Kaczynski Hat Trick Not Enough as Sting Rally Past Greyhounds Late in the Third

Posted On: September 20, 2026
Posted By: Saultsports
Comments: 0

Photo Credit: Freeze Frame Photos

Following an exciting overtime victory to open the 2026–2027 Ontario Hockey League regular season, the Soo Greyhounds returned to Memorial Gardens on Saturday, September 19th, looking to make it back-to-back wins on home ice. The Greyhounds entered the contest after rookie Trevor Daley Jr. scored the overtime winner on Friday night to lift the Hounds to a 5–4 victory over the Saginaw Spirit.

The Greyhounds came out flying against the Sarnia Sting and built a two-goal advantage early in the opening period, with Ryan Kaczynski leading the offensive charge.

At 10:02 of the first period, Kaczynski opened the scoring on the power play, recording his second goal of the season with assists going to Colin Fitzgerald and Spencer Evans. Just 1:24 later, Kaczynski struck again, scoring his third of the season unassisted at 11:26 to give the Greyhounds a 2–0 lead.

Sarnia answered less than a minute later when Simon Katolicky scored his first goal of the season at 12:02, with Jonas Gulbrandsen and Tyler Challenger picking up the assists. The goal cut the Greyhounds’ lead to 2–1 heading into the intermission.

Kaczynski Completes the Hat Trick

The second period saw the Greyhounds restore their two-goal advantage, and once again it was Kaczynski finding the back of the net.

At 17:24, Kaczynski completed his hat trick on the power play, scoring his fourth goal of the season and third of the night. Trevor Daley and Jordan Charron assisted on the goal as the Greyhounds took a 3–1 lead.

Sarnia, however, refused to go away.

With just 43 seconds remaining in the second period, Cole Emerton scored his first goal of the season on the power play at 19:17. Matthew Manza and Logan Hawery recorded the assists, bringing the Sting back to within one heading into the third period.

Sting Complete the Comeback

Sarnia’s comeback continued immediately after the start of the third period.

Just 40 seconds into the final frame, Jack Van Volsen scored his first goal of the season to tie the game 3–3. Easton Walos and Cole Emerton picked up the assists.

The Sting then completed the comeback at 3:10 when Van Volsen scored his second goal of the season, giving Sarnia its first lead of the night. Emerton and Hawery assisted on the goal, which came on the power play.

Despite Kaczynski’s three-goal performance, the Greyhounds were unable to find the equalizer as Sarnia held on for a 4–3 victory.

Goaltending

Rookie import goaltender David Vermirovsky turned in a strong performance for the Greyhounds, stopping 37 of 41 shots faced.

At the other end of the ice, Sarnia goaltender Ivan Tkach-Tkachenko stopped 27 of 30 shots to backstop the Sting to the comeback victory.

For the Greyhounds, the loss marked a difficult turnaround after opening the regular season with Friday night’s overtime win over Saginaw. Kaczynski’s hat trick provided plenty of offensive production, but Sarnia’s special-teams success and third-period comeback proved to be the difference.