Cooper nets overtime winner vs Sting

By Brad Coccimiglio (Sootoday.com)
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rTalk about being just in time.
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rSoo Greyhounds goaltender Robin Lehner helped lead the Soo Greyhounds to a 5-4 overtime victory over the Sarnia Sting on Wednesday night at the Essar Centre. Truth be told, he was almost late getting there.
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rThe 18-year-old netminder flew in from Saskatoon following the World Junior Hockey Championships and arrived at the arena around 6:30, giving him just enough time to take a five-minute warmup before starting for the Greyhounds.
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r“Give him credit,” said Greyhounds coach Denny Lambert. “He came in there and got a win for us.”
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rLehner, who was a member of Team Sweden at the tournament, had his flight out of Saskatoon delayed on Wednesday morning, which led to him missing his connecting flight in Toronto. Expected to arrive in Sault Ste. Marie around 1 p.m., he didn’t arrive until much later. Following his travel progress, Lambert said that the Ottawa Senators prospect used the travel time to prep for the game.
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r“Our main thing was we didn’t want to rush him in there and get him injured but he said he was ready,” said Lambert.
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rVern Cooper was the hero, scoring the game-winner just 32 seconds into overtime after beating a pair of Sarnia defensemen (Joe Rogalski and Nathan Chiarlitti) out from behind the Sarnia net and stuff the puck past Adam Courchaine. Cooper finished the night with a pair of goals, as did Brett Thompson. Carson Dubchak also scored for the Greyhounds.
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r“We’re not happy with the way we played but we got a win,” said Lambert. “There’s games that you play great and you don’t win.”
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r“There was two teams out there tonight,” he added. “One that came out and played the right way from the start and then they let off the gas pedal. It was not even close to the way we have to play to be successful. I thought we played a great first period. We came out hard, checking, working and did all of the little things right. Then we got comfortable, which they’re taught not to. They took the foot off the pedal and (Sarnia) got back in the game.”
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rJ.C. Campagna, Brett Ritchie and Anthony Donati had a goal and an assist each for the Sting while Joe Rogalski also scored. Goaltender Adam Courchaine stopped 32 shots in the loss.
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r“(The Greyhounds) came out hard,” said Sting coach Dave MacQueen. “We wanted to get through the first period and play solid. We gave them two out of their five goals…I thought in general we played hard. I liked the way we responded considering the last game we played against London (an 8-0 loss on Saturday night at home).”
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rThe Greyhounds enjoy a day off on Thursday before hosting the Owen Sound Attack on Friday night and then the Guelph Storm on Saturday night. Puck drop for both games is 7:30 p.m.