St. Germain stellar in goal

By JOHN KOVACH
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Goalie David St. Germain of the Youngstown SteelHounds resembled an octopus at times in the third period against the Rio Grande Killer Bees Tuesday night in a Central Hockey League game at the Chevrolet Centre.
Trying to preserve the SteelHounds' 4-3 lead entering the third quarter, the busy St. Germain seemed like he had eight hands and eight legs and four hockey sticks as he repelled shot after shot from the Killer Bees, especially during the final 1:30 when they withdrew their goalie to have six players going for the tying goal.
But for the second straight game, St. Germain stood the test and rejected 18 third-period shots and 43 overall and wound up with 40 saves, to preserve Youngstown's second straight win, 4-3, before an announced attendance of 1,514 fans.
Scott Barnes provided the winning goal in the second period to snap a 3-3 tie, when he connected on a two-against-one attack from about 10 feet out at 6:38 gone from the frame on assists from Kris Mallette and J.F. Labarre.
And Jonathan Gagnon, who joined the SteelHounds only just recently on Nov. 22, scored two goals to give him five for the season and 10 points.
Five of the seven goals scored in the game came in the second period.
Youngstown and Rio Grande will return to the Chevrolet Centre tonight for another game at 7:05 p.m.
St. Germain's strategy
"The more shots you get, you don't think anymore. You just try to save as many pucks as possible," said St. Germain, who also led the SteelHounds to a 3-1 win over the Lubbock Cotton Kings last Saturday.
"There's a technique involved [and] instinct has something to do with it. You have to read the plays and anticipate shots."
The Killer Bees swarmed St. Germain down the stretch, but he withstood barrage after barrage and got help from teammates who clogged the net in front and slammed the puck away from the net down the ice.
"There are a lot of shots [I] don't see, but I know where they are coming from and what I'm going to do," said St. Germain. "I've been playing a long time and I am used to that. It's part of the game."
And there were some close calls. "We got a couple of lucky hits into the pole," he said, referring to two Killer Bees shots that hit an upright pole but bounced out instead of into the goal.
Laforest is pleased
SteelHounds (8-10-1) coach Jean Laforest said St. Germain "was awesome. He played a great game. The saves he made at the end were outstanding. He solidified our game tonight. He covered up the net well and he didn't give them any second chances on rebounds." And, "He got the puck away from the net."
Laforest also lauded Barnes, who along with Gagnon has helped to give the SteelHounds another offensive front to rotate with Jeff Christian, Chris Richards and Darryl Lloyd.
"Barnes really came alive for us. Since we changed our front line, we now have two solid lines in front. That gives us more offense," said Laforest, who said Gagnon knows how to find the net. "Gagnow is a good finisher."
Rio Grande (8-9-1), which was coming off an 11-2 win over the Austin Bats last Saturday, was led by Trevor Weisgerber's two goals.
But after the Killer Bees scored one goal in the first period and two goals in the second period against the SteelHounds, the visitors met their match against St. Germain.
Gagnon gave Youngstown a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal at 8:07 of elapsed time in the first period on assists by Richards and Jeff Alcombrack.
But Rio Grande retaliated at 11:56 ET of the first on Weisgerber's 10-foot power-play goal on assists from Daymen Bencharski and Nathan Rosychuk to even it at 1-1.
Then Weisgerber struck again at 2:16 ET of the second period on a power-play goal with assists from Bencharski and Clay Plume to lift the Killer Bees ahead, 2-1. However, Gagnon, taking the puck down the ice by himself, connected about a minute later at 3:09 on assists from Labarre and Barnes to tie it at 2-2.
Then after Aaron Phillips scored for Rio Grande at 3:40 on Dwayne Hay's assist to make it 3-2, Christian tied the game at 3-3 at 3:59 with his team-leading 19th goal of the season. He was assisted by Richards and Matt Nicholas.
kovach@vindy.com