With six regulars out of the lineup due to
injuries and suspensions, Sarnia Sting head
coach Dave MacQueen admitted he wasn’t sure how
his team would perform against the Belleville
Bulls Friday night.
How about the Sting’s biggest offensive output
of the season.
 |
Sarnia scored
five times in the second period on
their way to a 9-4 romp over the
Bulls before 3,004 happy fans at the
RBC Centre.
The win snapped a
three-game losing streak for the
Sting and improved their overall
record to 2-4-1-0 in the Ontario
Hockey League.
The teams battled
to a 1-1 draw after the first period
before Sarnia exploded for five
unanswered goals in period two to
take a commanding 6-1 lead. Each
team scored three goals in the final
period.
“Missing those
six guys is big considering they are
an important part of our team, ”said
MacQueen. “I’ll be honest, I wasn’t
sure how we would perform. But we
came out with a simple game plan and
the players executed it. They went
out and worked hard right from the
opening whistle.” |
MacQueen added, “I’d like to save a couple of
those goals for another game. But other than a
couple of lapses in the third period we were
real solid. There were a lot of guys who did a
lot of good things. We didn’t play a run-and-gun
style, but did a lot of little things.”
Sarnia dominated the first period outshooting
the Bulls 15-11. They had several glorious
scoring chances, but the game was tied after one
period.
“But we established our forecheck early in the
first period and it resulted in some quality
chances. I told the guys after the first period
that we controlled the game and if we keep doing
the same things we would be rewarded. That’s
what happened in the second period,” MacQueen
said.
He added, “it’s nice to see some guys get their
first goals and get that monkey off their backs.
We need to score by committee and tonight we did
that.”
 |
One of those
players with his first goal of the
year and first in his career was
first round draft pick Brett
Ritchie. He scored with a 1.9
seconds left ripping home a high
wrist shot from the slot.
“Man, I had
enough chances, especially early in
the game, but I couldn’t bury one
until the end,” said Ritchie.
“Obviously it feels good to get the
first one out of the way.”
Ritchie felt it
was the team’s defensive game that
led to all the offence.
“Except for a
couple of letdowns in the third
period, we were good defensively and
didn’t give them a lot. I thought we
were solid in the first and second
periods.”
Rookie Brandon
Alderson led the way with a pair of
goals, giving him three on the
season. Single markers went to
Ritchie, Nathan Chiarlitti, Tyler
Peters, Zack MacQueen, Joe Rogalski,
Jesse Stoughton and Anton Zupancic. |
For Stoughton and Zupancic, (who was called up
from the Sarnia Legionnaires), it was their
first goals of the year. Brent Sullivan and Ted
Brithen chipped in with two assists each.
Michael Curtis, Marc Cantin, Shawn Lalonde and
Tyler Taylor scored for Belleville, who saw
their record fall to 3-4-1-0.
Chiarlitti also chipped in with an assist for
the Sting and was the game’s first star. He
feels scoring goals is not his top priority.
“If I can score goals or get points, that’s a
bonus. (He now has two on the season). For me
it’s a team game and I just want to help the
team win.
 |
Tonight was a
team effort, especially in the first
and second periods. We let our foot
off the gas pedal in the third
period and also took some stupid
penalties, including one by myself.
But we got some secondary scoring
tonight and it’s good for the team
when everyone is firing like that.
When that happens we can be a
dangerous team.”
The Sting held a 47-30 edge in shots
on goal. Shayne Campbell notched his
first win of the year in goal for
Sarnia. Phillip Grubauer started in
goal for the Bulls and allowed four
goals on four shots before being
replaced by rookie Tyson Teichmann.
Each team scored
a pair of power play goals while the
Sting scored their first shorthanded
goal. It came off the stick of
Stoughton and began their five-goal
barrage in the second period.
Sarnia’s next
action is Sunday afternoon in
Windsor against the Spitfires. Their
next home game game is Thursday when
they host the Barrie Colts. |
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Chiarlitti was first star
with Alderson second star and MacQueen third
star.
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The six regulars out of
the Sting lineup included goalie Adam
Courchaine, along with Daniel Broussard, Ron
Soucie, Brett Appio, Brandon Francisco and
Kale Kerbashian.
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A
couple of ex-Sting players are in the
American Hockey League. Devin DiDiomete is
starting his second year with Hartford
Wolfpack. Unfortunately he suffered a broken
arm in pre-season and is out indefinitely.
Danny Fritsche has joined the Syracuse
Crunch after being released by the Atlanta
Thrashers of the NHL. Syracuse is the top
farm team of Columbus where Fritsche was a
second round draft pick. He has played in
the NHL for Columbus, New York Rangers and
Minnesota Wild.
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Prior
to last night’s game, Sarnia’s biggest
offensive output was four and that came in
their opening game overtime loss to Oshawa.
