The Soo Greyhounds ran into a human wall in front the Sarnia Sting net by the name of Ryan Munce.
Munce foiled every Greyhound shooter and stopped all 40 shots he faced to lead the Sting to a 4-0 win over the Soo Greyhounds in Ontario Hockey League action on Sunday afternoon in front of 2,995 fans at Memorial Gardens.
The Greyhounds, who have been offensively challenged as of late, peppered Munce with some quality scoring chances in the third period but were unable to solve one the league's premiere goaltenders.
"I thought Ryan Munce was the best player on the ice and he was deservedly the first star," said Greyhounds head coach Marty Abrams. "We got down early and when you are having trouble scoring it feels like you are down by eight or nine.
"We had some encouraging signs and we got some great mileage out of our overagers Jeff Doyle, Scott Dobben and Colt King. We just have to keep working hard and staying positive because there is nowhere to go but up from here."
The loss was the Greyhounds third straight and the team has now lost nine of their last 10 games. In the 10 game stretch, the Greyhounds have managed to score only 17 goals while giving up 40 goals against.
The Greyhounds fall to 17-20-1-1 and remain tied with Windsor for third spot in the West Division. Sarnia, who have reeled off wins in four of five meetings with the Hounds this season, improves to 18-11-4-3 and holds a two point lead over Plymouth for first place in the division and a seven point edge over the Greyhounds.
"We've deserved better than what we have gotten lately," said Abrams. "We played well in the last two games before the break and again today. We can't make up lines and create players that aren't there. We are what we are and we have what we have so we just have to keep working hard at it."
Daniel Carcillo opened the scoring 1:27 in when Jeff Larsh misplayed the puck over to a wide open Carcillo on the opposite side who beat a helpless Kevin Druce with a bullet shot up high.
Dave Pszenyczny put the Sting ahead 2-0 with a power play goal at 5:37 before Steve Ward added to the lead midway through the opening period by converting a pretty pass play from Daniel Sisca and Joey Tenute, who recorded three assists in the game, with the Sting enjoying a two-man advantage.
Sault native Kelsey Wilson, who entertained the hometown fans with a toe-to-toe battle with Doyle in the second period, completed the scoring in the second period with his fourth of the season and was named the game's second star.
Munce made several big saves late in the game to preserve his shutout including a breakaway stop on Dobben and a save on a partial break by King.
The Greyhounds remain without the services of captain Jeff Carter, who is in Finland with the national junior team, and first round draft pick Chris Lawrence, who is away in Newfoundland with Team Ontario at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, for the next four games.
Defenseman Matt Manias also remains sidelined with a knee injury.
The Greyhounds return to action on Tuesday as the Saginaw Spirit visit the Memorial Gardens for a 7 p.m. start in the first game of a home-and-home series. The teams meet again on Wednesday for a New Year's Eve battle in Saginaw.
In other OHL action on Sunday, Ryan Garlock scored the overtime winner and added two assists as the Guelph Storm edged the Owen Sound Attack 3-2. Zack Stortini and Rafal Martynowski scored twice each to lead Sudbury past Kitchener 4-1.
Brad Efthimou scored once and set-up two others to pace Mississauga to a 4-3 win over Plymouth in overtime while Corey Locke recorded three assists to help Ottawa past Peterborough 5-2.
Jean-Michel Rizk scored the game winner in the third period as Saginaw nipped Windsor 2-1 while Scott Sheppard and David Bolland recorded a goal and an assist each to lead London past Oshawa 4-2.