The Sarnia Sting is on a roll
these days. The Sting made it five wins in a
row with a solid 5-1 win over the Kingston
Frontenacs, Saturday night before 2,902 fans at the
RBC Centre.
Sarnia did
not look like a team playing their third game in as
nights as they dominated play to improve to 6-4-0-1
in the Ontario Hockey League. The five-game winning
streak is the longest for the team in three years.
“We were
definitely tired and I didn’t expect a 5-1 game,”
said Sting forward Kale Kerbashian, who had a goal
and an assist and was named the game’s first star.
“Our young
guys played great tonight. I don’t know if teams are
taking us lightly or what. The young guys are
stepping up and our special teams have been great.”
Sarnia
scored two more power play goals against the
Frontenacs, who came into the game with the best
penalty-killing percentage in the league. The Sting
meanwhile are 19th on the penalty-kill,
but killed off eight of nine Kingston power plays.
The
Frontenacs only goal came on a two-man advantage
with five minutes left in the third period to spoil
Adam Courchaine’s shut out bid.
Brandon
Alderson, Ben O’Quinn, Steve Reese and Tyler Peters
scored the other Sting goals while Craig Hottot and
Jordan Hill chipped in with two assists each.
Hottot, a
third round draft pick, played his best game of the
season to date.
“Yeah, I’d
say that was my best game. I talked to coach
MacQueen earlier this week. I was getting frustrated
and putting too much pressure on myself. He told me
to relax and just go out and play. I got my first
point against Kitchener and it made me feel a lot
better.”
Hottot felt
the Sting played another solid game against
Kingston.
“Kingston
came out a little flat while we came out strong
early. Our forecheck was good all night, we had lots
of scoring chances and we blocked a lot of shots in
our end. It’s a nice feeling to be on this stretch.
We are a hard-working team and getting the bounces.”
Head coach
Dave MacQueen said Hottot is just one of several
Sting rookies who needed to get his confidence level
up.
“He was
beating himself up. We’ve put him at center for a
couple of games to get more involved. At center you
get more touches of the puck. Craig’s played a lot
better lately.”
Sarnia got
off to a quick start when a minute and a half into
the opening period when Kerbashian unleashed a hard
wrist shot from the top of the face-off circle.
Despite a
number of excellent scoring chances, Sarnia did not
get their second goal until the 17:16 mark of the
second period. Alderson fired a low shot between the
legs of the Frontenacs netminder on a two-on-one
break for his fourth of the year.
The Sting
put the game out of reach with two goals 15 seconds
apart early in period three.
O’Quinn
scored his fifth of the year on a two-man power play
while Reese scored his fourth, (and third in two
games); when he whipped home a cross-ice pass from
Kerbashian.
Peters
scored Sarnia’s fifth goal at 12:41 before Mike
Farrell scored Kingston’s lone goal at 15:05.
Sarnia held
34-29 edge in shots on goal although Kingston had
just 11 shots over two periods. They had just three
shots in the second period. The Sting chased
starting goalie Tyler Beskorowany after their fourth
goal. John Cullen finished.
“I thought
our energy level was outstanding, considering it was
our third game in three nights,” said MacQueen. “The
new guys hadn’t gone through it before and they
responded well. We controlled the play and
controlled the tempo of the game. We were tenacious
on the puck and holding them to 11 shots over two
periods was nice.”
MacQueen
admitted leading only 1-0 late into the second
period, with all the scoring opportunities, had the
coaching staff concerned.
“The coaches
were more concerned than the players. You are always
concerned when you let a team hang around. One bad
bounce or a penalty can tie the game. But these
goals just don’t quit. Our second goal was a big
one.”
He added,
“our penalty kill was outstanding. It’s coming. It’s
been very good the last few games. When you can hold
a team to just one five-on-three goal, that’s pretty
good.”
Sarnia was
two-for-five with the man advantage and Kingston
one-for-nine.
When asked
about the five-game winning streak, MacQueen said,
“it’s 10 points. It’s points in the bank. There’s no
question it’s keeping the guys upbeat. Our
conference is tight and you need to win five in a
row just to keep pace. We just keep hammering home
the details.”
The Sting
now prepare for their first extended road trip of
the season as they play Thursday in Barrie, Friday
in Sudbury and Sunday in Oshawa.
“It’s never
easy on the road. We’ll take a day off and it’s back
to work Monday. We aren’t getting ahead of
ourselves. The young guys are gaining more
confidence with every game.”

-
Kerbashian
was first star with Reese second star and
Courchaine third star.
-
Alderson
leads the team with three game winning goals.
-
Kerbashian
has seven points in the last three games.
-
Defenceman Daniel Broussard, who has not played
a regular season game due to hand surgery, could
be back in the lineup for the road trip.
-
Sarnia’s
home record is now 4-2-1-0. They are a perfect
5-0 when leading after two periods.
-
Sarnia’s
next home game is Oct. 30th when they
host the Saginaw Spirit.