Knights top Sting 4-1
By DAVE BORODY
As Sarnia Sting head coach, Trevor Letowski correctly put it, the effort was there, unfortunately the result wasn’t.
The Sting dropped a 4-1 decision to the London Knights, Thursday night in front of 3,324 fans at the RBC Centre.
The three-goal margin of victory was not indicative of how the game unfolded.
Sarnia held a 1-0 lead after the first period before the Knights bounced back to take a 2-1 advantage after 40 minutes. London scored early in the third period and then added an empty net tally in the final minute.
“It was a good effort against a good team,” said Letowski. “For the most part we played 60 minutes of hockey. We went toe-to-toe with one of the top teams in the country. I was proud of our effort; it just wasn’t the results we wanted. If we play like that all the time, we will get rewarded.”
Letowski added, “We can build off an effort like that. I told that to the team after the game. It’s frustrating not to get some wins, as obviously we need to get points. But we have to keep going. We have a young group of players and you would like to see results. But we are taking that one game at a time mentality.”
The Sting outplayed the Knights in the opening 20 minutes and was rewarded with the game’s first goal.
It came at 9:26 on the power play as Nick Latta knocked in a rebound. Davis Brown and Craig Duininck garnered assists.
Unfortunately the Sting couldn’t extend their lead even though they had several good scoring opportunities.
The game remained that way until the 11:57 mark of period two when Tait Seguin tied the game for London scoring on a low shot from a sharp angle.
What turned out to be the wining goal came a minute and a half later when Ryan Rupert banged home a loose puck from close range.
London went up 3-1 at 7:55 of period when when Christian Dvorak skated untouched from behind the goal to snap a wrist shot past Sting goalie Taylor Dupuis.
Brett Welychka iced the game for London scoring into an open net with 42.2 seconds remaining.
One of the most snake-biten players for the Sting was top draft pick, Nikita Korostelev. The young Russian hit two goal posts in the first and second periods and was stopped point blank in the third period by Knights goalie Anthony Stolarz.
“That was probably Nikita’s best game of the season,” said Letowski. “He didn’t look like a kid tonight. He was dangerous the entire game. If he continues to play like that, good things will happen.”
Korostelev has yet to score in eight regular season games after scoring five times in pre-season action.
London held a 30-22 edge in shots goal. Despite facing only 22 shots, Stolarz was solid between the pipes for the Knights making several tough saves.
Sarnia’s record falls to 1-6-0-1 in the Ontario Hockey League play.
The Sting go right back at it Friday night when they host the Windsor Spitfires at 7:05 p.m. at the RBC Centre.
Tickets for the game are on sale at the RBC Box Office, by calling 519-541-1717 or going online at Sarniasting.com
STING NOTES
– Stolarz was first star with Korostelev second star and Dvorak third star.
– Sarnia was one-for-three on the power play and London zero-for-three.
– Ex-Sting defenceman Alex Basso played his first game against his old teammates. He has one goal and one assist in seven games with London.
– Scatches for the Sting included Mike DiPaolo, Matteo Ciccarelli, Connor Schlichting and Jordan Addesi. Defenceman Josh Chapman was back after missing two games with a wrist injury.
– Latta’s goal was his fifth of the year, tops on the team.
Dave Borody is a freelance writer who covers Sting games home and away and also does features for the Sting Website.
Photos Courtesy of Metcalfe Photography
