Game Preview: Kingston at Sarnia
The Kingston Frontenacs (25-35-1-2) continue a road swing tonight to take on the Sarnia Sting (37-17-5-4), making their first visit to Progressive Auto Sales Arena since October of 2019. The Fronts remain one point behind Oshawa for the final playoff position in the Eastern Conference, beginning today’s action having played one fewer game than the idle Generals.
The Black and Gold won in the first game, of the two in the season series, with a 5-3 victory on Jan 13 at Leon’s Centre. A two-goal first period by Kingston saw second star Nathan Poole and Jacob Battaglia give the Fronts a 2-1 lead through 20 minutes before a two-goal second by Sarnia combined with a Tommy Budnick strike set up a tied 3-3 final frame. First-star Duncan Schneider tallied his first OHL goal for the game-winner, with Linus Hemstrom adding a beauty insurance 4-2 tally with a minute left to seal the victory. The Sting tallied twice on four opportunities on the powerplay, with Kingston goaltender Ivan Zhigalov making 19 saves for one of his 15 wins on the season.
Kingston looks to improve on a 13-17-1-0 record away from Leon’s Centre. Fronts point-leader Ethan Miedema has four points in six games against Sarnia to lead Kingston scoring, including five games with the Windsor Spitfire and enters action with goals in two straight. Chris Thibodeau tallied his team-leading 16th tally in last night’s game versus London and begins today’s action on a four-game point streak. The Charleston, SC native added a pair of assists against Sarnia during the Jan 13 win in Kingston.
Forward Owen Outwater registered an assist in last night’s game to extend a point streak to five games (3G,2A) and has points in seven of his previous nine games.
The Fronts will face one of the best special teams units in the OHL. Sarnia boasts the OHL’s best powerplay with a 25.6 percent clip and a league-high 70 goals and sits third overall in penalty-killing efficiency.
The Sting lost in a wild 7-6 shootout to Guelph last night for their first setback in nine games and have not suffered a regulation loss since Feb 12, going 11-0-1-2 over that span, holding a 19-7-4-2 record at home. The high-scoring Sarnia offence has registered the third-most team goals in the OHL with 272, including Sasgha Pastujov (89) leading the team with 89 points, tied for fourth overall in OHL; Nolan Burke second overall in OHL goal-scoring with 39; and Ty Voit as the league leader in assists (77).
Ethan Del Mastro has recorded five points (1G,4A) in three games against Kingston, including two games (4A) with the Mississauga Steelheads before a trade.
Powerplay:
KGN: (38/219) 17.4% – (19th OHL) – 12 SHGA (season series – (1/3)
SAR: (70/273) 25.6% – (1st OHL) – 12 SHGA (season series – (1/5)
Penalty Kill:
KGN: (169/217) 75.6% – (16th OHL) – 4 SHGF (10.48 pen mins/game – 4th least OHL)
SAR: (176/214) 82.2% – (3rd OHL) – 6 SHGF (11.70 pen mins/game – 13th least in OHL)
Fronts Notes:
- Kingston Frontenacs Hockey Club officially bid to host the 2024 Memorial Cup presented by Kia
- F Ethan Miedema – goals in consecutive games
- F Owen Outwater – pts in five straight gms (3G,2A)
- F Chris Thibodeau – pts in four straight gms (1G,4A)
- F Gabriel Frasca – 19A (9th overall OHL rookies)
- F Jacob Battaglia – 18A (T-10th overall OHL rookies)
Team Stat Pack – G.P. (63) (25-35-1-2) 53 pts
Leaders:
Goals –Thibodeau (16), Outwater (15), Miedema (14)
PPG – Ludwinski, Soto, Miedema (5)
Assists – Miedema (29), Hemström (28), Ludwinski (25)
PPA – Hemström (12), Burns (9), Outwater (8)
Points – Miedema (43), Outwater, Hemström (38)
PPP – Ludwinski (12), Hemström (12), Soto (11)
SOG –Thibodeau (127), Miedema (111), Hemström (107)
PIMs – Burns (98), Budnick (64), Uens (50)
On The Front:
The Frontenac’s western trip ends with a visit to Kitchener, taking on former Front Francesco Arcuri and the Rangers tomorrow, Mar 19 at 2 pm. The Black and Gold return to Leon’s Centre for a big East Division battle against the Oshawa Generals on Wed, Mar 22, at 7 pm, for the second-last home regular season game.
96.3 Big FM and 104.3 Fresh Radio are your exclusive home for play-by-play with Jim Gilchrist and Kingston Frontenacs Hockey! Fans can listen live to all the games at https://frontenacs.leanplayer.com/. Fans can also tune into the game at https://watch.chl.ca/ (subscription needed).
Fans are encouraged to follow the team’s Twitter, Facebook and Instagram social media channels for live updates.
