Jacob LeBlanc Scores Lone Goal As Sarnia Drops 5-1 Decision To Flint
By Carl Chimenti
The Hockey Gods were not smiling on the Sarnia Sting Sunday afternoon as they fell 5-1 to the Flint Firebirds in front of 3,404, at the Progressive Auto Sales Arena. The Sting out played the Firebirds for most of the contest out shooting them 24-20 overall but the puck just would not go past Flint goaltender Nathan Day (Edmonton Oilers) as he swept away all but one of the 24 shots he faced.
Jacob LeBlanc scored the only goal with both teams playing four on four hockey with Sandis Vilmanis (Florida Panthers) and Zach Filak assisting on the goal. LeBlanc nabbed the third star of the game. It was the first Sarnia goal in 106 minutes and 34 seconds, that spanned over six periods. Newly acquired forward Kai Schwindt made his Sting debut in the contest. Nick Surzycia played a very sound game with 15 saves on 19 shots. Zacharie Giroux was named first star after a three-point game that included two goals. Gavin Hayes (Chicago Blackhawks) had two goals and two assists for four points and was selected as the second star.
Sarnia dominated in the face-off circle 32-17 and neither team scored on the man-advantage. The Sting went 0/2 while the Firebirds failed to score with three opportunities on the power-play. Flint scored the only goal of the first period as Giroux lit the lamp early at 1:34 from Hayes and Blake Smith. From there Surzycia shut the door with nine saves including a point blank save from Jeremy Martin, who was parked right on the door step. The Firebirds failed to score on three minor penalties, that included a four-minute double minor. The Sting had one opportunity on the power-play but did not score. Flint out-shot Sarnia 10-6. Flint opened up a 3-0 lead scoring twice in the second period. Hayes scored at 9:53 on just the second shot on goal for the Firebirds. There were only three registered shots on net in the first twelve minutes of play, two from the Firebirds and one from the Sting. Giroux had the only assist on the second Firebird goal and then scored his second of the game at 17:14 from Simon Slavicek. It was a penalty free period and Sarnia out-shot Flint 5-4.