OHL Sarnia Sting

Sting Fall to North Bay

November 2, 2014 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Sarnia Sting News Release


By DAVE BORODY

NORTH BAY - The Sarnia Sting let one slip away Sunday afternoon.

The Sting saw a 5-2 lead evaporate in the second period and the North Bay Battalion went on to defeat the Sting 8-5 in front of 3,398 fans at the North Bay Memorial Gardens.

The loss prevented the Sting from gaining a sweep of their three-game northern Ontario road trip. Their record fell to 6-7-1-1 in the Ontario Hockey League.

After scoring the game's opening goal, the Sting fell behind 2-1 after the first period.

But Sarnia exploded for four straight goals in 14 minutes in the second period to take what appeared to be a 5-2 advantage.

However, the home team would not quit. North Bay would scored twice late in the second frame to cut the deficit to 5-4.

The third period belonged to the Battalion as they tied the game midway through the period, scored what turned out to be the winning goal at 15:25 on a power play and then scored a pair of open net goals in the final minute.

"Our penalty-killing was disappointing," said Sting head coach, Trevor Letowski as he watched North Bay scored three times with the man advantage on five attempts.

"We got up 5-2 in the second and took a penalty. We gave up a power play goal and we let a good team back into the game. We took it to them for much of the second period, but gave up those late goals. They scored the winning goal in the third period on another power play."

He added, "We didn't get it done. There are still some growing pains. It's not easy to win on the road in this league. We aren't quite there yet, (when it comes to protecting leads)."

Justin Fazio started in goal for the Sting. He was lifted after the fifth North Bay goal. He allowed five goals on 26 shots. Taylor Dupuis took over and gave up one goal on seven shots, (the other two coming into an open net).

North Bay also used two goalies as starter Evan Cormier was yanked in the second period after allowing four goals on just 10 shots. Jake Smith finished giving up one goal on 14 shots.

Nikita Korostelev (9th), Pavel Zacha (7th), Haydon Hodgson (7th), Daniel Nikandrov (3rd) and Troy Lajeunesse (3rd), scored for the Sting. Anthony DeAngelo and Davis Brown each chipped in with a pair of assists.

Nick Paul led the Battalion with three goals while singles went to Marcus McIvor, Alex Henriksson, Jared Steege, Zack Bratina and Brenden Miller. Bratina's goal turned out to be the game winner with just under five minutes to play.

Sarnia scored on both of their power play opportunities while North Bay was three-for-five.

The Sting will remain on the road for a pair of games to complete five straight away from home as Friday they travel to Erie to take on the unbeaten Otters while Saturday night they will be in St. Catharines to battle the Niagara IceDogs.

Sarnia does not return home until Friday, Oct. 14th when the Oshawa Generals come to town. The Sting will also be home the next night to the Sudbury Wolves. Both games begin at 7:05 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

- Sarnia lost for the first time when leading after the second period. Going into the game they were 6-0-0-0 went ahead after 40 minutes.

- Paul was first star with Steege second star and Sarnia's DeAngelo third star.

- Rookie rearguard Alex Black picked up his first OHL point, gaining an assist on Lajeunesse's goal.

- Sarnia is now 4-5-1-0 on the road.

- The Sting went with the same lineup as Friday in Sudbury.

- The two teams meet again Dec. 5th in Sarnia.

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 November 2, 2014


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central