Sting Rally Back Over Otters, Win 4-3
By Carl Chimenti
Christian Kyrou (Dallas Stars) blast from the right point at 11:03 beat goaltender Nolan Lalonde (Columbus Blue Jackets) breaking a 3-3 tie and lifted the Sarnia Sting (20-14-4-2) to a hard fought 4-3 win over the Erie Otters (13-23-1-3), Friday night in front of a large crowd of 3,955 at the Progressive Auto Sales Arena.
Sasha Pastujov (Anaheim Ducks) and Ethan Del Mastro (Chicago Black Hawks) assisted on the winning goal. Del Mastro had a pair of assists in the game.
Nolan Burke (Nashville Predators) had a goal and an assist to pace the Sting offense. Burke has points in five of his last six games (3-3-6). For his effort Burke was named the third star of the game.
Captain Nolan Dillingham tied the game early in the third period on a short-handed goal from a bad angle at 1:59 from Burke and was selected as the first star of the contest.
Ben Gaudreau (San Jose Sharks) stopped 16 of 19 shots as Sarnia out shot Erie 29-19. Nolan Lalonde (Columbus Blue Jackets) had 25 saves for the Otters.
The Sting scored one power-play goal in three chances and also netted a short-handed goal in the win. Erie went 1/4 with the man-advantage. Sarnia also dominated in the face-off circle 40-24.
The win broke a mini two game losing streak for the Sting and put them one point back of Owen Sound in the battle for the fourth best record in the Western Conference and only four points behind the third place Saginaw Spirit.
Sarnia will wrap up weekend play Saturday night at home as they welcome the Kitchener Rangers for their first visit to Sarnia this season and the second game overall between the two teams. The Sting opened up the 2022-23 OHL season beating the Rangers 6-3 at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium back on September 30th 2022.
The first period was scoreless until late in the stanza as Sarnia finished the opening twenty minutes with a 2-1 lead. Elias Cohen opened the scoring for Erie on the power-play at 16:17 from Colby Saganiuk and former Sting Alexis Daviault. Sarnia came roaring back with two goals 82 seconds apart. Burke scored his 25th of the season with the man-advantage at 18:25 from Del Mastro and Ty Voit (Toronto Maple Leafs). Ethan Ritchie scored an even strength goal from Ryan Mast (Boston Bruins) and Brenden Anderson, who registered his first point with the Sting since he was acquired in a trade earlier this month from the Hamilton Bulldogs.
Erie scored a pair of goals in the second period and once again the goals came late. Taeo Artichuk lit the lamp at 17:48 from Ondrej Molnar and Saganiuk. Erie was than awarded a penalty shot with one second left and Carey Terrance made good with his 18th goal of the season and he was named as the second star of the game.
