Sarnia sting IceDogs
It was a lost weekend for the Niagara IceDogs.
The IceDogs dropped a 6-5 decision at home to the Sarnia Sting Sunday, less than 24 hours after a 5-4 loss at Barrie in Ontario Hockey League action.
IceDogs coach Billy Burke was pointed and direct in the post-game press conference when asked about the two losses.
“It’s never one thing, it always a combination of things,” Burke said. “You don’t blame travel for excuses — they are no excuses.
“We’ve proven we can get out of it, but we’ve got to shake this habit of winning a bunch and losing a bunch.”
Burke was especially upset with the club’s play in their own end after permitting a combined 11 goals to a pair of sub-.500 teams.
“I think our attention to detail off the rush and defensively is too casual. Last night in Barrie and today, guys were just watching the puck. We’re better than that, we’re smarter than that.
“Guys were extending shifts and then next guy takes it and it becomes contagious. It’s a lack of discipline.”
Burke also wasn’t about to throw starting goalie Stephen Dhillon or back-up Jake McGrath under the bus. Dhillon got the start Sunday after McGrath was in net Saturday.
“You can’t blame the goalies, either,” he said. “You can’t expect our goalies to do backflips and bail us out time after time after time.
“We need to be better defensively. That’s what we need to hang our hat on.”
The IceDogs, 38-17-7, are tied with the Sudbury Wolves for first place in the Eastern Conference with 81 points. The IceDogs own a game in hand but the Wolves currently hold the tie-breaker with one more win.
The Wolves dropped a 4-2 decision versus North Bay Sunday.
“One hundred per cent we want to finish in first. We got lucky, North Bay did us a favour today,” Burke said. “We’re still behind them for the tie-breaker and this was a great opportunity today to get back in front.
“Fortunately, we play Sudbury Friday. The division is more or less going to come down to that. It’s been a goal of ours and we do not want let that slip away.”
The IceDogs have six games remaining — four at home and two on the road.
“We have to figure this out,” Burke added.
The IceDogs grabbed an early 1-0 lead on a short-handed goal by Jack Studnicka. The Sting then took over for most of the rest of the first and tied the game when Anthony Tabak scored his second of the season.
Sarnia took a 3-1 lead in the second before Robertson and Studnicka scored to even the game at 3-3 after 40 minutes.
The Sting went up 5-3 in the third before the IceDogs got it back to within one at 5-3. Kelton Hatcher then scored into an open net with 1:04 remaining before Ben Jones netted his 38th with 29 seconds to play.
It was a strangely quiet crowd, despite a sell-out of 5,433 fans.
“I thought we had good energy in the room before the game, a good feeling, but we’ve got to give the fans something to cheer about too,” Burke said. “We have great fans but if we want them behind us, we’ve got to get them excited. It works both ways.”
Saturday in Barrie, Ben Jones, Matthew Philip, Kyen Sopa and Elijah Roberts scored. McGrath permitted five goals on 23 shots.
Ice cubes: Mason Howard, Andrew Bruder, Jonah DiSimone and Christian Sbaraglia did not dress for the IceDogs . . . Nolan DeGurse, Brayden Guy, Jamieson Rees and Alexandre Hauge were scratched for the Sting . . . Welland native Curtis Egert has 13 goals and 8 assists for the Sting this season . . . Former St. Catharines Black Hawk and Buffalo Sabre Rick Dudley was in attendance. Dudley is the senior vice president of hockey operations for the Carolina Hurricanes.
Sting 6 IceDogs 5
BPSN Star of the Game: Sarnia forward Sean Josling with two goals.
Niagara IceDogs: Jack Studnicka 2 (31, 32); Jason Robertson (43); Kirill Maksimov (38); Ben Jones (38)
Sarnia Sting: Josling 2 (20, 21); Franco Sproviero (22); Curtis Egert (13); Kelton Hatcher (6); Anthony Tabak (2).
Game stats: Shots on goal: By Niagara on Eathan Langevin (48), Sarnia on Stephen Dhillon (32); Power plays: Niagara 0-for-2, Sarnia 1-for-2; Penalty minutes: Niagara 4, Sarnia 4.
Attendance: 5,433 (sell out).
Up next: Home to Erie Thursday, Sudbury Friday and Barrie next Sunday.
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