OHL Sarnia Sting

Sting Come Back to Down Otters

January 8, 2015 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Sarnia Sting News Release


By DAVE BORODY

Connor McDavid of the Erie Otters dazzled fans in Sarnia with his individual play Thursday night.

However, it was a gigantic come from behind team effort by the Sarnia Sting that sent the crowd home with smiles on their faces.

Down 3-0 late in the second period, the Sting rallied with four unanswered goals, including two in the final minute of regulation time to post a thrilling 4-3 victory in front of 3,221 delirious fans at the RBC Centre.

Defenceman Jakob Chychrun scored the winning goal with 2.7 seconds left on the clock after a wild scramble around the Erie goal.

The Sting tied the game with 47.6 seconds remaining with their goalie on the bench for an extra attacker. Jordan Kyrou scored that one while Kyrou also got Sarnia close at 16:40.

McDavid, fresh off his gold medal performance on Monday night at the world juniors for Canada, helped stake Erie to what appeared to be a commanding 3-0 lead with a highlight-reel goal. He also had several other great chances, including missing on a breakaway in the second period.

Sting head coach Trevor Letowski couldn't hide the smile on his face after the game.

"Let's face it. A lot of things went right for us tonight down the stretch. But we gave ourselves a chance because we executed our game plan. Erie is the fourth-ranked team in the country and they had all their horses going. We had just four regular defencemen and used forward Brandon Lindberg back there and he did a great job.

"When we got down 3-0 in the second, we still created scoring chances. Even though we didn't score then we kept chipping away in the third period and finally got rewarded. But we stuck to the game plan."

Letowski said the win was special for a lot of reasons.

"When the coaching staff sees the team battling back again tonight, like we did in Saginaw and in London, it shows the team is resilient and that's a great sign. Remember it was an interesting day around here. We said goodbye to Anthony (DeAngelo, who was traded to Sault Ste. Marie), and there were a lot of emotions.

"We sat down with our leadership group and we talked about how tough this game would be. But the team rallied around one another and came away with two points."

Lost in the shuffle of the incredible come from behind win was the fact the Sting snapped a three-game losing streak and moved into fifth place in the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League.

After a sleepy first period where the shots were even at seven apiece, the Otters exploded for three goals in just over two minutes in period two.

After McDavid had the puck roll off his stick on a breakaway early in the period, Erie took a 1-0 lead at 15:06 when Nicholas Baptiste scored on a rebound. McDavid increased the lead to 2-0 at 16:28 when he split the Sting defence and slipped the puck past goalie Taylor Dupuis.

Erie went up 3-0 at 17:21 when Taylor Raddysh scored from close range.

Sarnia finally hit the scoresheet at 18:49 when Alex Renaud snapped home a high wrist shot from the left side. Daniel Nikandrov and Noah Bushnell assisted on Renaud's fifth goal of the year.

Renaud almost scored again early in period three when he ripped another wrist shot off the cross bar.

Sarnia closed the gap to 3-2 at 16:40 when Kyrou scored from close range after a nice kick pass from Alex Black. Pavel Zacha also assisted.

The Sting pulled their goalie with 1:20 remaining and tied the game with 47.6 seconds left as Kyrou knocked in a loose puck from close range. Nikandrov and Chychrun drew assists on Kyrou's seventh goal.

Just when it appeared the game was heading for overtime, Nikandrov and Stephen Pierog did some nice forechecking in the Otters zone. Somehow the puck came in front to Chychrun, who snuck in from the left point and his shot found the back of the net for the game-winner, his seventh of the year.

Erie held a 31-23 edge in shots on goal. Dupuis was solid between the pipes for the Sarnia while Devin Williams took the loss.

Prior to the game the Sting presented plaques to McDavid, Zacha and DeAngelo, who also played at the world junior tournament.

Letowski said watching McDavid at ice-level shows even more why McDavid will likely by the top pick in the 2015 National Hockey League draft.

"It's easy to see why he is a dynamic player. He's a threat to score every time he's on the ice. He's so consistent in his game and plays the game hard. He doesn't take any shifts off. Coming off the world juniors he could have taken it easy, but he's didn't. He's so impressive."

The Sting had newcomer Anthony Salinitri in the lineup. He was obtained from Sault Ste. Marie in the DeAngelo deal.

"I thought he played well," said Letowski. "He has good speed and I think he's going to fit in well with our group. He made some good plays despite making the long trip down here in order to play tonight."

The Sting resume action Friday night when they are scheduled to travel to Owen Sound to battle the Attack. They return home Saturday to take on the Guelph Storm for the first time this season beginning at 7:05 p.m. at the RBC Centre.

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

STIN G NOTES

- Kyrou was first star with McDavid second star and Chychrun third star.

"Kyrou is a pretty special player," said Letowski. "You can see the emotion when he scores. He's starting to get his points now and he's scoring some big goals as a 16-year-old.

- Nikandrov chipped in with three assists.

- Sarnia had four 16 year-olds in their lineup, Chychrun, Kyrou, Salinitri and Chase Campbell.

- Only three minor penalties were called, two to Erie. All seven goals were at even strength.

- There were over 20 NHL scouts at the game watching McDavid, Zacha and Dylan Strome, who will all be high picks come June.

- Sarnia won for the first time in four attempts against Erie this season. They do not play again in the regular schedule.

- Sarnia improved to 19-15-2-2 and 11-6-0-2 on home ice.

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 January 8, 2015


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