Sting down Greyhounds 4-3
By DAVE BORODY
The Sarnia Sting snapped a three-game losing streak Friday night against the seventh ranked team in the Canadian Hockey League.
Bryan Moore scored with just under seven minutes remaining in regulation time to give the Sting a much-needed 4-3 victory over the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in front of 2,765 fans at the RBC Centre.
“We played hard against a good team. It was a good effort,” said Moore.
He described his seventh goal of the season, the game-winner.
“I remember (Nikolay) Goldobin getting the puck near center ice. He made a nice one-touch pass to me on the left side. I just moved in on the left wing, shot it as hard as I could and it went in.”
Moore finished with a goal and two assists and extended his consecutive points scoring streak to eight games. He has six goals and 11 assists during that span.
The line of Moore, Goldobin and Nick Latta provided all the offence for the Sting. Goldobin also had a goal and two assists while Latta recorded two goals.
“Our chemistry is good right now,” said Moore, when asked about the line. “We are moving the puck and I have two great linemates.”
Latta leads the team in goals with 14 and also extended his string of games with at least a point to 10. He has 12 goals and four assists in 10 games.
The Greyhounds, who came into the game with an impressive 4-1-0-1 road record, opened the scoring two minutes into the game when Trent Mallette scored on a breakaway.
Sarnia tied the game two minutes later when Latta’s high wrist shot handcuffed Greyhounds goalie Matt Murray. (Murray came into the game leading all goalies in the Ontario Hockey League with a 1.98 goals against average).
The Sting took a 2-1 lead at 11:39 when Goldobin scored on a penalty shot. The shifty Russian skated in slowly and then fired a quick wrist shot to the blocker side for his 10th goal of the season.
Sarnia was given a two-man power play early in the second period, but it backfired when Tyler Gaudet scored on a breakaway.
However the Sting regained the lead just over a minute later while still on a one-man power play when Latta backhanded home a rebound from close range.
“Getting that goal back was huge for us,” said Sting head coach Trevor Letowski. “We had just given up a five-on-three goal. We called a timeout to settle the guys down and then went out and got it back.”
Early in the third period Sarnia had a great chance when Alex Carnevale was in alone on a breakaway, but he shot wide.
Sault Ste. Marie tied the game at 8:50 with the teams five aside when Alex Gudbranson knocked in a loose puck between the legs of Sting goalie Brodie Barrick.
That set the stage for Moore’s winning goal at 13:16.
In a bit if a surprise move, the Greyhounds pulled their goalie with over two minutes remaining. They had a couple of chances, but the Sting did a good job of clearing the puck out of their zone.
Letowski was happy to see his team get two points.
“Finally we came out on the right end. We’ve faced a lot of adversity this season and when they tied the game in the third period, everyone thought here we go again. But we got a big play from one of our veterans in Bryan Moore. Obviously that was a huge goal and got us a big win.”
So what did the coach like about his team?
“I really liked our resiliency. It’s been a tough start and we’ve been through a lot. It was a heartbreaker last week in Plymouth. They (Sault Ste. Marie) pushed us hard all night. They play an aggressive style. But our guys got the job done.”
He added, “It was two teams fighting hard. We know how hard they work. We were good, but not outstanding. We can build on a game like this, enjoy it for a while, but get ready for tomorrow. It’s been awhile since we’ve had a win, so it was important to get two points tonight.”
The Greyhounds held a 28-25 edge in shots on goal with Barrick notching his second win of the year while Murray saw his record drop to 8-2-0-2.
Sarnia’s penalty killing was again sharp as Sault Ste. Marie was zero-for-four with the man advantage. The Greyhounds came into the game with the third ranked power play in the league. The Sting was one-for-four on the power play.
The win improved Sarnia’s overall record to 5-10-0-1 while Sault Ste. Marie lost for only the second time in 14 games.
Sarnia returns to action Saturday night when they host the Sudbury Wolves beginning at 7:05 p.m. at the RBC Centre.
Tickets for the game and all remaining home games are on sale daily at the RBC Box-Office, by calling 519-541-1717 or going online at Sarniasting.com
STING NOTES
– Moore was first star (three points); defenceman Kevin Spinozzi of the Greyhounds was second star (two assists) with Goldobin third star (three points). Defenceman Anthony DeAngelo of the Sting chipped in with two assists. Latta has at least one goal in six straight games and Moore at least one goal in five straight.
– Sarnia has 21 players on their current roster after forward Jordan Addesi was claimed off waivers by Plymouth on Thursday.
– Defenceman Tyler Hore of the Sting served the third game of his three-game suspension.
– Sarnia’s home record improved to 3-6-0-1.
Dave Borody is a freelance writer who covers Sting games both home and away and also does features for the Sting Website.
