Former Sting goalie Ben Gaudreau and the visiting Erie Otters (7-7-2-0) defeated the Sarnia Sting 5-3 in OHL action Sunday at Progressive Auto Sales Arena, handing the Sting their second loss in a row.
Jacob LeBlanc, Easton Wainwright and Tyson Doucette all scored for the Sting (8-7-0-0).
After allowing four goals on 12 shots, goalie Karsen Chartier was pulled in the second period. Nick Surzycia stopped 12 of 13.
In a postgame news conference head coach Alan Letang said they've been pretty comfortable up until now.
"We're 15 games into the season and teams start to dial in their systems," said Letang. "Teams that had good starts maybe fall back or they start to climb away, and if you don't continue to improve day in and day out and show up with the right attitude mentally and physically then you have those pockets where other teams start to tilt the ice the other way. That's what we were doing early on in the season, and we haven't got to that again."
He said they need to get things moving in the right direction, and less complacent.
"I think we've been pretty comfortable thinking that our start was something that happened by accident," said Letang. "They didn't realize it came from all the hard work at training camp and the hard work through the exhibition season, and the minutes and the hours in the gym that got them off to that start."
The Sting host their first ever School Day Game on Tuesday against Saginaw.
"It's going to be a fun game for them I think," said Letang. "Obviously a challenge getting ready at 11:00 and playing, but they're always a fun atmosphere and they'll get to experience it."
You can catch all the action live on 103.9FM/1070AM CHOK starting with the pre-game at 10:30 a.m.
