OHL Sarnia Sting

Sting Fall to Erie at Home

Published on November 22, 2014 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Sarnia Sting News Release


By DAVE BORODY

The Erie Otters may not have superstar Connor McDavid in the lineup for a while, but they are still a good hockey team.

The Otters scored a 7-1 victory over the Sarnia Sting, Friday night in front of 2,848 fans at the RBC Centre.

Erie scored on their first shot on goal at 1:53 of the opening period and never looked back. They led 2-0 after the first period and 4-1 after the second.

"We dug a hole early," said Sting head coach, Trevor Letowski. "We gave up a power play goal after the first one to get behind 2-0. They scored early in the second period to go up 3-0 and that was a backbreaker."

The Erie power play was more than effective scoring on all three of their man advantage opportunities. They improved their record 18-3-0-1, tops in the Western Conference.

"We've played them three times now and in each game they have scored three power play goals. That's tough," said Letowski.

Letowski said he was disappointed in the fact the Sting is having problems beating the good teams in the league.

"That's one of our issues right now. We talked about it before the game. In order for us to move up we need to compete harder against teams like Erie. I thought we were ready tonight to get it done. But when you get down early against good teams, that hurts."

To make matters worse, the Sting lost forward Pavel Zacha late in the second period when he was handed a five-minute charging penalty and automatic game misconduct.

It was Zacha's second game back in the lineup after serving a two-game suspension for a slew-foot against Niagara.

Dylan Strome led the Erie attack with a goal and three assists. He was the game's first star. Patrick Murphy and Taylor Raddysh added two goals each while Alex DeBrincat and Kyle Maksimovich had one apiece.

Anthony DeAngelo scored the lone Sting goal, his fourth of the season with Josh Chapman and Daniel Nikandrov drawing assists.

DeAngelo was handed a 10-minute misconduct following the Zacha hit late in the second period. After serving the misconduct, DeAngelo did not see the ice for the remainder of the game.

Erie held a 35-22 edge in shots on goal. Daniel Dekoning was the winning goalie while Justin Fazio took the loss. Despite giving up seven goals, Fazio made a number of fabulous stops.

The Sting had newcomer Stephen Pierog in the lineup. He was acquired in a trade from Guelph. Pierog began the game on a line with Nikandrov and Alex Renaud, but as the game went on, he played with several different line combinations.

Sarnia finished zero-for-four on the power play.

The loss leaves the Sting with an 8-11-1-1 record in the Ontario Hockey League.

Sarnia returns to action Sunday afternoon when they host the Saginaw Spirit. Game time is 4:05 p.m. at the RBC Centre.

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

Fans are reminded kids tickets are just $6 for Sunday's game and there will also be a skate with the Sting players following the game.

STING NOTES

- Not dressed for the Sting were Davis Brown (flu), along with Matt Ciccarelli, Jakob Chychrun and Connor Schlichting, (all injured).

- Sarnia and Erie meet one more time this season.

- Sarnia is now 3-4-0-1 on home ice.

- The Sting was credited with only two shots in the third period.

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

Check out the Sarnia Sting Statistics



Ontario Hockey League Stories from November 22, 2014


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