The Sarnia Sting came up just short losing 5-4 to the league leading Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in a spirited battle at the RBC Centre Friday night.
After falling behind 3-0 early in the second period the Sting battled back to tie the game at 4 midway through the third.
The visiting Greyhounds, however, would get the winning goal with less than two minutes remaining when a shot by Gabe Guertler got past Taylor Dupuis in the Sting goal.
The Sting rally started in the second when overage forward Stephen Pierog scored shorthanded to make it 3-1. His initial shot hit the goal post and deflected back in the net off of Hounds goaltender, Chatham native Joseph Raaymakers.
Defenseman Jakob Chychrun had two points including his 16th goal of the season on the power play to make it 3-2 after 40 minutes.
Sergey Tolchinsky gave the visitors a 4-2 lead on the power early in the third but the Sting battled back with goals by Pavel Zacha, his 16th, and Alex Renaud's 12th to draw even.
Despite a depleted bench due to injury, the Greyhounds were able to get the late goal and the win. With the two points the Hounds hit the 100 point mark (49-11-0-2) for the first time since the 1984-85 season.
Former Sting Anthony DeAngelo had three assists and was named the game's first star. His consecutive points streak is now at 21 games.
Pavel Zacha continued his strong play since returning from injury with a goal and an assist. He now has 31 points in 33 games.
The Sting (27-28-4-3) remains in seventh place in the Western Conference, eight points ahead of Saginaw. Guelph visits the RBC Centre Sunday for a 4:05pm start.
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