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Gems Win Third Straight Game

November 19, 2011 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Dayton Gems News Release


Bloomington, ILL - In his first start as a Gem, veteran netminder Larry Sterling would backstop his Gems to a convincing 3-2 win over the Bloomington Blaze inside the US Cellular Coliseum in downtown Bloomington, Illinois on Saturday night.

Recently acquired veteran netminder Larry Sterling would be tested by the Blaze early, making key saves to set up the Gems offensive machinery to begin the game. Just 2:15 into the opener, Dayton's top line of Brett Lutes and Damian Surma would set up a centering feed in front of Blaze goalie Marco Emond for centerman Jon Ornelas to blast in his fifth goal of the season to take a quick 1-0 lead. Sterling would come up big on a number of Blaze chances, as would Emond, but neither team would be able to light the lamp in the remaining minutes, seeing the Gems skate into the first intermission ahead 1-0. Bloomington would edge Dayton in shots on goal in the first twenty minutes 13-7.

Dayton would continue to pressure the Blaze with an end to end tempo to kick off the middle period, counting on Sterling to shine between the pipes. The game would take a controversial shade as the game approached the midway mark when a scramble in front of Sterling's net was tipped up into the air and landed on the back of the net. Expecting the whistle, and with a number of opponents crowding the crease, the Gems watched Bloomington's Jon Booras knock it down and slide it past the goal line for the hometown Blaze's first goal at 8:54. Visibly shaken by the goal to tie the game 1-1, Dayton's Brett Lutes took it upon himself to cash in on a James Sanford centering pass to snap a shot past Emond to reclaim the one goal lead less than two minutes later at the 10:06 mark. Both teams would continue to battle on each end, earning quality chances, but Dayton would hold onto the 2-1 score at the horn after forty minutes of play. Shots in the third were deadlocked at 9-9 for a two period total of 22-16 in favor of the Blaze.

The third period would see end to end action throughout, before the Blaze turned up the heat in the closing minutes led by Bloomington's second goal of the night, catching Sterling back in his crease to again tie the game at the 15:56 mark. Like a replay of the second period, Dayton would answer with the go-ahead goal less than a minute later when Tim Hartung meandered his way past the Blaze defense to pop a shot top shelf on Emond at 16:44. The remainder of regulation would be all Sterling, as he kept the Gems ahead right to the final horn when he made a stretching save as the horn blew to secure the 3-2 win in his first appearance as a Dayton Gem. Final shots on goal favored the Blaze 38-24, while they would end the game 1 for 5 on the powerplay compared to Dayton's 0 for 4 with the man advantage.

With the win, the Gems improve their record to 5-4-3, 13pts, and take all six potential weekend points with them back to Dayton to prepare for Wednesday night's game against the Quad City Mallards on Cassano's Italian Ice at Hara Arena. Gametime is set for 7pm, with tickets available by calling the Gems ticket office at 275-7777 or by visiting www.DaytonGems.com.

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