Sarnia’s Four Goal Second Period Helps Beat Saginaw 6-3
By Carl Chimenti
A four goal second period was all that Sarnia needed as they beat the Saginaw Spirit 6-3 on Saturday night in front of 3,021 disappointed fans at the Dow Event Center.
Sasha Pastujov (Anaheim Ducks) led the way for the Sting with a four-point night that included a power-play goal and an empty net goal in the third period that sealed the win and snapped a three- game winless streak.
It was a huge win for Sarnia after a tough loss the night before to Oshawa, that saw the Generals come back from a 4-1 deficit to win 6-5 in a shoot-out.
Ty Voit (Toronto Maple Leafs) had a goal and two assists and Sandis Vilmanis (Florida Panthers) contributed a goal and an assist. Angus MacDonell and Zach Filak (empty net goal) scored one goal each.
Nicholas Surzycia got the start in net for Sarnia and played a strong game stopping 32 of 35 shots.
Matyas Sapovaliv (Vegas Golden Knights) had a goal and two assists for Saginaw and Hunter Haight (Minnesota Wild) drew a pair of assists.
The first period was a close checking affair as Sarnia out-shot Saginaw 12-9. Saginaw lit the lamp with the only goal coming with just 6.8 seconds remaining. Zayne Parekh netted his seventh of the year with assists going to newly acquired center Haight and Sapovaliv.
In the second period Sarnia blitzed Saginaw, scoring four unanswered goals to take a 4-1 lead into the locker room. Pastujov tied the game with a power-play goal at 4:05, letting go a wrist shot that beat Lennox on the glove side. Limpar-Lantz and Vilmanis were credited with the helpers.
Sarnia went in front 2-1 after Vilmanis put on a great move to get by a Saginaw defender and roofing a shot top shelf at 11:08 for his ninth goal of the year. Lukas Fischer drew the only assist. Less than two minutes later with the Sting on the power-play, Sarnia increased the lead to 3-1, as MacDonell camped in front of the door step drove home a rebound for his 12th of the season on a shot from Voit. The goal coming at 12:47 with both Voit and Porter Martone drawing the assists.
Sarnia capped off the dominating period on a goal from Voit who beat Lennox on the glove side at 15:33. Pastujov had the lone assist.
Voit’s goal was his eighth of the season and he continues to lead the OHL scoring race with 46 points. He also tops the league leader board in assists with 38 and power-play assists with 17. Pastujov has 17 goals overall and sits fifth in goals scored, just five goals back of OHL leader Francesco Arcuri (Kingston Frontenacs) 22 goals.
Tonight’s three stars- third star Zayne Parekh, second star-Dean Loukus and first star- Angus MacDonell.