Sarnia Sting Win in Windsor
MARCH 2, 2015
By DAVE BORODY
WINDSOR – The Sarnia Sting took
another major stride in securing
a playoff berth with a 4-2 win
over the Windsor Spitfires,
Sunday afternoon in front of
6,034 fans at the Windsor Family
Credit Union Centre.
The victory moved Sarnia 10
points ahead of both Saginaw and
Plymouth and 12 up on Plymouth
in the battle for the last two
playoff sports in the Western
Conference standings of the
Ontario Hockey League. The Sting
has seven games remaining and
the other three nine apiece.
Sarnia won their second game in
a row to move back to the .500
mark with 27-27-4-3 record.
The Sting deserved full marks
for their performance as they
outshot Windsor 50-22.
Sting head coach was extremely
pleased with his team’s effort.
“There was a lot to like in this
game. That’s the kind of game we
want to play. Offensively we
were great. We moved the puck
around in their end with a lot
of puck possession and they had
a hard time containing us. It
was one of our most structured
games of the year.”
He added, “I just told the team
there were no passengers. I had
no problems putting out four
lines and six defencemen.
Windsor scored a couple of lucky
goals, but it was a solid 60
minute effort.”
Letowski said taking four of six
points on the weekend was
important.
“I’m happy with the weekend.
Getting four of six points at
this time of year will give us a
big lift. It will be a nice day
off and then get ready for next
weekend.”
After a scoreless opening
period, Windsor took a 1-0 lead
at 4:47 of period two on a power
play. Hayden McCool’s soft wrist
shot fooled Sting goalie Taylor
Dupuis.
But the Sting tied the game two
minutes later with a power play
goal of their own as Jakob
Chychrun snapped home a shot
from the top of the face-off
circle. Jeff King drew the lone
assist on Chychrun’s 15th goal
of the season.
Sarnia took their first lead at
14:33 when Stephen Pierog poked
home a loose puck in the crease
off a Hayden Hodgson’s shot. It
was Pierog’s 12th of the year.
The Sting outshot Windsor 20-4
in the second stanza and 32-10
after 40 minutes.
Windsor pulled even 35 seconds
into period three when Slater
Doggett’s centering pass from
behind the net went off of
Chychrun and past Dupuis.
Sarnia took the lead for good at
5:23. Davis Brown took a
centering pass from Pierog and
his wrist shot just had enough
to get over the goal line. It
was Brown’s 16th goal.
Pavel Zacha continued his fine
play of late when he scored an
insurance goal at 14:31. He came
from behind the net to put a
backhand between the legs of
goalie Alex Fotinos. It was
Zacha’s 15th goal.
The Sting will be home for a
pair of games this weekend at
the RBC Centre. They host the
Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds
Friday night beginning at 7:05
p.m. and take on the Guelph
Storm Sunday at 4:05 p.m.
Tickets for both games are on
sale daily at the RBC Box
Office, by calling 519-541-1717
or going online at
Sarniasting.com
STING NOTES
-
Pierog was first star with
Hodgson second star and
Spits goalie Fotinos third
star.
-
Sarnia was one-for-four on
the power play and Windsor
one-for-one.
-
Sarnia went with the same
lineup as Friday. For one of
the few times this season
they had two healthy
scratches in Patrick White
and Josh Defarias. Connor
Schlichting is out with an
injury.
-
Sarnia is 4-1 against
Windsor this season,
including winning all three
games in Windsor. They meet
one more time in Sarnia,
March 13th.
-
Sarnia’s road record
improved to 11-17-2-1.
-
Chychrun’s 15 goals are tied
for fourth on the team. The
talented rookie rearguard
has more goals than 15 of
his teammates while playing
in only 40 games.
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