The Stingers made good on their promise to reach the playoffs. And their
quest for postseason landed them in a best of seven game series against their bitter rival
Indianapolis. The Stingers not only avoided the embarrassment of the previous season but
ended the season in a most respectable way by finishing in second place within their
division. The Stingers were the better team on paper, and the club had a better record
against the club at home. So clinching home ice advantage was very important to the
Stingers.
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© Courtesy of Cincinnati
Public Library. |
Racers Rosaire Paiement skates in on
Stingers goalie Norm LaPointe. |
The game started pretty much the
way everyone assumed with both teams hitting and checking each other. A fight broke out
between Pierre Roy and Brian McDonald at 2:46 and the Racers Bob Sicinski was called for a
hooking penalty. This gave the Stingers a one man advantage. Cincinnati kept the puck in
the Racers zone until team captain Rick Dudley passed the puck to Rich Leduc from directly
in front of the Racers net. Leduc then deflected a shot past former Stinger Paul Hogansons
for the score.
The Racers answered at 11:05 during a
power play when Francois Rochen fired a shot from the left circle and Mark Lomenda knocked
in the rebound past Norm LaPointe for the score. The Stingers originally had Jacques
Caron penciled in to be the goalkeeper, but he was hit in the chest with a puck during
pre-game warm-up and began spitting up blood. Caron sustained a cracked rib and possible
lung damage.
The Stingers took the lead back at 9:48 in the second
period. Dennis Abgrall scored the goal when him and teammate Rich
Leduc were skating down the rink on a two-on-one break. Leduc skated past the net and fed
the puck to Abgrall. A Racer stick blocked the pass but the puck bounced off of goalie
Hoganson. Abgrall then slipped the puck into the net. But the Racers would answer with a
goal late in the period. Right winger Mark Lomenda struck again after getting a pass from
Gene Peacosh. He then drilled a shot past LaPointe from right in front of the net.
Cincinnati's Claude Larose scored in
the third period to take a 3-2 lead. But the Racers knotted things back up at 18:30 when
Blair MacDonald scored to send the game into overtime. The game was finally concluded in
the third extra period when Gene Peacosh scored for the Racers.
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