Stars Suffer Final Second Sting
To players, tying a hockey game is like kissing your sister. But to the PeeWee Stars, Saturday afternoon's 2-2 tie at the Timken Centre was not only like kissing their ugliest sister, but one who also has bad breath and a cold sore. With the net empty and an extra attacker on the ice, Sarnia scored off a goalmouth scramble with eleven seconds remaining to tie the score and extend the series for at least one more game.
The Stars dominated five-on-five play throughout the entire game. Playing without Dane Jacoletti, the remaining Stars defence corps were outstanding in both ends of the rink. Intelligent pinches at the offensive blue line kept the puck in the Sarnia zone for much of the game and created several scoring chances. As well, responsible positioning in their own zone kept the Sarnia attack from generating much in the way of even strength offence.
With defence like that, you are probably wondering how the game could possibly end in a tie. Well, there were only two things preventing the Stars from closing out the series; the Sting goaltender and the Stars themselves. Matt Szabo made several remarkable saves, most notably off of rebounds, which left the Stars shooters frustrated and, at times, shaking their heads. However, the Stars inability to maintain a positive focus, and stay out of the penalty box, was at least as responsible for end result.
After a scoreless first period, the Stars offence struck for two goals in the second period. Capitalizing on a rare power play opportunity, Derek Smith deflected a Matt Thomson point shot past a helpless Szabo to give the Stars a 1-0 lead. Andrew Baxter earned the second assist by wiffing on a slap shot before feeding Matty.
Showing one of his flashes of hard work and determination , Andrew Baxter fought off a Sarnia defender and created a short-handed breakaway for Jesse Tottle. Jesse faked a deke before flipping the puck into the top right corner for 2-0 Stars lead.
Early in the third period, Sting forward and assistant captain Austin Hewton handed Rogie back his jock after scoring a power play marker on a nice reverse wrap-around play to cut the Star's lead in half.
The Stars had several chances to put the game away, only to be thwarted time and time again by the acrobatics of the Sarnia netminder. In the final seconds of play, the Stars missed an opportunity to clear the puck out of their zone which led to a Sarnia shot and rebound. Rather than attempting to collect the rebound, Rogie tried to poke the puck out of harms way, but ended up poking it directly onto the stick of Jake Armitage, who was no doubt extremely thankful for Rogie's generosity, and shot the puck into the yawning cage.
Overtime did not establish a winner, but did cost the Stars the services of Matty Thomson next game, as he expressed his displeasure with a much delayed, unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for shooting the puck after the whistle.
The Stars hope to finish off the Sting on Sunday and enjoy the rest of their March break. Until then, keep your stick down, cover the short side, and don't get deked.
