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OHL Sarnia Sting

Otters Take Game 4 in OT

April 1, 2015 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Sarnia Sting News Release


By DAVE BORODY

The Sarnia Sting came oh so close to tieing up their Ontario Hockey League playoff series with the Erie Otters on Tuesday night.

But when the dust had settled it was the Otters who posted a 4-3-overtime victory in front of another sell out crowd of 4,522 fans at the RBC Centre.

Dylan Strome scored at 10:35 of overtime to provide Erie with the victory and take a 3-1 lead in the best of the seven series.

It now presents a must-win situation for the Sting in game five Friday night in Erie. They must win to force a sixth game back in Sarnia on Sunday.

The Sting had another great start as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead after one period. But the Otters scored a goal in the second period and then tied the game up with two goals, 25 seconds apart early in the third period.

"I didn't think we had it tonight even though we got up 3-0," said Sting head coach Trevor Letowski. "We looked tired and we ran out of gas. We went with four defencemen most of the game. We battled hard. It's frustrating to lose."

Sarnia has stayed right with Erie almost stride for stride since the series began. They have lost three games by a total of four goals."

The Sting started quickly when Hayden Hodgson opened the scoring just 42 seconds into the game as he knocked in a rebound from close range. Davis Brown and Daniel Nikandrov drew assists.

Sarnia made it 2-0 at 2:57 with a shorthanded goal as Kevin Spinozzi sent home a wrist shot between the goalies legs on a three-on-one break. Stephen Pierog gained the lone assist.

After Nikita Korostelev hit a goal post, Sarnia extended their lead to 3-0 a minute later when Jordan Kyrou snapped a wrist shot into the top corner of the net from the high slot. Josh Defarias assisted.

The goal chased Otters starting goalie Devin Williams who allowed three goals on six shots. Daniel Dekoning took over and shut the door on the Sting the rest of the way.

A cautious second period saw Erie score the only goal at 8:42 when Kyle Maksimovich came off the sideboards and wristed a low shot past Sting goalie Taylor Dupuis.

Erie tied the game early in the third stanza. Travis Dermott scored at 46 seconds while Taylor Raddysh jammed home a loose puck at 1:11.

The Sting did a good job of limiting great scoring chances from Erie, but Sarnia managed just four shots in the second period and three in the third.

The overtime session saw both goalies make some critical saves. Dupuis stopped Strome on a breakaway at the 5:20 mark only to see Strome get the game winner at 10:35 on a wrist shot.

Letowski said he was frustrated with the fact he felt a penalty should have been called on Erie in their zone in overtime.

"They came back down the ice and scored the winner."

The Otters finished with a 44-20 edge in shots on goal, including 6-3 in overtime. Neither team scored on the power play as Sarnia was zero-for-two and Erie zero-for-three.

Letowski feels the series is not over yet.

"We'll play hard down there. We will come and battle. We've been right there in every game. We easily could be up in the series."

STING NOTES

- Strome was first star with Dupuis second star and Sting defenceman Kevin Spinozzi third star.

- An octopus was thrown on the ice after the first Sting goal to the delight of enthusiastic crowd.

- The 50-50 draw was over $6,000.

- Otters star Connor McDavid was held to one assist.

- The Sting made two lineup changes as Brandon Lindberg and Josh DeFarias played for the first time while Patrick White and Jake O'Donnell were scratched. Sarnia was again missing defenceman Jakob Chychrun with an upper body injury.

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

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from April 1, 2015


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