfires.

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Courchaine was first star with
Perugini second star and Preisinger third
star. (Perugini is the younger brother of
ex-Sting goalie Andrew Perugini.
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Sarnia is now 6-5-0-0 at home. They
also evened their overtime record to 1-1.
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Scratches for the Sting included
Daniel Broussard (second of five game
suspension) and Craig Hottot (broken jaw).
Hottot was the RBC scholastic player of the
month for October. Hottot attends SCITS and
has a 81 per cent average.
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The Sting wore their red and white
1949-50 Junior Sailors sweaters. It was in
conjunction with special pre-game ceremonies
to honour the Canadian Armed Forces and
Remembrance Day.
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- Kerbashian has at least one point
in five consecutive games and leads the team
in scoring with six goals and 14 assists for
20 points.