Sunday,
February
24
vs.
Strathroy
Rockets
Get
Early
Jump,
Series
Tied
at
Two
Each
Final
Score:
Strathroy
-
5
Sarnia
- 3
by
Deb
Lawrence
It was a very noisy crowd of 625 at the Brock Street Barn and it stayed that way throughout the game. In goal for Strathroy was Ben Thomas and between the pipes for the Blast was John Faulkner.
1st Period: Sarnia found themselves in penalty trouble early in the game with a bench minor for too many men just 51 seconds in and serving it was Matt Abercrombie. The Blast had two good short-handed chances. Owen Roger carried the puck into the Rockets zone, accompanied by team mate Craig Rainsberry and let go a shot that was wide at the 1:20 mark and then one minute later, Tyler Cicchini led a rush up the ice but Thomas made the save. Going off at 3:23 for high sticking was Sarnia's Josh Cornelissen and the Rockets made them pay for it with a power play goal at the 5:02 mark off the stick of Kraig Wright from Brady Vandenberk and Andrew Secco. Four penalties were taken over a span of 1:33 and when the Rockets were playing 4 on 3 hockey, they struck for another power play goal at the 9:19 mark. This one was scored by Tyler Carroll from Andrew Secco and Brady Vandenberk. The Rockets increased their lead again at 11:02 with a goal by Patrick Easter with assists to Kraig Wright and Jared Anger. Sarnia took a time out after this goal. An elbowing call at 11:28 put Shaun Furlong of the the Rockets into the bin bin and Sarnia responded with a power play goal of their own. Sending a hard shot past Thomas was Tyler Lewis and picking up assists were Tyler Cicchini and Matt Abercrombie. Shots on goal: Strathroy - 22 Sarnia - 9. Strathroy was 2 for 4 with the man advantage and Sarnia was 1 for 4 on the power play this period.
2nd Period: A hooking minor at the six minute mark found Sarnia's Brent Andriash making his way to the sin bin and 57 seconds later Strathroy made it a three goal lead on a Dan Grant marker from Shaun Furlong. Sarnia then began a mini trek to the sin bin with Thomas Policelli went off at 12:13 for boarding and joining him was Jon Conrad who picked up a 10 minute misconduct. Tripping was called at 15:42 to Sarnia's Josh Cornelissen and the Blast were successful on the penalty kill. With two seconds left in the period Dan Grant of Strathroy was called for hooking and when the puck was dropped, Sarnia had pulled goaltender Faulkner. Shots on goal: Strathroy - 17/39 Sarnia - 8/17. Strathroy was 1 for 3 with the man advantage this period and Sarnia was 0 for 1 as they didn't convert in the third period.
3rd Period: Sarnia came out this period skating and hitting and as a result, Strathroy's Joey Beauchamp was called for unsportsmanlike conduct for taking a fall too easily at the 2:23 mark.
Although the Blast didn't score on that power play chance they did begin to put more shots on net and spend time in Strathroy's end. The Rockets seemed to put the game out of reach with their fifth of the night at 12:48 off the stick of Kyle Greenside from Patrick Easter and Jared Anger. Sarnia got one back just 13 seconds later when Tyler Lewis potted his second of the night. The lone assist went to Clark MacPherson.
Sarnia went on the power play for the third time this period when a holding call put Dan Grant of the Rocket in the sin bin.
Wiring a hard shot from the right wing for a power play goal was Tyler Cicchini that lit the lamp for the home team. Picking up assists were Scott Stafford and Matt Abercrombie.
With 1:15 remaining in the period and the play deep in Rockets territory, Sarnia pulled Faulkner for an extra attacker. During the final 47 seconds of the game, Sarnia would have six skaters to Strathroy's four as Joey Beauchamp was given a four minute spearing penalty. The Blast applied plenty of pressure and shots but could not get anything further behind Thomas. Shots on goal: Strathroy - 11/50 Sarnia - 16/33. Strathroy had no power play chances this period and were 3 for 7 in the game. Sarnia was 1 for 4 with the man advantage this period and were 2 for 9 in the game.
The Blast travel to Strathroy on Tuesday, February 26th for game five in this series. The puck drops at 7:30 so why not gather up your noise makers and head on down the 402, it's only a 50 minute drive from our arena to theirs and our boy would love to hear the noise! On Thursday the 28th, game six takes place with a 7:30 puck drop.
