Rangers Down Sting

By DAVE BORODY
The Sarnia Sting got another painful lesson Thursday night that it’s not how many shots on goal you get, it’s how many you score that matters most.
The Sting dropped a 7-3 decision to the Kitchener Rangers before 2,799 fans at the RBC Centre.
The final score was not indicative of how we played tonight,” said Sting head coach Dave MacQueen. The first five minutes we were all over them. We outshot them 17-7 after one period and are down 2-0. After the second period the shots are 29-14 while we had outchanced them 15-8, but are down 4-2.
We needed a save at a critical time. In the first period we were turning the puck over away too much. We were better in the second period and got back in the game. But they took the momentum away early in the third period to score three quick goals.”
MacQueen admits it’s not easy watching his team suffer their 41st loss of the season in the Ontario Hockey League.
At times tonight we played with lots of energy. But we are making mistakes and those mistakes usually end up costing us. We are trying to live with it, correct those mistakes and move forward.”
He added, Kitchener finished out of the playoffs last year. But they returned a good nucleus of players and added some top-notch guys. There are a transition team. You can’t give them opportunities like we gave them tonight.”
Mike Mascioli led the Rangers with two goals while Michael Catenacci, Ben Thomson, Chris MacKinnon, Jeff Skinner and Gabriel Landeskog added singles.
Kale Kerbashian figured in on all three Sting goals with two goals and one assist. He leads the team with 24 goals and 50 points. First round draft pick Brett Ritchie scored the other goal, his 13th of the year.
One of Kerbashian’s goals came on a penalty shot in the second period. He was awarded the shot after being hooked down on a breakaway. He made no mistake as he calmly skated in a fired a low shot between the legs of Rangers goalie Brandon Maxwell.
Maxwell faced 35 shots and according to MacQueen made the difference for the Rangers.
Their goalie allowed them to win the game by making three or four great saves in the opening five minutes until Kitchener got their legs.”
Shayne Campbell went the distance in goal for the Sting and faced 31 shots, 17 in the third period.
Trailing 4-2 going into period three, the Sting had some chances in the opening minute to cut the gap to one. But Maxwell shut the door and his teammates proceeded to score three straight over the next five minutes to put the game out of reach.
MacQueen says one of the things his team needs to work on as the season winds down is length of shifts.
I use an example from the Canada-Russia game. I don’t always agree with Pierre McGuire, but he’s right when he said the average shift for Team Canada was 42 seconds. If NHL players can do that, why can’t we? Our shifts are sometimes a minute and 20 seconds. You can’t keep you energy and momentum going with shifts like that. Sometimes that comes from youth and inexperience, but it’s also due to selfishness.”
Two of the three Sting goals came on the power play while only one of the seven Rangers goals came with the man advantage
Sarnia’s next game is Saturday when they travel to Saginaw to take on the Spirit. The next home game is Thursday when the Sting hosts the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds beginning at 7:35 p.m. at the RBC Centre.
STING NOTES
– Mascioli was first star with Maxwell second star and Kerbashian third star.
– Only six penalties were called on each team.
– Sarnia was one player under the limit as Zack MacQueen was serving the first of a two-game suspension while Ben O’Quinn, Anthony Donati and Brent Sullivan are sidelined with injuries. Sting draft pick Braden Kavaratzis was in the lineup. His junior team, Toronto Young Canadiens lost in seven games to Hamilton in the opening round of playoffs.
– Two Sting players, Campbell and Brandon Francisco will be at Canadian Tire Friday night from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. They will be signing autographs and also giving away 8 by 10 action shots. Fans can also win other prizes.
– Sarnia’s home record is 9-20-1-0.
– Kitchener won the season series with the Sting 3-1.
– The Sting presented a cheque to Sarnia Girls Hockey for $8,000. The money came from the Sting Booster Club as part of their 50-50 draws.





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