The Sarnia Sting will be out to snap a three-game losing streak when they host the Belleville Bulls Friday at the RBC Centre in Ontario Hockey League play.
 

But it’s not going to be easy.
 

The Sting will be shorthanded due to injuries and suspensions.
 

Three Sarnia players, goalie Adam Courchaine, defenceman Ron Soucie and forward Brett Appio all received two-game suspensions as part of a line brawl in last Saturday’s game with the Saginaw Spirit.
 

There are five players nursing injuries, although three of them could play Friday. Kale Kerbashian has been under the weather all week, Ted Brithen is nursing a back injury while Ben O’Quinn was knocked out of the last game in the second period after taking a hard check.
 

Brandon Francisco is not expected to play as he recovers from a slight concussion sustained in a game a week ago against London while defenceman Daniel Broussard is out indefinitely recovering from hand surgery.
 

Sting head coach Dave MacQueen will use defenceman Anton Zupancic from the Sarnia Legionnaires junior B team. After that any other additions to the lineup are up in the air.
 

“I’m working on a couple of things right now,” said MacQueen on Thursday. “I expect a couple of our injured players will be game time decisions.”
 

MacQueen admits the injuries and suspensions have made for a tough week of practice.
 

“It’s never easy when players can’t practice due to injuries. It’s tough to implement new ideas or go over our mistakes, other than by video. But it does give other guys a chance to step up and contribute.”
 

MacQueen feels his team needs to get off to a quick start against the Bulls.
 

“It’s real important for us to come out strong in the opening 10 minutes of the game. We are playing at home and it’s huge for our confidence to start well. We also need good goaltending. Our goalies need to give us a chance to win.”

With Courchaine out of the lineup, Shayne Campbell and Jesse Raymond will be the two goalies while forward Steve Reese will play as one of three overagers.
 

Despite his team’s 1-4-1-0 start, MacQueen does see some positive signs.
 

“The message from day one of this season is to keep moving forward. We know we are going to have some down days with a young team, but there’s a been a couple of games we haven’t been rewarded for a decent effort.”
 

He added, “it’s an ongoing battle to keep this team moving forward and things like injuries and suspensions don’t help. We just need to correct our mistakes and make the players feel comfortable and not try and do too much. Our young players are finding it difficult when they try and do too much instead of just going out and reacting instinctively to what’s happening on the ice.”
 

The Bulls are coming off a 3-2 overtime win against Ottawa on Wednesday and sport a 3-3-1-0 record. This will be Belleville’s only visit to Sarnia this year, “Since Belleville plays on a big ice surface, they will be a good-skating team. They still have some veterans left over who know what it takes to win. They play with emotion and have solid goaltending,” MacQueen said.
 

Friday's game begins at 7:35 p.m. Sarnia’s only other game this weekend is Sunday afternoon in Windsor against the Spitfires.
 

Kerbashian currently leads the Sting in scoring with one goal and five assists. O’Quinn, Steve Reese and Joe Rogalski all have five points each while Brent O’Sullivan has four.