Sting Blank Rangers 5-0
By DAVE BORODY
Now that’s a better way to start off a weekend.
Backed by the 34-save performance of Taylor Dupuis, the Sarnia Sting skated to a well-deserved 5-0 win over the Kitchener Rangers, Thursday night in front of 2,593 fans at the RBC Centre.
The win snapped a four-game losing skid for the Sting in the Ontario Hockey League.
“I guess you have to go back to my midget days when I last got a shutout,” said a smiling Dupuis after the game. “I didn’t even get one in junior B hockey. “It feels unbelievable right now.”
Dupuis made several brilliant stops, but none better than a pad save from close range in the second period.
“That just might be the save of the year,” said Sting head coach Trevor Letowski. “It was 2-0 at the time and a goal there could have cut the lead in half. Without that save it might have been a different story. Taylor battled hard tonight and made those second and third saves.”
Dupuis admitted he started to think about the shutout in the third period.
“But when Kitchener took a couple of penalties late in the game, it was a feeling of relief. I tried to battle all game and do everything I could to make the saves.”
The Sting displayed a workmanlike effort jumping out to a 1-0 lead after the first period and 3-0 after 40 minutes.
“I was really proud of our group to come out of our tailspin with an effort like this,” said Letowski. “A lot of work went into this game. We were at a low place last weekend and we knew it would take a lot to get out of it. We executed the game plan to perfection. When Kitchener had some chances Dupuis made some big stops.”
Letowski added, “Our team has been fragile of late. The guys were getting frustrated. We did some soul-searching. We simply went out and worked hard and got a lead.”
The only goal of period one came at 3:52 on the power play when defenceman drilled home a high slapshot from the point. Vladislav Kodola notched his first of three assists on the play.
Bryan Moore extended the lead to 2-0 three minutes into period two when he wristed home a shot from the slot for his 10th goal of the season. Rookie Connor Schlichting picked up his first career OHL point with an assist.
After Dupuis’ fabulous pad save, the Sting went up 3-0 with just over a minute remaining in the period when Nikita Korostelev knocked in a loose puck from close range for his fifth goal of the season.
The Sting closed out the scoring in the third period when Nikolay Goldobin, who has been snake-bitten of late, snapped a shot into the top corner from the left side at 11:14, his 11th, while newcomer Jimmy McDowell scored on a slapshot at 18:42 with the Sting enjoying a two-man advantage.
McDowell was playing his first game with the Sting after being acquired in a trade from Sudbury Wednesday. He was officially plus-one, but was also on the ice for both Sting power play goals. He was also named the hardest-working player of the game.
Kitchener held a 34-30 edge in shots on goal. Sarnia was two-for-four on the power play and Kitchener zero-for-four.
Dupuis said getting back in the win column was important.
“Last weekend was no fun when you go 0-3. But we came back strong at home and put up a solid effort. Hopefully we can keep it going,”
The Sting will be home again Friday night when they host the Saginaw Spirit. Game time is 7:05 p.m. at the RBC Centre. They conclude the weekend Saturday night in Plymouth.
Tickets for all Sting home games are on sale daily at the RBC Box Office, by calling 519-541-1717 or going online at Sarniasting.com
STING NOTES
– Dupuis was first star with Kodola second star and Hore third star. Letowski likes the way Kodola is coming along.
– “He’s been a hard worker in practice. He’s started to create room for himself and more offence. You can see by his patience and poise, he is going to be a special player.”
– Sarnia played without Joshua Chapman and Matt Ciccarelli, both nursing injuries.
– The Sting improved to 4-7-0-1 at home and 6-14-0-1 overall.
Dave Borody is a freelance writer who covers Sting games both home and away and also does features for the Sting Website.
