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Sarnia Sting’s star-laden lineup facing elimination; OHL post-game questions
There was a clean break in the two series which had been tight through the first four games, while the Kitchener Rangers finished off their first-round opponent. On with the post-game questions.
Saginaw 5 Sarnia 2 (Spirit lead Western Conference series 3-2) — Is it an oversimplification to parallel the number of trades the Sting made with their lack of cohesion? Probably, but that is the all-too-inviting conclusion many will jump to should Brandon Saad, Josh Shalla and Spirit seal the deal.
Saginaw came off its enervating overtime win on Wednesday and was up 2-0 by the three-minute mark. By the looks of it, it was never really a game. This can only be called a faceplant for Sarnia, which has 11 potentially graduating players, not counting Nail Yakupov and Alex Galechenyuk.
From Dave Paul:
"It's disappointing," said Sting coach Jacques Beaulieu, regarding his team's puzzling lack of passion to begin the game.
"We thought we had our guys prepared and ready to go, right from the opening faceoff. … Instead, we just kind of stood around and watched them play in the first period," added Beaulieu.
Beaulieu actually called a timeout to address his team, just 2:49 into the first period after Saginaw scored to make it 2-0 early.
"It thought we got better as the game went on," said Beaulieu, whose Sting team was especially dangerous in a desperate third period rally attempt, "but we need that kind of effort for 60 minutes, or 80 minutes, or however long the game goes." (Sarnia Observer)
How ironic would it be if the Spirit beat out the league's biggest buyer? Very. The Spirit, by most accounts, were ready to trade just about anyone and everything in December. They did move out three NHL draft picks. Now, thanks to Brandon Saad (12 points in the series) and 17-year-old goalie Jake Paterson, they're one win from a second-round showdown with the London Knights.
What did the overtime win do for Paterson's moxie? The netminder was there for the Spirit when the Sting made an early bid to cut down the lead. He had two quick reaction saves to foil Galchenyuk, who was effective by anyone's standard and not just on a sliding scale for those who missed six months rehabbing their knee.
Will the Spirit finish this off on Saturday? They will unless Sarnia can score early and become a less fragile team. It's not a question of ability or experience with the Sting.
Kitchener 4 Owen Sound 2 (Rangers win Western Conference series 4-1) — What was the smoking gun for the Attack? Kitchener went 10-for-30 on the power play. That basically was the series.
Attack goalies Jordan Binnington and Scott Stajcer couldn't do much about that. From Bill Walker:
"We knew coming into this series that their power play is pretty deadly and we prepared for it the best we could but mistakes here and there cost us the series pretty much," said Stajcer, who had an option to be moved at the trade deadline but instead wanted to stay in Owen Sound. "All the amazing people I've met over the last five years in Owen Sound have been great. I wouldn't change it for anything in the world or go to any other team." (Owen Sound Sun Times)
What might be Kitchener's Achilles heel entering Round 2? As previously noted, coach-GM Steve Spott is relying heavily on a handful of frontline players. Part of the reason captain Michael Catenacci, Edmonton Oilers prospect Tobias Rieder and Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Andrew Crescenzi are among the league's top five in playoff points is they're playing so much. Defencemen Ryan Murphy and Cody Sol have also logged heavy minutes.
What are a couple early storylines for a potential Round 2 series vs. Kitchener? Goalie John Gibson and Whalers counterpart Scott Wedgewood, who didn't face each other in the world junior championship, will go head-to-head in a playoff series. Defenceman Max Iafrate, a heart-on-his-sleeve type, is also going to be playing for two weeks against his former teammates who might have some insight into how to rattle him.
Ottawa 5 Belleville 2 (67's lead Eastern Conference series 3-2) — How many games will Dalton Smith getting for his controversial checking-to-the-head ejection? Ideally, zero, if there is any common sense left in the world.
The OHL is willing to suspend a player for a dirty hit that wasn't called a penalty. Ergo, it should be willing to not suspend someone who was penalized for a check most of the cognoscenti believed was clean. Smith had bad intentions when he lined up Zharkov, but no one ever wins anything in this game playing nicely. Obviously, hits to the head need attention, but there's still room for rationally assessing the situation.
This just occurred to me: whenever there's a borderline hit, coaches check the game video during intermission. Do officials do this? If so, could they not review a call and announce a change in the decision at the start of the next period? That would cut down on the number of players left in limbo between games?
Have the Bulls reached their limit? The two-day break before Monday's Game 6 provides coach-GM George Burnett's team ample time to re-energize and re-strategize. However, their plethora of turnovers made one wonder if the Bulls are getting worn down mentally keeping up with the favoured team.
"Even 2-2 with seven minutes to go, I thought the score was a little bit flattering," Burnett said. "I don't think we competed at a level tonight that was acceptable. They turned it up and we made a number of mistakes that led to goals."
What accounts for the Bulls' dismal 1-for-25 power play, which has actually been outscored by Ottawa's penalty killers? Belleville has been near the bottom of the league on the power play for three years running, so that's part of it. But sometimes it's not futility, it's someone else being better. The 67's do boast Petr Mrazek in goal, while workhorse defencemen Cody Ceci is just so good at reading plays. Fellow defenders Michal Cajkovsky and Jake Cardwell were also solid on Friday. Belleville had a 6-0 edge in power plays and still lost.
"Luck, I guess?" Ottawa coach-GM said Chris Byrne said when asked about his team's penalty kill. "That would probably be the biggest thing. We need to do a better job being disciplined in the next game."
Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Contact him at neatesager@yahoo.ca and follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.
