The IceDogs could have been forgiven for "mailing it in" Sunday afternoon in Sarnia. After two tough losses in Michigan, the Dogs again found themselves down more veterans due to injury, but the youngsters fought back from two down in the third to snag a point, losing 4-3 in a shootout to the Sting.
David Bell lost Johnny Corneil to injury during the warm-up and were without Aaron Haydon early in the first when he left hurt, as well.
The Sting had to wait over 17 minutes to celebrate their Teddy Bear toss goal in a first period where Stephen Dhillon was outstanding, making 15 saves.
In the second, Sarnia made it 2-0 but Akil Thomas closed the gap less than 13 seconds later with an assist from Kyle Langdon. Dhillon again made 11 stops to keep it close.
In the third, the Sting extended the lead to 3-1 before the visitors from St Catharines mounted the comeback in the second half of the period. Oliver Castleman scored his 8th at 11:47 from Thomas and Langdon. Thomas' second of the game and 10th of the year tied the score with 5:45 with Castleman drawing the only assist. Dhillon was full marks once again, denying Sarnia on 18 of 19 in the third and overtime.
In the shootout, Sarnia got the better of the IceDogs, who have two days off before a Wednesday night match in Erie. Playing back to back three game weekends, essentially 6 games in only 5 days, the IceDogs picked up 5 points, with the last four games on the road.
Thursday night, the annual Teddy Bear toss will happen at the Meridian Center. Before that happens, the Otters host Niagara Wednesday night. The pre-game show on 610 CKTB begins at 6:30.