Sting Earn At Least A Point In Sixth Straight Game
By DAVE BORODY
The Windsor Spitfires spoiled the party Friday night.
The Spitfires edged the Sarnia Sting 3-2 in a shootout in front of 3,013 fans at the RBC Centre.
Ryan Verbeek of the Spitfires scored on the seventh shot in the shootout to give Windsor two points.
Sarnia does pick up a valuable point, but had their five-game winning streak snapped at five in the Ontario Hockey League.
The loss prevented Sting goalie J.P. Anderson from winning his 115th career game, which will be a new league record. Very few even knew Anderson had tied the record of 114 wins with his 3-0-shutout victory in Saginaw on Thursday night.
“It’s disappointing a little not to get the win for J.P.” said Sting head coach Jacques Beaulieu. “It is what it is. He’ll get another crack at the record on Sunday.”
The game was close from start to finish. Windsor led 1-0 after one period while the teams were tied 1-1 after the second. Sarnia took their first lead early in period three only to have Windsor tied the game with just less than eight minutes remaining in regulation time.
Beaulieu said he expected a tight game.
“It’s you typical Windsor-Sarnia game. It was back and forth with not many scoring chances. I think the scoring chances were only 13-8 in our favour after two periods. They battle hard and are always in the game.”
Windsor scored the only goal of period one at 10:24 when Josh Ho-Sang knocked in a loose puck.
The score stayed that way until 11:19 of period two when Nikolay Goldobin tied the game for the Sting with his 12th of the season. He knocked in a loose puck from close range. Bryan Moore and Anthony DeAngelo picked up assists.
Sarnia took their first and only lead of the game at 1:47 of period three when Davis Brown scored his second goal in as many games tipping home a pass from Brett Hargrave. DeAngelo notched his second assist of the night.
“That goal felt pretty good,” said Brown. “Our line has been playing well of late and it was a nice feed from Hargrave.”
But the Sting took only their second penalty of the game at 11:09 and Windsor made them pay as Ben Johnson slapped home a loose puck on a rebound a minute later to square matters a 2-2.
A five-minute overtime period solved nothing. As the Sting held a 3-2 edge in shots. Craig Duininck had Sarnia’s best chance when his deflection from close range was stopped by Windsor goalie Jordan DeKort.
The shootout started with Windsor scoring on their opening two shots. The Sting had to battle back with goals by Alex Galchenyuk and Reid Boucher to keep the shootout alive.
Three players from each side missed, including Charlie Sarault who rattled a shot off the cross bar. After Verbeek scored, Brown missed for the Sting.
“I was a little nervous,” admitted Brown. “I wanted to fake it and then go low, blocker side, but the puck went off the heel of my stick.”
Beaulieu says both Sarault and Brown can’t be faulted.
“You can’t blame the kids on the shootout. It’s a pressure-cooker and really isn’t that much fun.”
DeKort made 38 saves in goal for Windsor to record his first career OHL victory. Anderson made 36 stops for the Sting.
Sarnia was zero-for-two on the power play and Windsor one-for-two.
Next action for the Sting is Sunday afternoon when they host the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds beginning at 2:05 p.m.
It will mark the 15th annual Teddy Bear Toss. Fans are asked to bring a stuffed animal where they can throw it onto the ice when the Sting scores their first goal. All stuffed animals will be donated to local charities. To date over 39,000 bears have been collected.
There will also be draws for special prizes while the first 3,000 fans will receive a special Alex Galchenyuk collector card.
Kids 12 and under will be admitted for just $5.
Calling the RBC Box Office at 519-541-1717 or going online at Sarniasting.com can obtain tickets for the game
STING NOTES
– Anderson was first star with DeKort second star and Brown third star. Daniel Nikandrov was the Dickies hardest-working player of the game.
– Galchenyuk had his five-game goal-scoring streak snapped.
– Sarnia went with the same lineup as the night before in Saginaw.
– The Sting holds a 2-1 record against Windsor. The two teams play three more times.
– Sarnia’s overall record is now 17-11-0-3 and 6-7-0-2 at home.
Dave Borody is a freelance writer who covers Sting games both home and away and also does features for the Sting Website.
