| The
Cincinnati Stingers gave up two power play goals in the first period of the game Wednesday
night against the Oilers in Edmonton, a game the Stingers eventually lost, 6-4. The
back-to-back power plays were the result of a double minor handed defenseman Barry Legge
as the third man into a fight between Rick Dudley, and the Oilers' Dave Langevin. But
coach Jacques Demers is anything but angry with Legge. "He did the right thing:, said
Demers as the Stingers gear up for a rematch with the Oilers tonight for their fourth
straight road game. "Duds was holding his own until he slipped and fell and Langevin
was right on top of him. Legge came in to help Dudley and pulled Langevin off." Under world Hockey Association rules, the third man into a fight draws an
automatic game misconduct plus double minors. The Oilers had four minutes of man power
advantage and the Stingers lost a defenseman for the remainder of the contest. Worse, the
loss of Legge left Demers with just four defensemen because Barry Melrose was out with a
groin pull. And to top things off, Gilles Marotte drew a 10-minute misconduct which left
just three blue liners - Pat Stapleton, Ron Plumb and rookie Craig Norwich - to handle the
Edmonton attack through much of the first period.
"Stapleton had to play 11 straight minutes," said Demers.
"We wound up going with 13 players for a while and by the third period our guys tried
to give it that little bit extra but they were just too tired." But he saw Legge's
interference in the Dudley-Langevin dispute as a positive display of teamwork. "It
was a sign of real team spirit and that means a lot," the Stingers coach explained.
Demers said he told his players after the game not to be upset by the loss but to look
ahead to the next meeting. "We're going to go out there and beat them," he said
of tonight's (10 p.m.) game. "We're going to be ready."
Melrose will not be ready, however, so Demers will have the same
five defenseman instead of six. Forward Jacques Locas also has a slight groin pull and his
mobility has been cut down considerably. Goalie Michel Dion took the loss Wednesday night,
and midway through the third period Demers pulled him for rookie Mike Liut, who last
started against Winnipeg on Sunday in the 3-2 victory, will open in the net tonight. The
Stingers, 4-10 this season and 2-1 on the current road trip, would like nothing better
than to avenge Wednesday night's loss and insure themselves of a winning mark for the five
game Canadian tour which concludes Sunday with a return to Winnipeg.
NOTES - Winger Peter Marsh is still having back problems and did not
fly to Edmonton to meet the team....Barry Melrose may be ready to play in Sunday's game
against the Jets....former Stinger goalie Paul Hoganson was released to the AHL Hampton
Gulls and is presently living in Cincinnati while he looks over prospects for another
goaltending job. |
