GAME REPORT | Sting Fall in 6-5 OT Battle to IceDogs
The Sarnia Sting visited the Niagara IceDogs on Friday night.
It came as the first of three road games for the Sting this weekend. In front of a sold-out crowd at the Meridian Centre in St. Catharines, it was a crazy back-and-forth contest.
With the IceDogs hosting “Pink in the Rink” in support of the Canadian Cancer Society, the arena was jammed to the walls. And the fans in attendance were treated to a dandy.
In the first period, Sting goaltender Justin Fazio started the night off strong. Seven minutes in, Fazio stepped out to the top of his crease to deny a quick one-timer from IceDogs defenceman Elijah Roberts.
Sting captain Jordan Kyrou looked lethal during four-on-four action. It served as a sign of things to come.
Sean Josling opened the scoring. Josling tends to enjoy scoring the first goal of the game, and he continued the trend. With the Sting on a rush shorthanded, Anthony Salinitri displayed some nifty stickhandling to get around a Niagara defender. Tossing the puck on goal, Salinitri found Josling charging the net. Josling banged the puck in, giving Sarnia a 1-0 lead.
Twenty seconds after Josling’s goal, IceDogs forward Sam Miletic tied the game. Acquired from London prior to the trade deadline, Miletic is no stranger to scoring goals against the Sting. Miletic took a long shot through traffic that squeezed by Fazio.
Then, it was time for another episode of What Will Jordan Kyrou Do Tonight. Take a look.
MUST WATCH@JordanKyrou goes coast-to-coast, splitting every @OHLIceDogs skater in sight!! WOW!!#SARvsNIA #SwarmWithUs pic.twitter.com/b8SYY1AxrI
— Sarnia Sting (@StingHockey) January 27, 2018
After one, the Sting had a 2-1 lead.
In the second period, the Sting began to run away on the scoreboard. With penalties going to both sides for rough stuff after the whistles, there was plenty of powerplay time to go around. Sting defenceman Cam Dineen scored on a four-on-three advantage with a point blast that got through Niagara goalie Stephen Dhillon.
IN GAME | @CamDineen on a 4-on-3 PP is pretty much a guaranteed goal!#SARvsNIA #SwarmWithUs pic.twitter.com/MjxHtVE0oX
— Sarnia Sting (@StingHockey) January 27, 2018
Just ten seconds after Dineen’s tally, Kyrou scored his second of the night. Kyrou made one quick step around the IceDogs defenceman inside the blueline and flew by him. In alone on the goaltender, Kyrou finished the play off by tucking the puck into the mesh.
With two minutes left in the second, Adam Ruzicka scored his twenty-seventh goal of the season on a clean shot past Dhillon. Assists went to Connor Schlichting and Hugo Leufvenius.
Ahead of the second period buzzer, Miletic and Kirill Maksimov scored two quick ones for the ‘Dogs. Heading into the third, it was a 5-3 game.
In the final frame, Niagara forwards Danial Singer and Johnny Corneil tied the game at 5-5. It was off to overtime.
In the extra session, Miletic completed the hat-trick, winning the game for Niagara. Tonight’s final score was 6-5.
Fazio stopped an incredible 46 shots for the Sting. Against a powerful IceDogs offense, Fazio stood tall all night long.
Tonight’s official boxscore can be viewed here.
The Sting return to action tomorrow night in Erie! Game time against the Otters is 7:00 PM at Erie Insurance Arena.
NEXT HOME GAME: STING vs. KNIGHTS
Saturday, February 3 | 3:30 PM
Progressive Auto Sales Arena
#SwarmWithUs | Secure your seats here.
