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SARNIA, ONTARIO |
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“Mackay barred the door…Woodstock unable
A trip to Woodstock,
through the fog and the rain, on Tuesday night to play the Navy Vet’s
was the order of the day. The Olympic size ice pad at the Southwood
Complex the setting for the 7:15 P.M. puck drop for game two of the
opening round playoff series.
Christian Kerrigan passed
cross-ice to Curtis Lindsay, a shot and a save by Braeden Wabie. The
rebound corralled by Eric Cunningham and taken around the net for the
wrap- around try. Chance snuffed out, as Wabie would not budge off the
post and froze the puck for the stop in play. Quinn Jackson hammered it
the length of the ice; icing waved off as Nick Major pressured the Sting
defence, caught off guard by the non-call. Major centred to Connor
Geerlinks; the pass just out of his reach. A dangerous play because of
the speed of the Woodstock forwards. Quinn Lamont and Jackson teamed up to take the puck away from Scott Ferguson. One shot, two shots and another rebound turned aside by Roan Mackay. Good hit along the boards by Calvin Hughson. Cal pinched in at the blue line and delivered a solid, clean, elbows-down body check. The only problem was the absence of the puck in immediate vicinity! Two minutes for interference served up to the hard shooting point man. Marcus Dusseault stole the puck and got off an excellent short-handed try, forcing Wabie to make the save.
Woodstock regrouped and
penetrated the Sting zone. Andy VanStemp centred for Geerlinks alone in
front, in the crease, the puck tipped toward the goal line. “An Eeeeeenormous, scintillating save”, as Danny Gallivan would have described the action. Mackay kicked out the left leg in Ken Dryden-like fashion to take the puck on the toe and kick it aside. Elijah Bonder called for roughing at the end of the period. Sting able to start the second with the man advantage. Mitch Hodgins skated the puck in behind the Woodstock net. He took a hit there from Aaron Kuiper, but still managed to centre the pass to Pavey. A quick high shot, picked the corner clean as James opened the scoring for the second game in a row; Hodgins earned the lone assist, Sarnia in the lead 1-0. Slap from the top of the left circle from Leeam Ridley stopped and the rebound steered to the corner. Textbook goaltending performed by the student and the prodigy of the goalie coach, Bryan Wabie. Hughson kept the puck on side by stopping it at the blue line. Walked around the winger into the slot in an effort to get a better shooting lane. The puck rolled off the end of his stick blade and picked up there by Nicholas VanBilsen. He bulled his way to the front of the goal and slid the puck through the crease to MacEachern. “Big Mac” hammered it home at the 2:35 mark of the second period. Hughson not credited with the third assist on the official game report but did the bulk of the work and earned the praise of Brent Robinson, handling the head coaching duties for this contest. Sting in control 2-0.
Connor Harris weaved his way through the defenders on a coast-to-coast trip. Shoulder drop to fake the shot and he moved to the backhand deke. Spoiled by Wabie as he did not bite on the fake, got the Itech pad down and jammed his left skate hard against the post to deny Harris.
Face off controlled back
to the blue line for Chris Maitland and his drive to the net was
deflected off a skate in front. Face off won by Cunningham to Tyler Groulx and a backhand shot just missed.
Marcus Dusseault carried
the puck down the right wing wall and backhanded a pass to the slot for
James Pavey. Pavey controlled the puck and moved to the backhand to beat
Wabie with 47 seconds left to be played in the second period. Score now
3-0 Sting. Third period action; a shot by VanBilsen deflected to the end boards. Picked up there by Ridley and the centring attempt deflected by the defender to the left point. Stopped at the line by Hughson. He faked a shot and manoeuvred around the winger into a better shooting position. The wind-up and a booming slapshot from the slot, taken on the Navy Vet’s crest on the Wabie chest. The goaltender turned and looked behind but the puck was smothered for the stop in play. Sting carried the play late in the game as Woodstock focused on taking the body at every opportunity. Dusseault with another rush into the zone and swerved right to bolt passed the left defenceman and again fired the backhand pass across to Pavey. Alone in the slot, Pavey gathered in the pass and shot. Another save for Wabie, the Woodstock keeper of the cord cottage. Hughson skated to the end wall, behind Mackay in the Sarnia net, and was railed into the boards. Two minutes for boarding the official call as Scott Bennett took a seat in the sin bin.
Sting, on the power play,
controlled the puck and sent it deep into the Vet’s zone. Rung around
the boards by the Woodstock defender and stopped at the blueline by
Ferguson. Scott spotted the play developing, anticipated the clearing
attempt and had time to control the puck at the right point. The wind-up
and the Al MacInnis-like blast delivered low to the ice and just inside
the far post. The unassisted power play marker at the 10:33 mark of the
third put the Sting in control 4-0. Mackay held the fort picking
up his first playoff shut out; regular readers will know how that upsets
the laundry routine at the Mackay abode. Sting take the series two games to nil and outscored the Vet’s 9-1 over the seventy minutes of play to advance to the second round. Game one to be played at Clearwater arena Monday night, opponent yet to be determined. highlights brought to you by:
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