High-flying Generals, Sting to clash in Oshawa

The hot Oshawa Generals welcome the surging Sarnia Sting to the General Motors Centre on Sunday at 6:05pm ET.

Oshawa (7-3-2) has won five straight games while Sarnia (7-4-1) has been equally as good, heading into this weekend with four consecutive victories.

Generals’ coach and GM Chris DiPietro, was pleased with his team’s recent play following Saturday’s 3-2 shootout win in Sault Ste. Marie.

“Confidence is such a big part of hockey and we’ve got a lot of [it] right now,” he told the team’s website.

“We’ve shown a lot of resiliency and most nights the guys are buying into what we’re trying to teach them.  We’re consistently getting more than 40 shots and allowing less than 30 and when you do that, you can win games.”

DiPietro’s club currently sits second in the Eastern Conference behind the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors.

Their 4-2-1 road record is the second-best in the league, and they are first in the East Division with two games in hand on second-place Peterborough.

Sarnia, tied for fourth in the Western Conference, also won its previous game via the shootout.

On Thursday night, they upended the Barrie Colts 4-3, with rookie Zack MacQueen potting the shootout winner.

“I just tried to go in with some speed, fake a shot, then go to my backhand and put it up over the goalie,” MacQueen said, after Thursday’s matchup.

“I practice it a lot. I hit the crossbar last Friday night in the shootout there so I was happy to see that one go in.”

Sting goalie and Boston Bruins prospect Adam Courchaine was sensational turning aside 44 of 47 shots, including 21 in the third period alone.

“He certainly made some saves in the third period,” said Sarnia head coach Dave MacQueen of his goaltender’s effort.

“He stepped up. We knew Barrie would come hard at us in the third period. He stood tall and kept the puck out.”

The Sting will be looking for revenge this Sunday, as they were defeated 5-4 in OT by Oshawa in their home-opener.

Last year the two clubs split the season series at one game apiece.

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By: Domenic Gratta
Posted: Oct 23 2009 9:51 pm
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