Sarnia Sting vs Windsor Spitfire
November 20, 2009

One might expect there would be some yelling and screaming in the dressing room after the Sarnia Sting dropped a 7-1 decision to the Windsor Spitfires, Friday night before 3,511 fans at the RBC Centre.

However that was not the case as Sting head coach Dave MacQueen explained.

“It would be easy to yell and scream, but arguably Windsor has one of the best teams I’ve seen in all my years in this league. I guess the only team that might compare is the London Knights when they won the Memorial Cup four or five years ago.

“Windsor is deep, they are talented and they play hard. We talked about staying out of the penalty box, but we didn’t do that, especially in the first period. They are the best team in Canada for a reason.”

The Spitfires, assisted by a pair of power play goals, jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first period and held a 4-1 lead after the second. They outscored Sarnia 3-0 in the third period as they peppered Sting goalie Shayne Campbell with 31 shots in the final frame.

Overall Windsor held a 57-14 edge in shots on goal. It’s the most shots Sarnia has allowed this season.

“For 40 minutes we were still in the game. Five-on-five we were okay. We didn’t generate a lot offensively, but we had them for only eight scoring chances after two periods. But they just wear you down. They were grinding it out in the third period, got pucks in deep and got pucks to the net. They are a heck of a hockey team.”

To make matters worse, the Sting lost overage goalie Adam Courchaine early in the second period with an upper body injury.

“He’s gone to the hospital to get checked out,” said MacQueen. “It’s an upper body injury and we won’t know for sure until we get the report, but he’s likely to be out a couple of weeks.”

Courchaine allowed three goals on 15 shots.

Adam Henrique and Richard Panik led the Spitfires with two goals apiece while Taylor Hall, Adam Wallace and Kenny Ryan added singles. Defenceman Cam Fowler had three assists and was the game’s first star.

Windsor is now 14-0-0-2 in their last 16 games.

Kale Kerbashian scored the only Sting goal, his eighth of the season early in the second period to break Troy Passingham’s shutout bid.

Windsor was three-for-eight on the power play and also had a shorthanded goal while Sarnia was zero-for-four with the man advantage. Sarnia had two power plays in the second period and did not get a shot on goal.

Sarnia has now lost four in a row and seven of their last eight. But those numbers are not discouraging MacQueen.

“We had four solid practices this week. Maybe it didn’t show tonight, but we go right back at it against a team in our own Conference. We are staying the course and hopefully will see some results.”

The Sting host the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in Ontario Hockey League play tonight beginning at 7:35 p.m. at the RBC Centre. It’s the first of eight meeting between the two clubs.

-         Sarnia had one unexpected scratch, as forward Jesse Stoughton was unable to play due to a groin injury. Jesse Drydak was up from the Sarnia Legionnaires along with defenceman Anton Zupancic. Missing were Brent Sullivan (suspension) and Craig Hottot (broken jaw).

-         Windsor has 10 players on their current roster who have been drafted by National Hockey League teams.