The Sarnia Sting had been shut out within the ultimate two durations of a 5-1 loss to the visiting Kitchener Rangers on Sunday.
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It’s one factor to be a drained crew right now of 12 months, but it surely’s not OK to play like one.
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That’s the message from head coach Alan Letang after the Sarnia Sting’s two-game profitable streak ended Sunday with a 5-1 loss to the visiting Kitchener Rangers.
Taking part in their third recreation in 5 days, the Sting had not one of the depth or leap they confirmed in comeback wins over the Saginaw Spirit and Soo Greyhounds.
After Marko Sikic scored a tying aim for the Sting within the first interval, the Rangers pulled away with three second-period targets earlier than 2,679 followers at Progressive Auto Gross sales Area.
“We seemed drained, we seemed sluggish mentally,” Letang mentioned. “We couldn’t discover methods to simply keep within the recreation and manufacture some extent, simply purchase our time till we acquired going.
“It was a very completely different crew than we’d seen clearly in opposition to the Sault and in opposition to Saginaw. I assume when you might have a younger crew you might have these emotional roller-coasters.”
The Rangers (21-24-2-2) tied the Sting (21-23-3-1) for seventh place within the Ontario Hockey League’s Western Convention with 46 factors apiece, one level forward of the ninth-place Erie Otters.
The Sting are beginning March on an eight-game homestand. They’ll play 15 video games this month.
Letang mentioned gamers are receiving the assets they’ll want to remain wholesome: protein shakes, post-practice smoothies, meal tables, breakfasts.
He expects them to additionally get sufficient relaxation and ensure they’re sharp for video games.
He desires them to have a no-excuse mindset.
“‘OK, I’m drained, my legs are heavy.’ Or, ‘I’m a bit bit sore as a result of we’ve performed rather a lot.’ Yeah, so is each different crew within the league,” Letang mentioned. “Once you go into the web, yeah, you may get cross-checked, however you’re feeling higher when the rebound’s there and also you get to bang it in a pair instances.
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“That’s the disappointing factor for me. They present flashes of the crew we needed to be to achieve success and compete after which we default to generally being the straightforward crew to play in opposition to.”
Francesco Pinelli opened the scoring 1:25 into the sport because the Sting continued their dangerous behavior of permitting early targets.
Sikic drew them even at 7:43 on a breakaway after a turnover within the Rangers’ zone.
Jack Harper scored the winner on a rebound 3:55 into the second interval.
Mike Petizian notched the following two targets for the 4-1 lead. He one-timed a cross-crease cross from Pinelli at 10:12 after which put a rebound underneath netminder Ben Gaudreau at 18:53.
The Sting had been the crew scoring on rebounds after they racked up 16 targets through the two-game profitable streak. They had been working onerous to get to the web and win one-on-one battles and drive turnovers and get deflections, Letang mentioned.
“We didn’t see any of that tonight,” he mentioned. “Their goalie didn’t need to make one rebound save. Their goalie didn’t need to make a deflection save. We had been perimeter all night time.”
Roman Schmidt scored an empty-netter within the third interval.
Gaudreau gave up 4 targets on 35 pictures. He’s allowed no less than 4 targets in 5 consecutive begins.
Pavel Cajan of the Rangers made 35 saves.
The Sting proceed their homestand in opposition to the London Knights on Wednesday, the Guelph Storm on Friday and the Knights once more on Sunday.
Extra to come back.
