On the same day the Stingers took on the Fighting Saints, the Cincinnati
Reds defeated the New York Yankees, in the third game of the World Series, by a score of
6-2. Cincinnati led the series three games to none.
The Stingers opened up the game with a
quick goal from team captain Rick Dudley. Dudley had taken a pass from Richie Leduc only
to return the puck back to Leduc when he was past the Fighting Saints defensemen. Leduc
cut in for a shot but was rejected by the Saints goaltender Louis Levasseur. But Dudley
who was skating up the slot took the puck on a rebound and batted it in for the score. The
Stingers lost Billy Steele to the penalty box at 4:18 and Cincinnati's goalkeeper Norm
LaPointe managed to hold off the Saints attack on the power play. However, a few seconds
before the teams were at even-strength Saints center Ray Adduono slapped one past LaPointe
to tie the game. Adduono scored after teammate John Stewart sent him a pass at the crease.
 |
© Courtesy of Cincinnati
Public Library. |
The Saints Mike Antonovich
reacts in disbelief after Stingers goalie Norm LaPointe rejected his
attempt to score. |
The Fighting Saints kept up the
attack by swarming around the Stingers net. That was until Saints defenseman Bill Butters
was sent to the penalty box. Cincinnati managed to score another goal during the power
play when Dennis Abgrall poked one past Levasseur at 15:31 in the period.
In the second period the Saints
continued to be aggressive on offense, but coming up shy after a few shots on goal. The
Saints however, would lose defenseman Jerry Zrymiak to the penalty box which gave the
Stingers the advantage. Cincinnati managed to get one in the Saints net after Dennis
Abgrall batted in a deflected shot taken by Dennis Sobchuk at the point. The Saints lost
center Dave Keon to the penalty box at 16:12 but Minnesota managed to kill all of the
penalty minutes and holding the Stingers scoreless. However, moments after Keon was back
on the ice with both teams at even-strength, Blaine Stoughton sunk the puck into the
Saints net. Stoughton fired from wide to the right goal. The puck hit Lavasseur, sending
the puck into the net.
The Minnesota Fighting Saints managed
to cut the Stingers lead down to 4-2 after center Mike Antonovich scored at 1:11 on the
power play. He shot the puck from about 25 feet back after a centering pass had bounced
off a defender and landed directly at Antonovich's skates.
The Stingers goaltender Norm LaPointe
held strong down the stretch and batted away repeated shots on the Stingers net. LaPointe
blocked 43 shots but was on fire in the final period. The Saints took 15 shots to the
Stingers 7 in the period. The Saints center Dave Keon set up quite a few scoring chances
during power plays but LaPointe held strong and the Stingers defense cleared all loose
rebounds before the Saints could nab the puck again. |
