Guelph Edges Sarnia 3-2 On Quinn Beauchesne’s Power-Play Overtime Winner
By Carl Chimenti
Quinn Beauchesne (Pittsburgh Penguins) scored at 1:50 in overtime and the Guelph Storm (24-26-2-2) beat the Sarnia Sting (17-32-6-1) 3-2 in a hard-fought battle between two teams with playoff aspirations Wednesday evening in front of 3,140 at the Progressive Auto Sales Arena.
Patrick Quinlan played a terrific game, stopping 29 of 32 shots. His best save came with the game tied 2-2 and just over six minutes remaining in regulation, as he gloved a puck out of mid-air off the stick of Ethan Miedema (Buffalo Sabres). For his effort, Quinlan was selected as the first star.
Sarnia gained a valuable point and now trails the Owen Sound Attack for the final playoff spot by just five points and seventh-place Saginaw by six points, heading into a Saturday night showdown with the Spirit at the Dow Event Center. The Sting will first travel to the Soo to start the weekend with a Friday night tilt at the GFL Memorial Gardens.
The Storm’s Hunter McKenzie tied the game at 8:11 of the third period and was named the second star. Jacob Reese (4th) and Ben Pickell (19th) scored for the Sting, with Reese chosen as the third star. Pickell has been hot with points in seven of his last ten games (7-1-8).
Liam Beamish, Hunter Solomon, and Matthew Manza contributed one assist each. Zachary Jovanovski turned away 28 of 30 shots for the Storm.
The stats were even across the board — shots on goal were 32-30 in favor of Guelph. On the power play, Sarnia went 0/3 and Guelph 1/3. The two teams were tied in face-offs at 32 apiece.
The opening period was scoreless as Guelph out-shot Sarnia 10-8. Things heated up in the final five minutes as both Beamish and Pickell had good scoring chances, forcing Jovanovski to make a couple of strong saves. In the final minute, Miedema made a nice move toward goal, but Quinlan responded with a great save to keep the game scoreless. Moments later, Di Iorio rang a shot off the goal post.
There was just one minor penalty in the period, assessed to Sarnia, but the Sting did a good job limiting the Storm and killed it off.
The second period featured exciting action with several quality chances by both teams. Sarnia opened the scoring at 1:41 as Pickell finished off a give-and-go with Beamish, beating Jovanovski on the short side.
Guelph tied the game at 12:55 when Wil McFadden set up Serlin from the corner, and Serlin deflected the puck past Quinlan. Noah Jenkin drew the second assist.
The Sting regained the lead late in the period at 17:34 as Reese’s shot from the point found its way through traffic. Solomon had the primary assist, with Manza picking up the second helper. Sarnia out-shot Guelph 12-10 in the period.
