OHL Sarnia Sting

IceDogs Blank Sting 2-0

Published on November 9, 2014 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Sarnia Sting News Release


ST. CATHARINES - The Sarnia Sting dropped a 2-0 decision to the Niagara IceDogs, Saturday night in front of 3,983 fans at the recently opened Meridian Centre.

After winning their opening two games on a five game road trip, the Sting dropped three in a row. It leaves them with a 6-9-1-1 record in the Ontario Hockey League.

"It's frustrating," said Sting head coach Trevor Letowski. "It was a game we really needed. We had a long meeting earlier in the day and stressed the importance of getting back on track.

"There were penalties right off the start. They scored on a five-on-three. We lost Pavel (Zacha) early and it was a cluster after that. But our penalty-killing kept us in the game and Taylor Dupuis gave us a chance with his effort in goal."

The Sting already shorthanded to start the game lost high-scoring forward Pavel Zacha just six minutes into the game when he was tagged with a match penalty for slew footing. (Zacha could face suspension after a review by the league).

Sarnia finished the game with 10 forwards. Defenceman Jeff King was moved up to right wing.

"We were already short up front and then lose our top guy down the middle makes it hard. We were looking for line combinations the remainder of the game. Killing off all the penalties makes it doubly tough with guys getting tired."

Letowski added, "We took 17 minor penalties in our last two games. You can't do that and expect to win games in this league. We need to clean that up. I still think we are right there and I believe in this group. We just need to break through that barrier."

Niagara opened the scoring with a two-man advantage at 7:44 of period one when Blake Siebenaler drilled home a slapshot from the point.

Sarnia had only six shots in the period. They enjoyed a five-on-three power play for 1:18, but got just one shot on goal.

There was no scoring in a wide open second period as Niagara held a 19-12 edge in shots on goal. Sting netminder Taylor Dupuis made four point blank saves to keep his team to within in a goal.

"Even though we hadn't scored after two periods, I still thought we could steal this one. We were only down by one even though we spent a lot of time in the penalty box. Unfortunately we couldn't get it done in the third period," said Letowski.

Sarnia enjoyed three straight minutes of power play time early in period three, but managed just two shots on goal.

Niagara took a 2-0 lead at 9:24 when Cody Payne chipped home a centering pass from close range.

Brent Moran turned aside 27 shots to record the shutout for Niagara. Dupuis was peppered with 46 shots.

Niagara was one-for-nine on the power play and Sarnia zero-for-seven.

The Sting returns home for a pair of games next weekend. They will host the Oshawa Generals Friday night and battle the Sudbury Wolves Saturday night. Both games begin at 7:05 p.m. at the RBC Centre.

The Oshawa game will feature former Sting star Jon Sim in attendance as the team celebrates their 50-goal scorers. Saturday's game with Sudbury will have a special Star Wars theme. Also, non-perishable food items will be collected for the Inn of the Good Shepherd.

(See more details on both of these special events on the Sting website).

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

Check out the Sarnia Sting Statistics

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from November 9, 2014


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