OHL Sarnia Sting

Sting Down Saginaw at the DOW

November 27, 2014 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Sarnia Sting News Release


By DAVE BORODY

SAGINAW, Mich. - Backed by the solid goaltending of Taylor Dupuis, the Sarnia Sting posted a 3-1 win over the Saginaw Spirit Wednesday night in front of 2,352 fans at the Dow Event Centre.

The win was the second in as many games against Saginaw, while the Sting have now won three of their last four.

Sarnia improved to 10-11-1-1 in the Ontario Hockey League with the win. Sarnia, Saginaw and Plymouth all share seventh place in the Western Conference with 22 points apiece. (Sarnia has a game in hand on both teams).

Dupuis won his third consecutive start between the pipes. His performance, especially in the second period earned him first star honours. Dupuis turned aside 32 of 33 shots he faced.

Head Coach Trevor Letowski spoke about Dupuis' performance, "Dupuis has been good for us all year. He made some big saves in the second period that switched the momentum in our favour."

Letowski adds, "Our special teams were also good. I rolled four lines the entire ame and we played with tempo."

Regarding the win, "Its never easy winning on the road. I thought we managed the game well and had a good third period. That's a real good sign - we didn't give up much."

The Sting played without forward Pavel Zacha, who was given a six-game suspension by the league for a hit on Travis Wood last Friday night at the RBC Centre. Zacha was assessed a five-minute charging major and game misconduct.

Zacha, the first player selected in the 2014 CHL European Draft, and is also rated in the top 10 for the upcoming 2015 National Hockey League draft. He is currently third in Sting scoring with seven goals and 10 assists in 19 games. He is eligible to return to the lineup Dec. 6th.

The Sting got off to a good start; jumping out to a 2-0 lead before the game was 11 minutes old.

Ex-Spirit, Brandon Lindberg, opened the scoring for Sarnia at 6:07 when he backhanded home his own rebound. Jordan Kyrou assisted on Lindberg's sixth goal of the year.

Hayden Hodgson notched his ninth of the year for the Sting at 10:34 when he cut around the defence and slipped the puck past goalie Jake Paterson. Alex Renaud and Daniel Nikandrov picked up the assists.

Saginaw got their only goal of the game at 17:18 of the first frame on a shot from Tye Felhaber.

Dupuis stole the show in the second period with his brilliant play. He stopped a pair of breakaways early in the period and then forced a Saginaw player to shoot wide on another breakaway.

Dupuis also made several point blank saves as the Sting killed off a pair of penalties.

The Sting offence came alive on a power play at 17:10 when Noah Bushnell banged home a rebound into an open net. Anthony DeAngelo and Hodgson notched assists on Bushnell's second goal of the season.

The Sting then put together one of the best defensive performances of the year in period 3; allowing only a handful of Spirit scoring opportunities. When those opportunities did come, Dupuis was there to shut the door.

Sarnia was one-for-two on the power play while their penalty kill was sharp again as Saginaw was zero-for-four.

Saginaw had a 33-30 edge in shots on goal.

Next action for the Sting comes this weekend when they will encounter another three games in three days.

It begins Friday night when they host the Owen Sound Attack beginning at 7:05 p.m. at the RBC Centre. Saturday night Sarnia will be in Plymouth to battle the Whalers for the first time this season. They complete the weekend on Sunday when they take on the Kingston Frontenacs at 4:05 p.m. at the RBC Centre.

Fans are reminded Sunday's game features tickets for only $6 for children. There will also be an autograph session in the Hive following the game as the Sting introduce their 2014-15 Player Card Sets.

STING NOTES

- Players not dressed for the Sting included Jakob Chychrun, Connor Schlichting and Matt Ciccarelli, all injured.

- DeAngelo now has 24 points and is second in scoring for OHL defencemen. Jordan Subban of Belleville and Mitchell Vander Sompel of Oshawa share top spot with 25 points each.

- Ex-Sting Nikolay Goldobin has played nine games for HIFK Helsinki team in the Finnish Hockey League. The 19 year-old has five goals and four assists and is a minus-four. Goldobin was selected in the first round (27th overall), by the San Jose Sharks in the 2014 NHL Draft.

- Sarnia improved to 6-7-1-0 on the road.

- The Sting have taken seven out of eight points against the Spirit this year. They still play four more times.

- Dupuis was first star with Kyrou second star and Felhaber third star.

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

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from November 27, 2014


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