Sting Blank Rangers
By DAVE BORODY
KITCHENER – You just knew goalie Brandon Maxwell of the Sarnia Sting would be pumped Friday night.
It was his first game back to the Kitchener Auditorium to face his old team, the Kitchener Rangers.
The overager kicked out 25 shots for his first shutout of the year as the Sting blanked the Rangers 3-0 in front of a sell-out crowd of 6,460 fans.
The win improved Sarnia’s record to 9-2-0-1 in the Ontario Hockey League.
It marked the second time this season Maxwell has beaten his old team, the first coming Oct. 8 at the RBC Centre in Sarnia when the Sting posted a 4-3 victory.
Maxwell was named the game’s first star.
“It was nice to be back here, but my team-mates played great in front of me,” said Maxwell, who was dealt to Sarnia in the off-season for forward Brandon Francisco.
“We limited their chances and stuck to our game plan. This feels like any other win. Last night we got away from our game plan, but tonight we were re-focused and came to play.”
Sting head coach Jacques Beaulieu said Maxwell came up with a big effort.
“Any time a team trades you there’s hard feelings. It shows they don’t want you. Brandon’s a 20 year-old who is playing for a pro contract and has lots to prove. I’m sure he feels good about this win.”
The Sting bounced back against Kitchener after a sub-par effort the night before against Sault Ste. Marie.
“We challenged the kids today at our video session,” said Beaulieu. “It’s not that we don’t know how to play defence, sometimes they don’t want to play defence. Good teams respond when challenged by their coach.”
He added, “We had a real good road game. We got off to a good start and we could have had three or four goals after the first period instead of only two. But we protected the lead well after that.”
As for playing better defensively, Beaulieu said, “We played it today and were more responsible. We have a system in place and when we play it, we are effective. When we allowed 17 shots like we did in the first period last night, we aren’t executing our assignments. Like I said, we know how to play defence, sometimes we choose not to.”
The Sting got off to the quick start they wanted on a nice, individual effort by rookie defenceman Anthony DeAngelo at 4:32. The 15-year-old took the puck at his own blue line, quickly moved the puck into the Rangers zone and fired a quick wrist shot that beat goalie John Gibson to the stick side.
Brett Ritchie staked the Sting to a 2-0 lead five minutes later when he took a pass from Craig Hottot and snapped a shot that beat the goalie on the short side. It was Ritchie’s third goal of the season.
The Sting took a commanding 3-0 lead six minutes into period two when Nick Latta finished off a two-on-one break with Ryan Kujawinski. Latta scored his third goal of the year. R.J. Mahalak also assisted on the play, his first point in a Sting uniform.
Maxwell made his first great save of the game a few minutes later when he stoned Matia Marcantuoni of the Rangers from close range as the Kitchener forward was left alone in front of the net.
Ritchie almost made it 4-0 in the final minute of period two when he skated in alone on a breakaway, but was stopped by the goalie.
The Sting defended well in the third period and were aided by the fact the Rangers took three minor penalties.
Sarnia finished with a 32-25 edge in shots on goal, including 12-4 in the opening period.
The Sting will play their third game in as many days Saturday night when they host the Belleville Bulls beginning at 7:05 p.m. at the RBC Centre. It will be the lone appearance of the season for the Bulls in Sarnia.
Sarnia will be on the road for three games next week as they play in Sault Ste. Marie Wednesday, in Saginaw on Saturday and in London Sunday afternoon.
STING NOTES
– Maxwell was first star with Hottot second star and Kitchener’s Eric Ming third star.
– Nail Yakupov of the Sting was held off the score sheet ending his consecutive games points streak at nine.
– For DeAngelo it was his second game-winning goal in a week as he scored the overtime winner in Plymouth.
– Sarnia played without forward Domenic Alberga who was serving the first of a minimum two-game suspension for a slew-foot against Sault Ste. Marie. Also not dressed was forward Justin Thomas.
– Defenceman Connor Murphy of the Sting is expected to be in Phoenix next week to be further evaluated by the Coyotes. Murphy has not played a game yet due to knee surgery in August. The first round pick of the Coyotes in the 2011 National Hockey League draft hopes to get the clearance to begin skating.
– Sarnia improved to 3-1-0-0 on the road.
– Sarnia was one-for-five on the power play while Kitchener was zero-for-four.
– The Sting rank third in the OHL on the power play operating at 25.5 percent while they are fifth on the penalty-kill at 88.1 percent.
– The Sting is organizing a bus trip to Joe Louis Arena Nov. 30th for a NHL game between the Tampa Bay Lightning, (featuring ex-Sting star Steven Stamkos) and the Detroit Red Wings. Cost is $85 per person for a ticket and transportation. Tickets are available at the RBC Box Office or by calling 519-541-1717.
Dave Borody is a freelance writer who covers Sting games both home and away and also does features for the Sting Website.
