Sting force sixth game against Greyhounds

There is little turnaround for the Soo Greyhounds as it looks to end the Western Conference quarter-final series against the Sarnia Sting.

The Sting forced a game six  thanks to a 5-1 win at the Sarnia Sports and Entertainment Centre on Saturday night in Ontario Hockey League playoff action. Game six is set for Sunday night at the Essar Centre at 7:07 p.m.

A slow start and a shorthanded goal late in the second period was the difference for the Sting.

“We weren’t good enough to win,” said Greyhounds Coach Drew Bannister. “We had an opportunity there in the second period where we were pushing and playing pretty good five-on-five and we scored to make it 2-1. Then we got the five-on-three power play and we didn’t take advantage of that and they scored (shorthanded) to make it 3-1 and it was hard for us to get back into the game.”

Gustav Bouramman had the lone goal for the Greyhounds, scoring on the power play late in the second period.

At the time, the goal cut the Sarnia lead to 2-1 but Sam Studnicka would restore Sarnia’s two-goal lead with a shorthanded marker 1:58 later. The overage forward scored on a rebound after Brandon Lindberg was stopped on a shorthanded breakaway initially by Brandon Halverson.

“I would say so,” Bannister said when asked if the Studnicka goal was the difference. “We had been really good in the second period up until then. We fought ourselves back in the game. That was the turning point in the game.

Halverson made 29 saves for the Greyhounds.

Matt Mistele had a goal, his sixth of the series, and an assist for Sarnia. Studnicka also had a goal and an assist. Jordan Kyrou assisted on two goals.

Ryan MacGregor, Pavel Zacha and Troy Lajeunesse also scored for the Sting.

The Sting jumped on the Greyhounds early, scoring a pair of goals in the opening 10 minutes and outshooting the Greyhounds 17-6 in the opening period.

“We just didn’t manage the puck well and turned the puck over in a couple of areas that cost us,” said Bannister. “We didn’t do a great job early on communicating and sorting out the defensive zone and they were just able to generate some zone time and created a lot of opportunities.”

Bannister said the short turnaround heading into game six on Sunday “will be good for our group.”

“We’ll get off the bus, be able to jump into our beds for a bit, get rested and get right back to the rink and get back to work,” Bannister said. “There’s probably a little bitterness and they’re going to have to reset their mindset and get ready again to play tomorrow.”

Overage goaltender Charlie Graham made 27 saves.

Travis Konecny missed his third-straight game due to injury for the Sting. The veteran forward, acquired at the trade deadline from the Ottawa 67’s, was injured in game two and was in Philadelphia during the week to meet with the  Philadelphia Flyers team doctors.

Konecny re-joined the team this weekend but his status was up in the air.

Sting Coach Derian Hatcher told the Sarnia Observer on Friday “He’s the same it’s been from day one. He won’t play game 5. From there, we’ll see.”

For the Greyhounds, the lineup remained the same as it had in the opening four games

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OTHER SCORES

Friday

In Kingston, Jeremy Helvig made 20 saves as the Kingston Frontenacs blanked the Oshawa Generals 6-0. With the win, Kingston advances to the second round with a five-game series victory. Spencer Watson had a goal and four assists for Kingston while Michael Dal Colle also assisted on four goals. Warren Foegele scored twice for Kingston. Ryan Verbeek, Stephen Desrocher and Lawson Crouse had the other Kingston goals. Jeremy Brodeur got the start for the Generals, stopping 18 of 22 shots before making way for Justin Nichols. Nichols stopped 11 of 13 shots.

In North Bay, Michael Amadio scored at 11:08 of overtime to give the North Bay Battalion a 2-1 victory over the Peterborough Petes. Brett McKenzie had the other North Bay goal while Jake Smith made 34 saves. Matthew Mancina made 39 saves for Peterborough. Steven Lorentz had the lone Petes goal. North Bay now leads the best-of-7 series 3-2.

In St. Catharines, Josh Ho-Sang had a goal and two assists as the Niagara IceDogs completed a five-game series victory over the Ottawa 67’s with a 5-2 win. Pavel Jenys added a goal and an assist for the IceDogs. Kyle Langdon, Ryan Mantha and Brendan Perlini also scored for Niagara. Austen Keating and Evan deHaan scored for Ottawa. Artur Tyanulin assisted on both Ottawa goals.

In Kitchener, the Kitchener Rangers advanced to round two with a 5-2 victory over the Windsor Spitfires, winning the Western Conference quarter-final series in five games. Jeremy Bracco and Ryan MacInnis had a goal and three assists each for Kitchener. Adam Mascherin chipped in with a goal and two assists. Connor Hall and Brandon Robinson also scored for Kitchener. Gabriel Vilardi had a goal and an assist for Windsor. Brendan Lemieux had the other Windsor goal.

In Owen Sound, the Owen Sound Attack avoided elimination with a 4-3 victory over the London Knights. The Knights now lead the series 3-2. Petrus Palmu had the overtime winner for the Attack. Palmu, Josh Sterk and Santino Centorame had a goal and an assist each for the Attack. Jonah Gadjovich also scored for Owen Sound. Ethan Szypula assisted on two goals. Christian Dvorak and Aaron Berisha had a goal and an assist each for London. Mitch Marner assisted on two goals. Cliff Pu also scored for London.

Saturday

In Barrie, the Barrie Colts took a 3-2 series lead over the Mississauga Steelheads with a 3-0 victory on home ice. Andrew Mangiapane had a pair of goals for Barrie while Rasmus Andersson assisted on two goals. Kevin Labanc also scored. Goaltender David Ovsjannikov stopped 30 shots, including 15 in the third period, for the shutout. Jack Flinn made 29 saves for Mississauga.