Sarnia Sting vs Niagara Ice Dogs
January 22, 2010
By DAVE BORODY
special to
The tough times continue for
the Sarnia Sting.
The Sting dropped a 4-1
decision to the Niagara Ice
Dogs in Ontario Hockey
League play, Friday night
before 2,901 fans at the RBC
Centre.
Sarnia is now winless over
their last nine games. They
sit last overall in the
20-team league.
Sting head coach Dave
MacQueen was not happy with
his team’s effort.
“Everything you didn’t want
to see in a game you saw
tonight,” said MacQueen.
“Our bread and butter is our
worth ethic and energy level
and it was non-existent
tonight. It was a bad hockey
game.”
He added, “we made poor
decisions all over the ice.
We made bad pinches, we gave
them too much time and
space, turnovers, and we had
three guys caught down low
and no hits. You name it.”
MacQueen said it was not
even a typical game of two
struggling teams.
“The first period was like a
shinny game. But our guys
looked at it, as Niagara is
right there with us so we
could just throw on the
jerseys. It doesn’t work
that way. I could tell
before the game the talk in
the room wasn’t about
hockey.”
Niagara outshot Sarnia 18-11
in the opening period and
was rewarded with a power
play goal at 10:11 when
Reggie Traccitto knocked in
a loose puck off a scramble.
Earlier Sarnia had a two-man
advantage for almost two
minutes. They managed four
shots on goal, but had no
great chances.
Niagara scored a pair of
goals in the second period
as Freddie Hamilton whipped
home a cross-ice pass at
7:28 while Mitchell Theoret
wristed a high shot past
Sting goalie Jesse Raymond
at 9:21.
Sarnia mustered just three
shots in the second frame.
The Sting appeared to get on
the board four minutes into
the third period when Peter
Stevens scored from close
range. But video goal judge
Eric Bryce reversed the
call.
“Washer (referee Joel
Washkurak) said it was a
good goal,” said MacQueen.
“He said the video guy
watched it five times and
told him it was kicked in by
the left foot. What I saw
was the puck go off his
right foot with no kicking
motion. But the referee has
to go by what the video guy
says.”|
Sarnia’s only goal came at
13:31 on a power play when
Brandon Francisco poked home
a loose puck off a Kale
Kerbashian’s shot. It was
Francisco’s seventh goal.
But the IceDogs put the game
out of reach at 16:28 when
Hamilton scored his second
of the game on a breakaway.
The Sting began the game one
player under the limit and
then lost two more in the
second period with injuries.
Forward Ben O’Quinn didn’t
see a Niagara player coming
out of the penalty box and
was hit hard along the
boards. Later defenceman
Kyle Flemington was tripped
up into the end boards.
“We were down one guy to
begin with and after losing
two more it put us in a
hole,” said MacQueen. “They
likely won’t play Saturday.
We had to move Miro (Preisinger)
back on the blueline, but
that took away some of our
skill up front.”
O'Quinn may have a separated
shoulder and Flemington a
concussion.
With 20 games remaining
MacQueen wants to see his
team move forward.
“It’s a big worry right now.
Even though we aren’t
winning, I want to see guys
going forward. We are
playing the crap out of our
young guys and maybe some of
them aren’t ready to handle
the workload. We just have
to keep pounding away the
proper way to win games.
This is a crucial teaching
time. No matter how bad it
gets we have to keep going.
But that honest effort isn’t
there all the time.”
-
Niagara finished with a
35-23 edge in shots on
goal with Mark Visentin
the winning goalie.
-
Sarnia was one-for-six
on the power play and
Niagara one-for-four.
-
The Sting has scored two
goals or less in 26 of
the 48 games they have
played this season.
-
The Sting concludes this
week’s play Saturday
night when they travel
to Owen Sound to meet
the Attack.
-
Sarnia’s next home game
is Friday when they host
the Saginaw Spirit at
7:35 p.m. at the RBC
Centre.
|
