OHL Sarnia Sting

Sting Win 5th Straight

November 30, 2014 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Sarnia Sting News Release


By DAVE BORODY

They are doing it in different ways, but the important thing is they are winning hockey games.

The Sarnia Sting made it five straight victories with a hard-fought 4-3 victory over the Kingston Frontenacs, Sunday afternoon in front of 2,507 happy fans at the RBC Centre.

The five straight wins is a season high. Also, another season high is the fact they are two games over the .500 mark for the first time at 13-11-1-1.

Sarnia has won seven of their last eight in the Ontario Hockey League.

This win against Kingston did not come easy.

The Sting jumped out to what appeared to be a commanding 3-0 lead by the three-minute mark of the second period. They chased the Frontenacs starting goalie and it looked like they were in for an easy time the rest of the way.

That was not to be the case.

Kingston fought back with a pair of goals to cut the lead to 3-2. At that point the momentum had switched in Kingston's favour.

Sarnia did get an important shorthanded goal late in the period to take a 4-2 lead after two periods.

Kingston would not go away. They scored early in period three and held a 13-3 shot edge in the final period. But the Sting were able to hold on for a valuable two points against one of the elite teams in the league.

"We knew this was going to be a tough game," said Sting head coach, Trevor Letowski. "We watched the tape of their game against London. They have good depth, they come at you and they play well defensively. Their record might not show it now, but I expect they will be around at the end of the season."

"We bent a little bit, no question about it. But this one is special; even more than the Owen Sound win. We've been able to take the next step against an elite team and that's so important."

He added, "Our guys feel good about themselves right now. We are a different team than when the season started. I believed in this team since day one. We got off to a rough start, partly due to a tough schedule, but it's exciting. Winning sure helps a lot."

The Sting jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead.

Brandon Lindberg continued his fine play of late when he snapped home a quick shot for his ninth goal of the season. Patrick White and Anthony DeAngelo drew assists.

DeAngelo increased the lead to 2-0 at 17:28 on the power play when he sent home a high slapshot from the point for his seventh of the year. Lindberg and Kevin Spinozzi picked up assists.

Hayden Hodgson gave the Sting a 3-0 lead three minutes into period two when he wristed home a loose puck for his 10th of the year. Daniel Nikandrov assisted.

The Sting chased Kingston's starting netminder Lucas Peressini who allowed three goals on 11 shots.

But the Sting got complacent, especially in their own end and Kingston took full advantage.

Ryan Kujawinski scored for Kingston on a power play goal at 5:23 while Juho Lammikko took advantage of a Sting turnover to score at 10:10.

The Sting were back on their heels at this point, but got a big shorthanded goal at 18:47 when Troy Lajeunesse finished off a two-on-one break with Stephen Pierog.

"That fourth goal was a huge one," said Letowski. "Pierog made the play. They (Kingston) were coming hard. That goal gave us some relief."

The assist by Pierog was his first point in six games since joining the team in a trade. But Letowski says points don't tell the entire story.

"Stephen has come in here and done everything we've expected. He's a true leader both on and off the ice. That's so important with a young team. He's been the glue holding this team together."

The Frontenacs would not go away and trimmed the lead to 4-3 at 1:49 of period three on a goal by Samuel Schutt.

Kingston had the better scoring chances the rest of the way, but Sting goalie Taylor Dupuis closed the door.

Dupuis turned aside 35 of 38 shots and provided another solid performance.

"It's getting to the point of expecting a big game from him every night," said Letowski. "We had hoped Taylor would take the next step this season after what he showed last year. He's done that and to me is one of the elite goalies in this league."

Sarnia fired 23 shots on two Kingston goalies.

The Sting now prepare for another weekend of three games in three days. They host North Bay Friday at 7:05 p.m., play in Saginaw Saturday night, and will be home Sunday to battle the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds at 4:05 p.m. The Sunday game will mark the 17th annual Teddy Bear Toss.

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

STING NOTES

- Lindberg was first star with Kujawinski second star and DeAngelo third star. Lindberg has now scored in four straight games. DeAngelo now leads all OHL defencemen in scoring with seven goals and 20 assists for 27 points.

- Sarnia was one-for-four on the power play and Kingston one-for-six.

- The Sting improved to 6-4-0-1 on home ice.

- With 28 points, Sarnia sits in seventh spot in the Western Conference, but is only one point back of both Owen Sound and Guelph.

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

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