Ottawa Shuts Out Sarnia 2-0 In Sunday Matinee
By Carl Chimenti
Max Donoso turned away all 30 shots he faced Sunday afternoon and the Ottawa 67’s (30-7-1-1) blanked the Sarnia Sting (19-14-4-2) 2-0 at TD Place, in the nation’s capital.
Donoso, who was named first star, was especially sharp in the third period, stopping Nolan Burke (Nashville Predators), in the final seconds with an outstanding save. Sandis Vilmanis (Florida Panthers) also hit the goal post early in the period with Sarnia on the power-play.
Sarnia put eight shots on net in the final period, most of the tough save variety, as they were shut-out for the second time this season.
Ben Gaudreau (San Jose Sharks), was extremely sharp in the contest as well as he made 25 saves on 27 shots.
Newly acquired defenseman Ethan Del Mastro hit a milestone this afternoon, playing in the 150th game of his OHL career.
Rookie Matthew Mayich (2nd star) and Brady Stonehouse (3rd star) scored goals for Ottawa. Stonehouse scored in the waning moments of the third period on a break-away before the Sting had a chance to pull their goaltender for an extra attacker.
Both teams failed to score on the power-play as Ottawa went 0/6 and Sarnia 0/3.
Gaudreau and the penalty kill unit were key to a scoreless first period for the Sting. Gaudreau making his third straight start since returning from winning the gold medal with Team Canada stopped all 17 shots in the opening period with at least five coming from the high danger zone area. Sarnia fell into penalty trouble near the latter part of the period and killed off all three minor penalties including a two man-advantage for Ottawa for more than a minute. The Sting put 11 shots on net.
Sarnia out-shot Ottawa 11-4 in the middle stanza but the 67’s scored the only goal at 11:40. It was an innocent looking shot from the point off the stick of Mayich and the puck seemed to have eyes, as it went through a maze of players in front and past Gaudreau. The Sting also faced a second straight period having to kill a two man-advantage for Ottawa, which they did successfully. Burke came close to tying the hockey game with 65 seconds to play in the period but a good pad save from Donoso denied the puck from crossing the goal line.
