OHL Sarnia Sting

Sting Win in Shootout Thriller

Published on March 15, 2014 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Sarnia Sting News Release


Captain Nick Latta wanted his last home game ever at the RBC Centre to be a memorable one.

He got his wish.

Latta scored the winning goal in a shootout to provide the Sarnia Sting with a wild 7-6 win over the Kitchener Rangers, Thursday night in front of 2,951 fans.

"It feels great," said Latta as he, along with the team's other overager, Jimmy McDowell, saluted the Sting faithful after the game as the pair was named first and second stars, respectively.

"I think that's my first shootout goal this season. I've had a few chances, but it's nice to finally get one and win the game. Usually I have a set move, but this time I didn't and it worked."

Latta talked about his four years with the Sting.

"I have mixed emotions right now. It's sad to leave the Sting after four great years. I want to thank everyone in the organization for what they have done for me. The fans here are awesome. They don't get enough credit. We've had lots of ups and downs, but they have always supported us."

Latta is expected to go to Hartford Monday to join the New York Rangers' American Hockey League team.

Sting head coach Trevor Letowski said to see Latta get the game-winner was special.

"It means a lot. He's a great kid and the guys on the team can learn a lot from him. For two years he didn't play much and faced a lot of adversity. He could have gone home (Germany), but he didn't. He worked hard and after a decent third year with 17 goals, he was rewarded this season. It couldn't have happened to a better guy."

Latta has 36 goals and 64 points this season.

Letowski added, "When we named Nick captain a couple of months ago, I told the players that Nick is the type of player you want to be a leader on your team."

The Sting provided the fans with plenty of drama for their last home game.

They jumped out to a 4-0 lead after one period and held a 5-1 lead early in the second before the Rangers roared back to tie the game at 5 after 40 minutes. The Rangers took a 6-5 lead early in the third period before the Sting forced overtime with a goal at 13:46.

Sarnia outshot Kitchener 8-0 in the five-minute overtime and held a two-man advantage for a minute and a half, but failed to score. Latta and Hayden Hodgson both ripped shots off the post."

"It's never easy," smiled Letowski, who watched his team snap a six-game losing streak, while they have won just five games since January 1.

"We came out strong and got that four-goal lead. But the strange thing was we aren't used to a big lead. Obviously we didn't handle it well. We knew they would come hard in the second period and they got a couple of bounces. But we stayed in the fight. Nikita Korostelev was impressive. He got in a fight in the third period that changed the game around and then scored the tying goal. He's the type of guy you build a team around and win with."

Korostelev tied a career high with two goals and two assists. The first-round pick in last year's draft has 16 goals this season.

Nikolay Goldobin ended his nine-game goal drought with two highlight-reel goals, giving him 37 on the season, tops on the club. He also had one assist.

Kevin Spinozzi (5th) and Matteo Ciccarelli (2nd) scored the other Sting goals.

Nick Magyar led Kitchener with two goals while Brent Pederson, Mason Kohn, Darby Llewllyn and Dominik Kubalik added singles.

Kitchener finished with a 37-36 edge in shots on goal with Taylor Dupuis getting the win in goal for Sarnia while Jordan DeKort took the loss.

Sarnia was zero-for-two on the power play with both power plays coming in overtime. Kitchener was one-for-two with the man advantage.

The Sting have two road games remaining to complete their Ontario Hockey League season as they play in Guelph Friday night and travel to Erie Saturday night.

STING NOTES

-         Latta was first star with McDowell second star and Korostelev third star. Spinnozzi was named the team's hardest-working player of the game.

-         Sarnia split four games with Kitchener this season. The Rangers have now lost 10 in a row.

-         Daniel Nikandrov was back in the Sting lineup after missing several games with a concussion. He had one assist. Defenceman Jeff King was handed a game misconduct for pulling off a helmet during a second period fight. King had two assists.

-         A special banner was hung at the RBC Centre in pre-game ceremonies to honour the late Shawn Burr, who had a wonderful National Hockey League career and was also part owner of the team in the early years.

-         Sarnia finished 10-19-1-4 on home ice.

 

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

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from March 15, 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.

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