Oshawa Uses Power-Play Goals To Beat Sarnia 5-2
By Carl Chimenti
The Oshawa Generals (8-6-1-0) scored three power-play goals and it was enough to hand the Sarnia Sting (6-6-1-3) their fourth straight loss, 5-2, Friday night, at the Tribute Communities Centre.
The Generals scored two power-play goals in the first and added another in the third, during two man-advantages, in each period. After falling into penalty trouble early in first period, it happened again, in the final ten minutes of the hockey game, at a time which was crucial.
The Sting were behind by just one goal – 3-2 – and very much in the game. Colby Barlow (Winnipeg Jets), scored in the first part of the 5 on 3, and put the game out of reach, with about six minutes remaining in regulation. This was the second and final meeting between the two teams with Oshawa taking three out of a possible four points in the season series, following a 4-3 shoot-out win in Sarnia, at the Hive, on October 11. Easton Wainwright had a goal and an assist and was nominated as the third star for the Sting. For Wainwright, it was his sixth goal of the season and his third game with multiple points. Daylen Moses scored his third of the year in the second period. Ruslan Karimov and Carter Kostuch had one assist each for Sarnia. Luca Marrelli (Columbus Blue Jackets) and the OHL defenseman of the month, for October, was the first star, with a goal and an assist, for Oshawa.
Beckett Sennecke (Anaheim Ducks) also had a goal and an assist. The second star went to Generals Brady Smith, with a pair of assists. Colby Barlow (Winnipeg Jets) and Zackary Sandhu, also scored for Oshawa. Sarnia forward Chase Gaughan, made his OHL debut in the contest. Even though the game was closely contested, the numbers all favored Oshawa, shots 36-19, face-offs 35-18 and on the power-play the Generals went 3/9 to the Sting’s 0/4. In goal, Nick Surzycia had 31 saves on 35 shots for the Sting. Jacob Oster stopped 17 of 19 for Oshawa. In the first period Sarnia fell into penalty trouble early, giving Oshawa a two man-advantage and the Generals made them pay scoring on both ends of the power-play. Sennecke scored at 6:49 and Matthew Buckley followed that up by scoring at 8:27. Oshawa increased their lead to 3-0 on an even strength goal by Marrelli, at 12:48. It was the first time that the Sting had allowed three goals in the first period, since opening night, when the Windsor Spitfires scored three times.
The Sting proved to be resilient, as they scored in the final minute at 19:22. Kostuch found a deflected shot at his feet and he managed to send a pass to Wainwright who fired the puck over the shoulder of goaltender Oster and into the net. Kostuch and Karimov were credited with the assists. Oshawa out-shot Sarnia 15-8. An interesting second period, as the Sting appeared to score twice. Karimov seemed to score on a wrap-around, but the play went under review and was ruled no goal, because the puck never crossed the line. Sarnia once again appeared to score late in the period. Moses’s shot, looked to hit the crossbar and as the play continued, the Generals reached the Sting end and scored.
After the Generals apparent goal, the Sting goal went under review. It was determined that Sarnia’s goal was good, after the replay showed that the puck went into the net after hitting the crossbar, which negated the Generals goal. Moses was credited with the goal from Wainwright at 3:36, to close the gap 3-2, after forty minutes of play. Not many shots in the period, with Oshawa registering seven, to Sarnia’s five.
