BY DAVE BORODY
BRAMPTON – Victories for the Sarnia Sting at the Poweraide Centre have been few and far between in recent years.

In fact the last time Sarnia won a game here was 2003.

That streak ended in fine fashion on Sunday afternoon when the Sting posted a solid 4-1 victory over the Brampton Battalion in front of 1,838 fans.

The victory capped off a great weekend for the Sting where they won three in a row, including two on the road. They improved their overall record to 8-6-0-1 in the Ontario Hockey League.

Sting head coach Jacques Beaulieu said there were several reasons why his team ended the winless streak in Brampton.

“First of all we competed. Even though it was our third game in four nights, our competitive level was high. We had lots of energy. We blocked shots, our penalty killing was good and we got a power play goal in the first period to get us going. There’s no give in this team right now.”
Brodie Barrick
photo courtesy of OHL

He added, “We were a little sloppy in the second period, but got better in the third. We talked about getting off to a good start in the first period.”

Rookie Brodie Barrick made his third start of the season in goal and turned in a solid performance blocking 30 of 31 shots he faced.

“He was good today,” said Beaulieu, when asked about Barrick. “He made two big saves in the second period. If he didn’t make those saves, the game would have been tied. I’m very happy with the way he played.”

Barrick is now 2-1 on the season.

“The boys played well n front of me,” said Barrick. “They limited most of their chances to the outside. It made my job a lot easier. Scoring those two goals early helped a lot too.”

He added, “Getting some games under my belt if making things easier for me. I’m not as nervous as I was earlier in the year.”

The Sting jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period scoring on their first and second shots of the game.

Nick Latta got things going at 10:21 with his fourth of the season. Latta took a cross-ice pass from Nikolay Goldobin and sent home a low shot past the goalie. Bryan Moore also assisted.

Reid Boucher increased the lead to 2-0 on a power play at 11:34. Boucher was left alone in the slot and he converted a pass from Alex Basso. Alex Galchenyuk picked up an assist on Boucher’s sixth of the year.

Brampton scored the lone goal of period two at 13:43 on a power play by Blake Clarke. Barrick stopped a breakaway in the final minute of period two.

The Sting could muster just four shots on goal in the second frame and getting just four in period one.

Alex Galchenyuk gave the Sting some much-needed breathing room with his eighth goal of the season at 11:4 of period three. He chased down a loose puck and made no mistake ripping a wrist shot past the goalie from point blank range.

After killing off a pair of penalties, Sarnia iced the game when rookie Brett Hargrave scored his first OHL goal into an opening net with 38 seconds remaining.

Brampton held a 31-15 edge in shots on goal. Sarnia was one-for-three on the power play and Brampton one-for-four. The Sting lead the OHL on the power play operating at almost 33 percent.

Newly acquired forward Alex Carnevale was in the Sting lineup. Carnevale was picked up from the Belleville Bulls on Saturday for a fifth round draft pick. He played left wing on a line with Hargrave and Justice Dundas.

Matteo Ciccarelli played his second straight game after being called up from the Lambton Shores junior B team.

Not dressed for the Sting were Craig Hottot (suspension), Davis Brown, Daniel Nikandrov and Joshua Chapman (all injured) while Alexandre Renaud was numbers.

Next action for the Sting is Friday night when they host the Plymouth Whalers at 7:05 p.m. at the RBC Centre. Tickets for the game and all remaining home games for the Sting are on sale daily at the RBC Centre Box Office, by calling 519-541-1717 or going online at Sarniasting.com

It’s the only home game of the weekend as the Sting and Whalers are in Plymouth Saturday night while Sarnia is in Saginaw Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m.

Tickets are also on sale for the Subway Super Series game, Nov. 12th at the RBC Centre. Team OHL will face Team Russia. Alex Basso of the Sting will play for Team OHL while former Sting star, Nail Yakupov will suit up for Team Russia.



- Boucher was named first star (goal and assist), Barrick was second star and Blake Clark of Brampton third star. Galchenyuk finished with a goal and two assists and now has eight goals and 13 assists for 21 points. He is only two points back of OHL scoring leader Mark Scheifele of Barrie.

- Goldobin ranks second in the OHL in rookie scoring. The leader is top overall pick Connor McDavid of Erie who has seven goals and 11 assists in 15 games. Goldobin has five goals and 10 assists, also in 15 games.

- Sarnia is now 5-1-0-0 in road games this season.