OHL Sarnia Sting

Sting Blanked on Family Day

February 16, 2015 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Sarnia Sting News Release


By DAVE BORODY

Take away the first six minutes of the hockey game and the Sarnia Sting played a decent game against the powerful Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.

Unfortunately Ontario Hockey League games are 60 minutes and not 54.

Sault Ste. Marie scored three times in the opening six minutes and went on to defeat the Sting 6-0, Monday afternoon in front of 3,789 fans at the RBC Centre.

"When you give up goals like that early it's tough because you dig a big hole against one of the best teams in the league," said Sting head coach, Trevor Letowski.

The Greyhounds jumped out to a quick lead just 36 seconds into the game, Goals at 3:29 and 5:44 staked the visitors to a commanding 3-0 advantage.

Sault Ste. Marie scored again before the period ended and led 4-0 after 20 minutes. They scored single goals in the second and third periods.

But the always-positive Letowski said he liked the way his team played after the poor start.

"I thought we had a good response in the second period. It was one of our best this season. We challenged the players after the first period to fight back. They did that and it caused Sault Ste. Marie to call a timeout in the second period. The Soo is not used to getting outplayed like that."

Letowski added, "Their goalie made some big saves and we just couldn't buy a goal, especially in the second period."

The head coach said he was not disappointed to get three out of six points over the past three games.

"We've been real busy lately and have played a lot of hockey with a depleted lineup. We had three tough games against three good teams in Guelph, Niagara and Sault Ste. Marie. To come out with three points sets us up for a nice finish. We are playing the right way. The players can use a much-needed day off and then get excited for the upcoming weekend."

Brandon Halverson kicked out all 30 shots he faced to record his third shutout of the season for the Greyhounds. Taylor Dupuis played the first period before giving way to Justin Fazio in periods two and three for the Sting. Together they faced 34 shots.

Michael Bunting led the Greyhounds with two goals while Anthony DeAngelo, Keigan Goetz, Jared McCann and Justin Bailey added singles. All six goals came at even strength.

Sarnia was zero-for-three on the power play and Sault Ste. Marie zero-for-one.

Next action for the Sting is Friday when they host the Owen Sound Attack. Game time is 7:05 p.m. at the RBC Centre.

On Saturday night the Sting travel to Plymouth to battle the Whalers. They return home Sunday to take on arch-rival London Knights beginning at 4:05 p.m. at the RBC Centre.

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

STING NOTES

- The Sting honoured DeAngelo prior to the game as the all-time leading scorer for Sting defencemen. He was traded to the Greyhounds on Jan. 10th and playing three and a half seasons in Sarnia.

- The Sting also paid tribute to 10 players who accumulated 100 or more points in one season while with the team. One of the 10, Aaron Brand was on hand. The others include Peter Sarno, (who holds the team record at 130 points), Jon Sim, Trevor Letowski, Kris Newbury, Joey Tenute, Daniel Sisca, Steven Stamkos, Nail Yakupov and Charlie Sarault.

- Both teams observed a moment's silence in memory of ex-OHLer, Steve Montador, who died on the weekend. The 35 year-old played four years in the OHL for North Bay, Erie and Peterborough before playing in the National Hockey League for 10 years.

- Sarnia once again played with only 18 players and six players remain out of the lineup with injuries or a suspension. A couple of those injured players could be back this weekend.

- The Sting has only 13 games left in the regular schedule.

- Sarnia's overall record sits at 25-23-4-3 and their home record 15-8-8-2.

- Sault Ste. Marie has won three of four games against the Sting this season. The teams meet two more times.

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



Ontario Hockey League Stories from February 16, 2015


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