OWEN SOUND – The Sarnia Sting dug themselves a hole they just couldn’t climb out of Wednesday night.

The Owen Sound Attack scored four times in the opening period and went on to defeat the Sting 5-2, before only 1,701 fans at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre.
 

The loss leaves the Sting with a 0-1-1-0 record in the Ontario Hockey League while Owen Sound won for the first time in three starts.

Sting head coach Dave MacQueen said his team fell victim to some bad bounces in the opening period.
 

“I thought we had a lot of energy in the first period and had some quality chances. But we made some costly mistakes in our own end. Unfortunately those mistakes were by a couple of veterans who usually don’t make those mistakes.Our penalty killing is not where it should be at this point.”
 

The Attack scored three power play goals in five attempts while Sarnia was only one-for-six with the man advantage.

MacQueen added, “in the second period we were on our heels a bit and then in the third were a little better. It was 4-2 late in the second period and (Miroslav ) Preisinger hits the post. They got a power play a minute later and scored to make it 5-2. That was the turning point.”

MacQueen said the young kids on the Sting all got to play a lot. At one point the second line power play consisted of three draft picks from last May, Brett Ritchie, JC Campagna and Brandon Francisco.
 

“Hopefully those are just three of the young players we want to build this team around. Sometimes you don’t like to put 16 year-olds in certain situations as it may not seem fair, but in this case they are getting some much-needed experience. We have to stay the course knowing down the road they are going to be leaders on this team.”
 

Despite holding a 16-11 edge in shots on goal, the Sting found themselves trailing 4-2 after 20 minutes.
 

Marcus Carroll opened the scoring for the Attack at 3:58 when he knocked in a centering pass  past rookie Sting goalie Jesse Raymond.

Sarnia tied the game 52 seconds later when Campagna notched his first career OHL goal banging home a rebound off a Brent Sullivan point drive.
 

“It  was exciting,” said Campagna, when asked about his first OHL goal. “I just went hard to the net and was able to get the rebound and put it home.”
 

Campagna said the Sting deserved a better fate. “Obviously there’s room for improvement as a team. I thought we outplayed them in the first period even though we got behind. But we took the pedal off the medal in the second and third periods.”
 

Campagna, a fifth round draft pick, who played minor midget in Ohio last year, says he’s learning new things all the time.

“One of the biggest things is learning where my teammates are going to be. Most of the times they are where they are supposed to be. In minor midget it wasn’t like that all the time. We do have a lot of skilled players.”
 

The Attack took the lead again at 6:07 on a power play when Joey Hishon fired a rebound over a sprawled Raymond.

But the Sting squared matters at 7:30  with the man advantage when overager Steve Reese  knocked in a loose puck from the side of the Attack crease.
 

Owen Sound  notched their second power play goal at 14:07 when Mike Lomas scored from a sharp angle while Josh Moes extended the lead at 15:36  off a scramble in front of the Sting  goal.
 

There was only one goal of the second period. Owen Sound scored their third power play goal of the night at 18:38 when Garrett Wilson tipped in a goalmouth pass.
 

The best chance for the Sting came a minute before the goal when Preisinger rattled a shot from the slot off the goalpost.

Midway through the third period Sarnia had another shot go off the post, this time from Brett Appio on a passout. The Sting thought they had scored and a video review was needed before it was determined the puck did not enter the net.
 

Owen Sound held a 40-34 edge in shots on goal. Raymond made his first career start for the Sting and settled down after a shakey start.

“I’m sure he would like to have a couple of goals back, especially the third one,” said MacQueen, when asked about Raymond. “But I thought he played well in the second and third periods and kept us in the game. He had played well throughout training camp and deserved the start.”

Raymond made the team as a free agent after playing with the St. Marys junior B team a year ago.
 

Sarnia’s overage goalie, Adam Courchaine is currently with Providence of the American Hockey League, the top farm team of the Boston Bruins. It’s unclear when, or if Courchaine will return to the Sting.
 

The Sting return home for a pair of games this weekend. They host the Erie Otters on Friday and the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors on Saturday. Both games begin at 7:35 p.m. at the Sarnia Sports and Entertainment Centre.
 

“We come home for two games even though it’s not going to get any easier. Erie is an improved team while St. Michael’s is being touted as one of the teams to beat in the Eastern Conference. We’ll go over the video and work on our specialty teams in practice.”
 

• all three stars were from Owen Sound. First star Garrett Wilson had a goal and two assists, goalie Scott Stajcer was second star and Hishon third star. Ben O’Quinn assisted on both Sting goals.

• Ex-Sting Daniel Lombardi is on the move again. Lombardi has joined the Sudbury Wolves after a brief stint with the Belleville Bulls. Lombardi played 174 games over four years with the Sting had had 32 goals and 44 assists along with 215 penalty minutes.

• Former Sting captain Ryan Wilson has been sent to Cleveland of the American Hockey League by the Colorado Avalanche. Wilson was one of the last cuts by Colorado.

• Defenceman Mark Katic, who played four years with the Sting, is currently out of action with the New York Islanders in pre-season due to a shoulder injury.

• Two other ex-Sting players, Justin DiBenedetto and Matt Martin have played in NHL pre-season games for the Islanders.

• DiBenedetto was sent to Bridgeport of the AHL on Wednesday.

• scratches for the Sting last night were Daniel Broussard (hand), Zack MacQueen (head), Kyle Neuber (hand) and Anton Zupancic assigned to Sarnia Legionnaires Junior B team). Rookie forward Brandon Alderson played his first regular season game.