The Stingers on a roll? Well that was indeed the
case after the club beat the San Diego Mariners in a tight defensive matchup. Cincinnati
moved within two points of the division leading New England Whalers who sat idle.
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©
Courtesy of Cincinnati Public Library. |
Gene Sobchuk
of the Stingers attempts to knock the puck in despite lying flat on the ice. |
The first goal of the game was scored at
8:52 in the first period by Rick Dudley. Dudley took a pass from Dale Smedsmo, who
replaced the injured Pierre Guite. Dudley skated towards the Mariners net and took a shot.
The shot was blocked by Mariners goalkeeper Russ Gillow. Undeterred, Dudley took another
shot from the corner of the crease and whipped the puck past Gillow for the score. The
goal would be Dudleys 31st of the year which tied his major league amount set the
following season as a Buffalo Sabres.
San Diego answered the goal at 14:06 by Gene Peacosh on
the Mariners power play. Andre Lacroix held the puck behind the Stingers net then passed
it across and in front of Paul Hoganson to Peacosh. Peacosh was standing on the opposite
side of the crease and knocked it past Hoganson for the score.The Stingers however scored
again 24 seconds later when Murray Myers stole the puck from the San Diego blue line and
blasted a shot past Gillow. Six seconds after the goal was scored, the Stingers Ron Plumb
nabbed the puck during a face-off. He carried the puck to the right side point and took a
shot. Teammate Jacques Locas deflected the puck from about 10 feet in front of the
Mariners net and poked it in for his 19th goal of the year.
The second period was mostly defense by both teams.
However, the Stingers came close to scoring after Dennis Sobchuk took a shot that hit the
goal pipes. The attempt came during a wasted Stingers power play. The Mariners came close
also when Ray Adduono took a shot on the Stingers net only to have the puck hit the cross
bar. Both goaltenders pretty much blocked everything else that came their way. The
Mariners Russ Gillow was replacing the clubs regular goaltender Ernie Wakely who was being
rested. Gillow had previously only started six gamers. He also was the goal tender who
gave up Bobby Hulls history making 77th goal in the previous year.
The third period saw Paul Hoganson make some brilliant
saves before the Mariners put one in the net at 12:03. The goal put the Mariners within
one after All-Star defenseman Kevin Morrison knocked the puck past Hoganson. But the
Stingers played great defense for the rest of the game and managed to hold on to the
victory. |
