NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



Sarnia Sting

Depleted Sting Fall to Knights

January 17, 2015 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Sarnia Sting News Release


By DAVE BORODY

LONDON - The pre-game score sheet said it all.

With nine players out of the lineup and just seven regular forwards, the Sarnia Sting was supposed to be no match for the London Knights Saturday night.

However, those players who did play put forth a courageous effort before falling 5-3 to the Knights in front of 9.046 fans at the Budweiser Gardens.

The loss leaves the Sting with a 22-16-3-2 record in the Ontario Hockey League.

First of all, here's who wasn't dressed for Sarnia.

Noah Bushnell, Troy Lajeunesse, Brandon Lindberg, Pavel Zacha, Kevin Spinozzi, Patrick White, Matt Ciccarelli, goalie Justin Fazio and Nikita Korostelev.

All of those players are injured except for Bushnell who was serving the first of a two-game suspension for having two fights in the same game against Plymouth. (The rule used to be three fights, but the rule was changed this season).

That left head coach Trevor Letowski to juggle whatever forwards he had left. He added rookie call-up Chase Campbell along with defenceman Jeff King and Josh DeFarias up front.

King was playing his first game in almost a month after being sidelined with an upper body injury.

Sarnia had just 15 skaters. Goalie Shayne Battler of the Sarnia midgets dressed as a back up to starting goalie Taylor Dupuis.

And did I mention this was Sarnia's third game in as many nights.

"I'm really proud of our effort," said Letowski. "I thought last night (against Plymouth) was a gutsy effort, but we followed it up with a better one tonight. In the first period they really pushed us hard. Dupuis kept us in the game. But in the second and third periods, for what we had, it was an exciting game and good experience for our young guys."

He added, "Overall we didn't get the result we wanted, but we can't hang our heads. We had three 16 year-olds up front and they all played well."

London jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period as they outshot the Sting 19-6.

Cliff Pu scored the first goal at 10:05 while Aaron Berisha finished off an odd-man rush at 13:50.

The score could have been much higher except for Dupuis, who made several outstanding saves, including three on Maxi Domi.

But the second period belonged to the Sting as they outshot the Knights 8-4.

Sarnia cut the lead to 2-1 at 4:44 on a great individual effort by Davis Brown. He had his first shot stopped, but managed to knock in his own rebound while lying on the ice. Stephen Pierog and Campbell assisted on Brown's 15th goal of the season.

London went ahead 3-1 two minutes into period three on a power play goal by Julius Bergman.

But the Sting closed the gap to 3-2 at 9:32 when Jakob Chychrun deflected home a point shot from Connor Schlichting for his 10th of the year.

The gifted rearguard was moved up to play forward on that shift for the first time this season.

"Not this year, but I've had some forward experience," said Chychrun. "We needed a goal so I went up there. I went back and forth for a couple of shifts after that."

Letowski said he had no problems using his prized defenceman up front for a couple of shifts.

"It just shows what a special kid he is. I put him up there and sure enough we scored. It was kind of nice because that goal put us right there."

Unfortunately the Sting would get no closer as Christian Dvorak scored London's fourth goal at 13:29 while Mitch Marner scored into an open net with over a minute to play.

The Sting did not quit and Anthony Salinitri scored his third of the year at 19:29 whipping a backhand into the top corner.

London finished with a 40-33 edge in shots on goal.

The Sting now prepare for another weekend of three games in three nights.

It begins Friday when they make another trip to London to battle the Knights. Saturday night the ting returns home to take on the Windsor Spitfires beginning at 7:05 p.m. at the RBC Centre.

Those two teams then have a return engagement Sunday night in Windsor.

Tickets for Saturday's game and all remaining home games for the Sting are on sale daily at the RBC Box Office, by calling 519-541-1717 or going online at Sarniasting.com

STING NOTES

- Bergman was first star with Berisha second star and Chychrun third star. Chychrun now has 10 goals and 10 assists in 23 games.

- London is 4-0 against the Sting this season. They play two more times.

- For the first time in four games the Sting did an excellent job of containing London's top line.

- Sarnia falls to 9-10-2-0 on the road.

Dave Borody is a freelance writer who covers Sting games both home and away and also does features for the Sting Website.

Check out the Sarnia Sting Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Ontario Hockey League message board...

Ontario Hockey League Stories from January 17, 2015


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central