OHL Sarnia Sting

Sting Top Wolves 4-1

Published on November 1, 2014 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Sarnia Sting News Release


By DAVE BORODY

SUDBURY - Hayden Hodgson fired a pair of goals, including the winner in leading the Sarnia Sting to a 4-1 victory over the Sudbury Wolves Friday night at the Sudbury Arena.

The win was Sarnia's second in as many nights as they improved their overall record to 6-6-1-1 in the Ontario Hockey League.

Hodgson scored both his goals in the first period to give the Sting a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes. Sarnia scored the lone goal late in the second period before the teams traded goal in period three.

"It was nice to get those two goals in the first period," said Hodgson, when asked about his first, two-goal game of hi OHL career. "It would have been nice to get a hat trick, but the important thing was we got the two points."

Hodgson now has six goals this season, three of those coming in the past two games.

"I think I'm working the puck down low better and using my body to my advantage. I also like being in front of the net and having that net presence. That's the key to my game."

Sting head coach Trevor Letowski says he likes the way Hodgson has responded over the past couple of weeks.

"We weren't real happy with him early in the year. There wasn't a lot of structure in his game. We've all worked hard to simplify his game. He can score goals, there's no question about that. He can shoot the puck. We know Hayden can play an important role for us. It's nice to see him get going."

Troy Lajeunesse, with his second of the year and Brandon Lindberg, with his fifth, scored the other Sting goals. Daniel Nikandrov chipped in with a pair of assists.

Nicolas Baptiste scored for Sudbury on a power play with just under seven minutes to play to spoil Taylor Dupuis' shutout bid.

Dupuis, making his second straight start, turned aside 41 of 42 shots he faced. He made a number of splendid saves and was the game's first star.

"There's no question Taylor was the difference tonight," said Letowski. "He made some outstanding saves. This wasn't a pretty game. We lost our structure a bit and were a little loose. We got running around at times in our own net. But the good part we still created a lot of scoring chances."

Hodgson notched his first goal at 4:45 of period one on the power play. From behind the net he banked a shot off the goalies back and into the net.

His second goal came at 18:37 when he took a pass from Nikandrov on a two-on-one break and snapped a shot into the top corner of the net.

The only goal of period two came with 41.3 seconds remaining with a shorthanded marker. Patrick White had a partial breakaway, but his shot was stopped by Wolves goalie Troy Timpano.

However, Lajeunesse followed up the play and jammed the rebound into the net.

Sudbury, who has now lost 13 in a row after winning their season opener, finally solved Dupuis at 13:16 of period three on the power play.

But it took some hard work as Baptiste lifted a rebound over Dupuis after the Sting goalie had made two stops from close range.

There were some tense moments in the Sarnia zone in the last five minutes of the game before Lindberg scored into an open net with a minute and a half to go.

The game was a wide-open affair, a track meet at times as both times threw caution to the wind. Sudbury finished with a 42-40 edge in shots on goal.

Sarnia finished one-for-three on the power play and Sudbury one-for-four.

The Sting completes its three-game Northern Ontario road trip Sunday afternoon when they are in North Bay to battle the Battalion. Game time is 2:05 p.m. (CHOK Radio 1070).

STING NOTES

- Dupuis was first star with Timpano second star and Hodgson third star.

- The Sting made one lineup change as rookie defenceman Jake O'Donnell was in for Zachary Core. O'Donnell has been playing with the Sarnia Legionnaires junior B team.

- Nikita Korostelev of the Sting had his consecutive games points streak snapped at eight games.

- Sarnia also climbed to the .500 mark in road games at 4-4-1-0. Nine of Sarnia's 14 games so far have been away from home.

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

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from November 1, 2014


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