Storm drop fifth straight, fall 5-2 to Sting
The Guelph Storm lost their fifth straight game on Sunday night, falling 5-2 at the hands of the Sarnia Sting.
Steph Coratti, GuelphStorm.com —
It just wasn’t a complete 60-minute effort from the Guelph Storm on Sunday.
Starting off well, keeping in tune with the Sarnia Sting through the first half of the match-up, the Storm began to lose track of things when the second period turned a scoreless first into a score-off.
The Storm managed to climb within a goal in the middle frame, but that would be as close as the visiting club came in the 5-2 loss.
Netminder Bradley van Schubert made several strong saves in the game, turning aside 49 of 53 shots for third star honours.
At the other end of the ice, goaltender Justin Fazio saw 32 shots, saving 30 in the win.
After a scoreless first that saw the Storm and Sting compete end to end with 15 and 16 shots respectively, scoring opened up at both ends in the middle frame.
Sarnia opened the scoring 2:27 into the second as Matt Mistele, on an odd angle, banked it off of Van Schubert, netting his 28th of the season to get the Sting on the board.
Under a minute later, the Storm responded as Liam Stevens fed the puck in front off the wing to James McEwan who made no mistake in grabbing his 23rd of the season and tying up the game at one-a-piece.
Nikita Korostelev was on display next, picking up the loose puck in Guelph’s end and showing off quick hands to stick handle in tight and put the puck past Van Schubert for an unassisted marker, making it 2-1 in favour of the Sting at the six minute mark.
Extending their lead to two, Patrick White – right off the face-off – got into shooting position to put the puck on net only to have it hit a defender in front, putting the Sting up 3-1 with 10:56 played in the second.
The Storm hung around, however, pulling to within one just under two minutes later as Jake Bricknell picked up the puck off of Matt Hotchkiss in Sarnia’s defensive end, only to put a quick wrist shot past Fazio.
Looking for his second point on the night, Liam Stevens had another great chance for the Storm shortly after, breaking in alone only to have Fazio shut the door with a solid right pad save.
Later, with under four minutes remaining in the second, Anthony Salinitri struck next, ensuring the home club took a two-goal lead into the room. Using a two-on-one rush confidently as a decoy, Salinitri potted his 12th of the season to make it 4-2 heading into the final frame.
With the start of the third, both teams seemed to be running out of legs, playing their third game in just as many nights.
Guelph would make a final push to climb back from the two-goal deficit nearing the final minutes of the game as Kevin Spinozzi was called for checking-to-the-head on C.J. Garcia. Pulling Van Schubert for the extra attacker, the Storm went to work on a six-on-four advantage.
Nothing came of it for the visiting squad, instead the Sting capitalized with a clearing attempt from White to record his second of the game, making it a 5-2 final with 1:27 remaining.
The Storm now look to this Friday as the Ottawa 67’s visit for a 7:30pm puck drop.
GAME NOTES
- The Storm and the Sting met for the third of four times this season on Sunday night.
- The Sting now hold a 3-0 season series lead after earning 7-0 (Nov. 14) and 6-2 (Feb. 12) wins previously.
- Both Guelph and Sarnia played in their third game in just as many nights on Sunday.
- After the loss, the Storm are now on a five-game losing skid.
- The next game for the Storm is Friday, March 4th versus the Ottawa 67’s at the Sleeman Centre.
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Guelph Storm 2 at Sarnia Sting 5 – Status: End of Game
Sunday, February 28, 2016 – Sarnia Sports and Entertainment Centre
Guelph 0 2 0 – 2
Sarnia 0 4 1 – 5
1st Period– No Scoring.
Penalties-Chychrun Sar (holding), 1:15; Philips Gue (cross checking), 10:35.
2nd Period-1, Sarnia, Mistele 28 (Chychrun, Salinitri), 2:27. 2, Guelph, McEwan 23 (Stevens, Smith), 3:09. 3, Sarnia, Korostelev 18 6:00. 4, Sarnia, White 15 (Lindberg), 10:56. 5, Guelph, Bricknell 9 (Hotchkiss), 12:45. 6, Sarnia, Salinitri 12 (Mistele, Spinozzi), 16:31.
Penalties-Bricknell Gue (fighting), 13:27; King Sar (fighting), 13:27; Garcia Gue (cross checking), 19:16.
3rd Period-7, Sarnia, White 16 (Fazio), 19:33 (SH EN).
Penalties-McFadden Gue (delay of game), 2:14; Black Sar (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 4:56; Ratcliffe Gue (hooking), 6:49; Spinozzi Sar (check to the head), 17:03; Smith Gue (tripping), 19:48.
Shots on Goal–Guelph 15-9-8-32. Sarnia 16-22-16-54.
Power Play Opportunities–Guelph 0 / 3; Sarnia 0 / 5.
Goalies–Guelph, Van Schubert 0-13-1-0 (53 shots-49 saves). Sarnia, Fazio 24-12-3-1 (32 shots-30 saves).
A-2,894
Referees-Jason Goldenberg (19), Steve Picco (24).
Linesmen-Tyler Callander (94), Chad Petrie (77).
