By DAVE BORODY

BRAMPTON – If you ask Sarnia Sting head coach Jacques Beaulieu what he would like for Christmas, his answer is short and sweet.

“A healthy lineup.”

A badly, depleted Sting roster fell 6-1 to the Brampton Battalion, Sunday afternoon in front of only 1,665 fans the Powerade Centre.

The loss was the second in as many days for the Sting who now sports a 19-11-1-4 record in the Ontario Hockey League.

The Sting went into the game minus eight regulars. Forward Craig Hottot dressed, but played just one period before shutting it down with a lower body injury. That left the Sting with just nine forwards for the remainder of the game.

“These guys need some rest,” said Beaulieu after the game. “We are beat up and overplayed. They need to go home, spend time with their families and fuel up for the second half of the season.”

Brampton took full advantage of Sarnia’s shortage of players as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead after one period and extended their lead to 6-1 after 40 minutes. To make matters worse, Sarnia had two goals disallowed.

The Battalion held a 45-20 edge in shots on goal.

Ex-Sting Michael Santini led the Battalion with three goals while Jordan Auld, Zach Bell and Barclay Goodrow added singles. Brampton has now won six in a row.

Charlie Sarault scored the lone Sting goal, his 14^th of the season with Reid Boucher and Craig Duininck picking up assists. Sarault is second in OHL scoring with 54 points.

Sting forward Domenic Alberga played his first game back in Brampton since being traded to Sarnia in the off-season.

“It was fun. Some of their guys were chirping me as we are still good friends. It’s disappointing to lose because there’s bragging rights involved.”

He added, “We didn’t show up this weekend. It’s our own fault. We can’t blame anyone else. We just have to come back after the break and start over.”

Matej Machovsky was the winning goalie while Brandon Hope took the loss for Sarnia.

Sarnia was one-for-12 on the power play. Twice they held a two-man advantage for over a minute in the first period. Brampton leads the OHL in penalty killing.

The majority of the players departed after the game for their respective hometowns for the Christmas break. Sarnia’s next game is not until 28^th when they play in Sault Ste. Marie.

For the head coach, he and his family were headed for Calgary to watch their son, Nathan Beaulieu play for Team Canada at the world junior hockey championships.

“It’s going to be a great experience for all of us. We are pretty excited. We have family in Calgary and it will be the first time in 10 years we will spend time with them. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Nathan Beaulieu, a first round draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens, is a defenceman for the St. John Seadogs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He helped lead the Seadogs to a Memorial Cup last season.

The Sting is expected to have two players at the work juniors, Nail Yakupov for Team Russia and Ludvig Rensfeldt for Team Sweden.

Sarnia’s next home game is New Years Day, Jan. 1^st when they host the London Knights beginning at 2:05 p.m. at the RBC Centre.

Calling the RBC box office at 519-541-1717 or going online at Sarniasting.com can obtain tickets for that game

The Sting Sports Shop is open all week for last-minute Christmas gifts. Call 519-541-1000, Extension 364.

Dave Borody is a freelance writer who covers Sting games both home and away and also does features for the Sting Website.