Spirit Even Series With 4-3 OT Win
By DAVE BORODY
SAGINAW, Michigan – Nobody said it was going to be easy.
The Saginaw Spirit scored early in overtime to defeat the Sarnia Sting 4-3, Wednesday night in front of 3,321 fans at the Dow Event Centre.
Josh Shalla banged home a rebound at 1:48 of extra time to even the best of seven Ontario Hockey League Western Conference quarter-final playoff series at two games apiece.
The series is now down to a best of three affair. Game five goes Friday night at the RBC Centre beginning at 7:05 p.m. with game six Saturday night in Saginaw. If a seventh game is needed, it will be Monday at the RBC Centre.
The two teams have now played three consecutive overtime games with Sarnia winning two and Saginaw one.
“It was a pretty good hockey game and it was tight,” said Sting head coach Jacques Beaulieu. “The kids played well and competed hard again. On the overtime goal their guy was able to get the shot off from the point and the rebound was right there for Shalla.”
The Spirit held a 50-24 edge in shots on goal.
“You knew they would get a lot of shots at home. They got a lot early. But it’s something we would like to get the shots down,” said Beaulieu.
Despite giving up four goals, J.P. Anderson was outstanding in goal for the Sting. He made a number of key stops in the second period when Saginaw held an 18-6 advantage in shots on goal.
“I’m not concerned with the number of shots,” said Anderson. “It is what it is. As long as we can eliminate some of their high-end chances, keep their chances to the outside and keep them off the power play, we should be in good shape.”
As for the game, Anderson said, “We knew they would come out hard, They got the lead, but we were able to battle back. We actually took the lead in the third period, but they battled back and then won it in overtime. It was a tight game.”
Saginaw jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening period as Garret Ross scored on a low wrist drive from the left wing at 3:16 while Shalla picked the top corner on another wrist drive from the slot at 12:09
But the Sting cut the lead in half at 17:26 when Brett Thompson poked home a loose puck after a goalmouth pass from Ludvig Rensfeldt. Charlie Sarault also drew an assist on the play.
Even though Sarnia was outshot 18-6 in period two, they had a much better period than in the three previous games in the second frame. Anderson was sharp making several key stops as the Sting killed off two penalties.
The Sting tied the game at 17:23. Nail Yakupov’s slapshot from the sideboards handcuffed goalie Jake Paterson. For Yakupov it was his second goal of the playoffs. Rensfeldt had the lone assist.
After killing off another penalty, Sarnia took their first lead at 11:07 when captain Nathan Chiarlitti scored his first career playoff goal drilling home a low-screened slapshot from the blue line.
But just 55 seconds later Saginaw even the score at 3-3 when Brandon Saad banged home a rebound after a point shot was stopped by Anderson.
The end came just under two minutes into overtime when Shalla notched his second of game depositing a rebound into an open corner after the shot from the point was turned aside by Anderson.
Sarnia had just one shot in overtime while Saginaw had two.
Saginaw was zero-for-four with the man advantage and Sarnia zero-for-three.
STING NOTES
– Tickets for game five Friday night are on sale daily at the RBC Box Office, by calling 519-541-1717 or going online at Sarniasting.com
– The Sting went with the same lineup for the third straight game with Julian Luciani and Jack Kuzmyk healthy scratches.
– Shalla was first star with Saad second star while Anderson was third star.
– Sarnia did hit a couple of goal posts in the first period.
Dave Borody is a freelance writer who covers Sting games both home and away and also does features for the Sting Website.
