Sarnia Sting at Brampton Battalion
January 17, 2010
By DAVE BORODY
special to
BRAMPTON – Three unanswered
goals in the third period
powered the Brampton
Battalion for a 5-2 win over
the Sarnia Sting, Sunday
afternoon before 2,661 fans
at the Powerade Centre.
The loss was Sarnia’s sixth
in a row in the Ontario
Hockey League to see their
overall record dip to
14-29-2-1.
“Once again we were in the
game, as we’ve been in a lot
of games recently,” said
Sting head coach Dave
MacQueen, “But mental
mistakes and breakdowns are
killing us. On their first
goal our defenceman gets
beat one-on-one. On the
second goal our defenceman
gets turned around on a tip
while on the winning goal
Ben O’Quinn goes to block a
shot, it deflects off his
shin pad and into our net.”
He added, “it has to be
discouraging for those guys
inside that dressing room,
to be in the games and not
get any results.”
The Sting used Jesse Raymond
in goal, up from the Sarnia
Legionnaires Junior B team.
“Other than the fourth goal
he made some real good stops
when the game was tied and
gave us a chance. It was a
good game for him to be in,
as Brampton doesn’t score a
lot of goals. He’s done
everything we’ve asked and
wanted to reward him with a
start. He was okay.”
Brampton held a 33-18 edge
in shots on goal. Sarnia had
only four shots in the
second period and five in
the third.
The teams split a pair of
goals in the opening period.
Sam Carrick of the
Battalion opened the scoring
at 6:09 when he knocked in
his own rebound. Sarnia tied
the game 52 seconds later on
the power play as Brandon
Francisco banged home a
rebound off a Brett Ritchie
shot.
Each team scored in the
second period.
Brampton took the lead at
9:24 when Matt MacLeod
tipped home a cross-ice pass
from close range. Kale
Kerbashian pulled Sarnia
even at 13:24 on the power
play on a nice solo rush as
he snapped a wrist shot over
Battalion goalie Patrick
Killeen.
The Sting could muster just
four shots on goal in the
second period.
Early in the third period
Raymond stopped Carrick on a
breakaway.
But on their fifth power
play of the game, Brampton
finally cashed in with the
go-ahead goal at 11:54 as
Ken Peroff drilled home a
slapshot from the left
point.
Sean Jones scored Brampton’s
fourth goal at 17:17 while
Carrick added an empty net
goal with 11-6 seconds left.
Sarnia welcomed defenceman
Joe Rogalski back in the
lineup after serving a
two-game suspension. But
rearguard Anthony Donati was
checked hard into the end
boards in the first period.
He went to the dressing room
for the remainder of the
period, He came back, but
was used sparingly in the
second and third periods.
That forced the coaching
staff to move forward
Miroslav Preisinger back on
the blue line for the second
straight game.
MacQueen says the Sting need
to find a way to get over
the hump.
“That’s the challenge. Just
like last night we are in
the game, but can’t find a
way to win.”
The Sting returns home for a
pair of games this week. On
Thursday they host the
Guelph Storm for the first
time this year while on
Friday the Sarnia are home
to the Niagara Ice Dogs.
Both games begin at 7:35
p.m. at the RBC Centre.
Sarnia plays at Owen Sound
on Saturday night.
- Just two scratches for the
Sting, both defencemen,
Brent Sullivan and Daniel
Broussard.
- Ex-Sting Michael Santini
was in uniform for the
Battalion. He was a fifth
round draft pick of the
Sting a couple of years ago,
but was released earlier
this year. He was playing
for the Mississauga Chargers
and had 27 goals and 62
points in 34 games. Santini
has two assists in two games
with Brampton.
- Coach MacQueen and
Brampton head coach Stan
Butler have both coached 924
career games in the OHL.
Butler has 429 wins and
MacQueen 425. They stand
fourth and fifth all-time.
- Brian Kilrea holds the OHL
record with 1,193 wins in
2,156 games. Bert Templeton
is second with 907 wins and
Larry Mavety third at 681.
- Brampton is averaging
1,903 fans a game at home.
Last year at this time they
averaged 2,050. Brampton won
the Eastern Conference title
last year before losing in
the league final to Windsor.
Their top player, Cody
Hodgson, a first round draft
pick of the Vancouver
Canucks, has not played a
game this year due to a back
injury.
- Sarnia has scored at least
one power play goals in
three straight games. They
were two-for-six with the
man advantage while Brampton
was one-for-five.
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