Sarnia Sting’s Nikolay Goldobin gets match penalty for slew-footing

There is a lot to like about the game of Nikolay Goldobin, the dangerous Sarnia Sting right wing who's considered a good bet to be an early pick in the NHL draft. This is not a part of that. On Sunday, Goldobin got a match penalty for slew-footing after taking the feet out from under rookie defenceman Mitchell Vande Sompel with less than five minutes to play in the Sting-Oshawa Generals contest.

By Ontario Hockey League rules, that's a one-game automatic suspension, plus a league review.

Goldobin leads Sarnia in scoring with 32 goals and 70 points over 45 games, so any multi-game absence puts a crimp in their hope of catching the Plymouth Whalers for the final playoff berth in the Western Conference. There was some contact but it's still a pretty questionable play. Sarnia was already short-staffed, dressing with 17 skaters for the game.

The contest also included Sarnia 17-year-old rookie defenceman Zachary Core taking on Generals star Scott Laughton in a fight.

Sarnia is four points behind Plymouth, with the Whalers holding a game in hand. The Sting already have one forward cooling his heels, since Haydon Hodgson is not eligible to play until Feb. 7 after getting 10 games for a check to the head.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca (videos: Rogers Television, Dan Malta).