The Sarnia Sting were trailing the Erie Otters 5 - 3 in the third period when the Sting stepped it up and fired in four goals to give them the go ahead and eventual 7 - 5 win.
"It was interesting to say the least I guess that's what happen when you practice just three times." said head coach Jacques Beaulieu "We were sluggish, we didn't play well but J.P. gave us the chance to win and we got some timely scoring."
Erie scored two goals in the first period the first at 9:28 on a power play by Jimmy McDowell. Sarnia answered back at 11:48 when Bryan Moore scored his third of the season short handed assisted by Anthony DeAngelo. Erie then regained the lead at 13:51 with Dane Fox scoring.
Moore scored his second of the night taking a pass from Nick Latta at 7:38. Anthony DeAngelo on the power play scored at 10:57 to give the Sting the lead for the first time in the game. Erie fought back and tied at 14:31 with Connor Crisp scoring and then went on and regained the lead scoring their second power play goal by J.P. Labardo at 16:29.
Labardo widened the lead to 5 - 3 at 9:08 into the third. The Sting then went on a scoring spree with the first by Alex Basso, a slap shot from the blue line while on the power play at 9:51. At 12:43 Reid Boucher tied the game assisted by DeAngelo and Taki Pantziris and took the lead scoring his second of the night at 15:33. Daniel Nikandrov gave Sarnia a two goal lead at 18:01 with Bryan Moore assisting to give him his first OHL four point game.
"I changed up some things" said Bryan Moore after the game. "At home I ate some different things and switched a couple of sticks and I have been practicing with Reid Boucher a couple times at practice shooting some pucks so he helped me out too."
Erie battled back and late in the period with their goalie on the bench and on a power play for a six on four attack they were able to score with :20 seconds remaining in the game.
"You got to give them (Erie) credit, they played hard and they are fighting for a chance to make playoffs those kids are working hard" said Beaulieu
The Erie Otters scored three times on seven power play opportunities, Sarnia scored twice on five opportunities.
"We been a pretty disciplined team for most of the season" said Beaulieu "We are one of the lowest penalized team in the league, but when you are not playing well you're lazy, your hooking, your grabbing and not skating, that's why you end up in the box."
The Otters outshot the Sting 41 - 37. J.P. Anderson earned his first win after being off with a groin injury the last five games. On the losing end Oscar Dansk played two periods before being replaced by Devin Williams.
The Sting are in first place in the West Division with an overall record of 26 - 15 - 0 - 3. They are ranked second in the Western Conference.
The Sting will trave to Windsor on Sunday to take on the Spitfires. They continue road play on Wednesday in Mississauga and retunr home next Friday when they host the Plymouth Whalers.
"We will have our hands full and we have to be ready to play, we can't play the way we played tonight."
Bryan Moore was first star with J.P. Labardo second star and Anthony DeAngelo third star. All three players had four-point games.
Alex Galchenyuk was not in the lineup missing his 12th game. Galchenyuk is in Montreal and will make his NHL debut playing in the season opener Saturday night for the Canadiens against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Galchenyuk's family are planning on being their for Alex's first NHL game. His parents left after the Sting game and are driving to Montreal where they will meet up with their daughter who is driving in from New York.
A total of 4,171 hockey fans were in attendance including 13 teams who are here for the 44th Annual Sarnia Silver Stick Hockey Tournament.
