Brantford Scores 3 Unanswered Goals In The Third Period To Beat Sarnia 6-3
By Carl Chimenti
Chicago Blackhawks prospect Nick Lardis scored what proved to be the game winner at 10:32 of the third period and the Brantford Bulldogs beat the Sarnia Sting 6-3, Wednesday night at the Brantford Civic Centre.
Marek Vanacker scored an insurance goal at 18:03 and Lardis put the game out of reach with an empty net goal at 19:23. In all Lardis had a three-point night and was named as the first star. Despite giving up five goals Sting goaltender Karsen Chartier was outstanding making more than a handful of shots in the danger zones including some dazzling saves in the first two periods. Chartier ended up with 32 saves on 37 shots. Patrick Thomas (Washington Capitals) was the second star for the Bulldogs and newly acquired Tomas Hamara (Ottawa Senators) finished with a pair of assists each. Sandis Vilmanis (Florida Panthers) was selected as the third star with one goal, his sixth of the season. Tyson Doucette with his 11th tied Zach Filak for the team lead in goals. Sean Doherty netted his second career OHL goal. Jacob LeBlanc, Roman Kukumberg and Filak contributed one assist each.
The four-game eastern Ontario-road trip ends with one win and three losses. Sarnia returns home for a pair of weekend games against the Owen Sound Attack Friday night (puck drop 7:05pm) and a Sunday matinee (puck drop 2:05pm) vs the Flint Firebirds.
Tonight’s game was the first in a Sting uniform for defenseman Duncan Schneider, who was acquired in a trade this week with the Kingston Frontenacs. Sarnia went 1/3 on the power-play and Brantford 1/5. The Bulldogs out-shot the Sting 38-21. Sarnia now holds a 9-11 record at the quarter poll. Each team scored a pair of goals in the first period with all the scoring coming in the first seven minutes. Sarnia opened the scoring quickly at the 2:56 mark. Kukumberg flying down the left wing slid a pass to Vilmanis in the slot and he scored with a shot that reached the far side. Brantford scored the next two goals 57 seconds apart. Calvin Crombie found the back of the net at 5:02 and Jorian Donovan (Ottawa Senators) followed that up at 5:59 from both Thomas and Lardis. The Sting tied it up at 6:55 on the power-play. Sarnia won the draw and the puck went back to the point and Jacob LeBlanc’s shot was stopped but the puck went to Filak and he made a terrific pass to Doucette who he had a wide-open net to shoot in. From there the story was Sting goaltender Chartier as he shut the door down with a couple of great saves robbing both Lardis and Thomas.
The Bulldogs out-shot the Sting 12-7. The second period had a little bit of everything. It started with a terrible turnover by the Bulldogs that left Doherty alone in front and he scored unassisted at 5:08 to put the Sting back in front. Shortly after Andrew LeBlanc was assessed a five minute match penalty – slew foot infraction and he also received a game ejection. The Bulldogs scored in the final minute of the five-minute penalty to tie the game on a goal from Luca Testa at 9:22. The play went under review for an off-side. After the review the goal was disallowed and the Brantford bench questioned the call and it went back for yet another review and this time the goal was allowed. Later in the period the Sting fell into more penalty trouble giving Brantford a two man advantage for 1:22 and Chartier was simply outstanding for the rest of the period denying Lardis twice and stopping a break-away from Vanacker. In the final minute Vilmanis hit the goal post on a delayed penalty to Brantford and the two teams skated off with the game tied 3-3.