Easton Walos and Jordan Bax each scored a pair as the Sarnia Sting held on to beat the Owen Sound Attack 6-4 in Ontario Hockey League action Wednesday at Progressive Auto Sales Arena.
Beckham Edwards and Matthew Manza also scored for Sarnia (5-8-3), which ended a five-game losing streak.
Pierce Mbuyi, Wesley Royston, Cole Zurawski and Nick Sykora had the goals for the Attack (12-6-0-1), which had a three-game winning streak end.
Royston’s goal was his first as a member of the Attack.
Sarnia jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period. Bax scored just 13 seconds after puck drop, before finding another one just over five minutes later. Edwards notched a power play goal at 8:41 of the first, prompting a goalie change by the Attack. Trenten Bennett started, but was pulled before the midway mark of the first after allowing three goals and eight shots. Carter George entered the game.
Mbuyi scored on a power play goal late in the first period to get the Attack on the board. Owen Sound was on the man advantage after Sting defenceman Hughston Hurt was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for kneeing. He caught Attack forward Jake Crawford in the neutral zone. Crawford needed help to get off the ice and was in visible discomfort. He did not return to the game.
Sarnia extended its lead to 5-1 in the second period. But then the Attack mounted a rally. Royston scored with 3:54 remaining in the second to cut the Sting lead to 5-2. Then it was Zurawski, carrying the puck on a 2-on-1 and electing to shoot. He fanned on the first attempt, but quickly recovered the puck and fired it blocker-side past Evan Maillet.
Owen Sound would pull within one just over two minutes into the third. Sykora fired a shot from the left faceoff dot past Maillet, just after an Attack power play expired. It was Owen Sound’s third unanswered goal, cutting the Sting lead to 5-4.
The best chance for the Attack to equalize came near the midway mark of the third. John Banks took a pass near the net then deked to his backhand — and looked to have fooled Maillet. But the Sting goaltender somehow got a glove to the puck as Banks tried to flick it into the net, keeping it a 5-4 Sarnia advantage.
Walos would score a key insurance goal with eight minutes remaining.
Maillet made 21 saves in the win, while George stopped 20 taking the loss. Bennett made five saves in his brief appearance in the first period.
Sarnia outshot Owen Sound 31-25 while going 3 for 4 on the power play; the Attack finished 1 for 4.
Next up for the Attack is the annual Hockey Fights Cancer game at the Bayshore Saturday against London Knights. Game time is 7 p.m.
WRAY TO MISS TIME
Owen Sound Attack forward Masen Wray will be out of the lineup for the next six to eight weeks. That was the timeline provided by Attack head coach Scott Wray, who says Masen underwent successful surgery Tuesday after suffering a wrist injury in Sunday’s game against Erie.
STREAK ENDS
Attack forward Tristan Delisle had his season long, 18-game point streak come to an end in Sarnia Wednesday. It was the first game this season Delisle did not register at least a point for the Attack. He remains among the OHL’s scoring leaders with 27 points in 19 games.