Sting blank Owen Sound 4-0
By DAVE BORODY
The Sarnia Sting won another hockey game Saturday night.
In fact it was one of their most complete games of the season as they blanked the Owen Sound Attack 4-0 in front of 3,709 fans at the RBC Centre.
But the excitement was quickly tempered as they awaited word on their star player, Nail Yakupov, who was knocked out of the game on a second period hit by Michael Halmo of the Attack.
Yakupov was cutting across the ice in the Attack zone when he was levelled with a check. Yakupov went down immediately. He tried to get up, but slumped back onto the ice.
After being treated briefly by the team trainer and doctor, Yakupov got up under his own power and went to the dressing room.
Initial word is Yakupov suffered cuts and scraps to his face, but it is not believed to be a concussion. He did not return the rest of the game.
Halmo was given a five-minute charging major along with an automatic game misconduct. He is a repeat offender and the league will certainly look at the hit next week.
“We felt he left his feet and it was a dirty hit,” said Sting head coach Jacques Beaulieu. “I watched it over and over during the second period intermission. He hit him in the head and should be suspended for a long time. We need to protect players in our league from stuff like this.”
Beaulieu added, “The only injuries right now are stitches in his lip and some other scraps on his face. We took a picture of him and will be sending it to the league. We’ll see when he wakes up in the morning.”
Ironically there was an Ontario Hockey League referee supervisor in attendance at the game.
As for the game, the Sting took a major step to securing fourth place in the Western Conference and home ice advantage in the first round. Sarnia is now two points ahead of the Attack with the Sting having four games remaining and Owen Sound three.
Both teams will be in action Sunday as Sarnia is in Windsor to battle the Spitfires while Owen Sound is at Plymouth.
It’s expected Sarnia and Owen Sound will meet in round one of the playoffs. The two have never met in post-season play.
“We executed our game plan to a tee,” said Beaulieu. “We didn’t make many mistakes. We were good defensively and offensively we created a lot of scoring chances. It was certainly one of our top five games this year.”
Brett Thompson who scored two goals led the offensive charge with one assist while defenceman Connor Murphy had four assists. The pair was on the ice for all four Sting goals.
Ryan Spooner and and Ludvig Rensfeldt continued their fine play of late eaching adding single goals while Anthony DeAngelo chipped in with two assists.
Goalie J.P. Anderson kicked aside all 23 shots he faced in recording the shutout, his third since joining the Sting in January.
“We played well, it was one of our best games,” said Thompson. “We were very responsible defensively and we created a lot of chances by moving our feet. I told someone before the game the older guys who have been around the league for awhile needed to step up tonight.”
The first period was scoreless even though the Sting held an 11-3 edge in shots on goal. Murphy rang a shot off the post while Rensfeldt was stoned as he attempted to tip in a goalmouth pass.
Thompson scored what proved to be the winning goal two minutes into period two as he knocked in his own rebound from close range.
After the Yakupov incident, the teams were four aside when Thompson scored his second of the night and 30th of the year. He came out of the corner and while being tripped up fired a low wrist shot past goalie Jordan Binnington.
Thompson immediately point to the Attack bench after the goal.
“Yeah, I was fired up. A couple of their guys were making comments on the ice about Yakupov getting hit. I didn’t like that. When a guy takes a run at your best player, you have to answer back.”
The Sting put the game out of reach with a pair of power play goals in the third period.
Spooner notched his 29th of the year at 4:10 taking a pass from Thompson and backhanding a low shot between the goalies legs.
Rensfeldt notched his 21st of the year at 9:10 wristing home a high shot from the left face-off circle.
Sarnia finished with a 37-29 edge in shots on goal. Sarnia was two-for-eight on the power play and Owen Sound zero-for-four.
After Sunday’s game in Windsor, the Sting will play their final home game Wednesday night against the Saginaw Spirit beginning at 7:05 p.m. It will be CHOK Radio Night.
Sarnia will conclude the regular season with a pair of road games, Friday at London and Saturday in Plymouth.
Calling the RBC Box Office at 519-541-1717 or going online at Sarniasting.com can secure tickets for Wednesday’s game
STING NOTES
– Thompson was first star with Murphy second star and Anderson third star. The win was Anderson’s 99th in his OHL career. Justice Dundas was the Dickies hardest-working player of the game.
– The Sting went with the same lineup as Friday, two short under the limit. After Yakupov left, they had just nine forwards.
– Sarnia and Owen Sound split their four-game season series.
“ A game like this sends a message. We likely will play them in the first round. They are a good hockey team,” said Beaulieu.
– Sarnia improved to 20-9-1-3 on home ice and 33-24-2-5 overall. The Sting is now 24-0-0-1 when leading after two periods.
Dave Borody is a freelance writer who covers Sting games both home and away and also does features for the Sting Website.
