Beaudoin Scores Twice, Including Overtime Winner, As Barrie Nips Sarnia 2-1
By Carl Chimenti
It was Hall of Fame night as former Sting and long-time NHL forward Matt Martin was inducted into the Sarnia Sting Hall of Fame, joining the inaugural class of 2023 which included Robert Ciccarelli, Jon Sim, and Trevor Letowski, followed by the class of 2024 — Aaron Brand, Andy Delmore, Bill Abercrombie, and Dr. Duncan MacKinlay — along with the class of 2025 — Jeff Heerema, Patrick DesRochers and Dr. John Vargo.
Martin was honored with a nice on-ice presentation before the game. The ceremony included a video presentation from various Sting and former teammates, including Steven Stamkos. Martin, who joined the Sting as a free agent, spent 2006-09 in Sarnia, becoming Sting captain in his final season with the team.
The Sting welcomed back Mitch Young and Beckham Edwards to the line-up following brief injury stints that saw both players miss time.
It was a battle of the net-minders, as both goalies drew a star in a 2-1 overtime win for the Barrie Colts (41-11-2-4) over the Sarnia Sting (18-33-7-1) Friday night at the Progressive Auto Sales Arena.
Patrick Quinlan has been a rock over the last number of games and tonight was no different, as he stopped 33 of 35 shots and was selected as the first star.
The one point was very important for the Sting as they have pulled to within five points of the Saginaw Spirit for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Both Sarnia and Saginaw have nine games remaining on their schedule, with two meetings left between the two teams.
Colts goaltender Arvin Jaswal was the third star and was almost perfect, stopping all but one of the 22 shots he faced.
YourTV and Sting play-by-play broadcaster Terry Doyle got an assist in the game when he mentioned that Jaswal might be on his way to his third shutout. Shortly after, the Sting tied the game at 17:39 of the third period on a three-way passing play that saw Alessandro Di Iorio feed Young. In return, Young sent the puck to the front of the net where Ben Pickell scored on a tip-in for his team-tying 22nd goal, with Sarnia playing shorthanded.
It was Pickell’s third shorthanded goal, which leads the Sting. All three of those shorties have come since January 23rd in three separate games — the 23rd against London and his second on February 12th when both Pickell and Edwards scored on the same shorthanded chance against the Windsor Spitfires.
Cole Beaudoin (Utah Mammoth) scored both goals for the Colts, including the overtime winner 24 seconds into the extra session. Kashawn Aitcheson (New York Islanders) assisted on both goals.
Barrie out-shot Sarnia 35-22 and were better on face-offs 33-24. Both teams failed to score with the man-advantage, with the Sting going 0/2 and the Colts 0/5.
The first period was scoreless as Barrie out-shot Sarnia 13-8. Both teams had good scoring chances. The Colts came close as Cole Emerton was stopped on a nice right pad save by Quinlan.
The Sting had a chance to break the deadlock as Lammens came out of the penalty box and went in alone, only to be hauled down and awarded a penalty shot. Lammens tried to go forehand to backhand, but he ran out of real estate as Jaswal smothered his attempt.
The Colts scored the only goal in the middle frame and it came late at 16:52 on a tip-in from Beaudoin with Aitcheson and Evan Passmore (New York Rangers) assisting.
Sarnia’s best chance came in the final seconds of the period. Liam Beamish’s shot was stopped by Jaswal, but the puck trickled loose and went just wide of the net on the far side. Barrie out-shot Sarnia 10-6.
