Sarnia’s Win Streak Hits Four, As They Roll Past Saginaw 8-2
By Carl Chimenti
The Sarnia Sting (23-14-4-2) broke open a close game scoring five goals in the third period as they extended their season high winning streak to four games, beating the Saginaw Spirit (24-17-2-0) 8-2 Saturday night, at the Dow Event Center, in Saginaw, Michigan.
The win put the Sting in sole possession of second place in the West Division and fourth overall in the Western Conference, one point behind the third place Owen Sound Attack.
Christian Kyrou (Dallas Stars) scored twice in the third period while Ryan Mast (Boston Bruins), Luca DelBelBelluz (Columbus Blue Jackets) and Ethan Del Mastro (Chicago Black Hawks) scored one each.
Sarnia swept the three-star selection as DelBelBelluz (third star), Kyrou (second star) and Pastujov (first star) did the honors.
Six different players had multiple scoring points in the game for the Sting, led by Pastujov, who had a four-point night that included his 25th goal of the season. DelBelBelluz and Kyrou, had two goals and an assist each. Ethan Ritchie contributed a goal and a pair of assists. Marko Sikic had three helpers and Marcus Limpar-Lantz added two more. Sandis Vilmanis (Florida Panthers), Ty Voit (Toronto Maple Leafs) and Easton Wainwright had one assist each.
Sarnia out-shot Saginaw 17-7 in the third period and 37-22 overall. The Sting scored thee power-play goals on four chances and the fourth best penalty killing unit in the OHL held Saginaw scoreless four times with the man-advantage.
Nicholas Surzycia was solid in net stopping 20 of 22 shots.
Like last night in the Soo, the Sting scored a pair of goals and lead 2-1 after the first period. Both teams had 11 shots on net. The Spirit opened up the scoring on a goal from Matyas Sapovaliv (14th) early on at 1:57 from Dean Loukus and Michael Misa.
Sarnia came back and scored on their only opportunity with the man-advantage in the opening period. Sikic put the initial shot on net and after Lennox made the save the puck came right back to Sikic and he found Ritchie, who was parked in front of the net and Ritchie deposited the puck from his back hand into a wide-open net to tie the game. Vilmanis drew an assist as well on the power-play goal which came at 14:05. Sarnia went ahead for the first time less than three minutes later as DelBelBelluz scored his 21st of the year and first goal in a Sting uniform since being acquired in a trade at the deadline from the Mississauga Steelheads. Once again it was Sikic who set up the goal feeding DelBelBelluz with a back hand pass in front and he buried the puck at 16:22 with Pastujov also assisting on the even strength goal.
Sarnia scored the only goal in the second period and held Saginaw to only four shots on net. Pastujov scored what proved to be the winning goal at 12:10 to put the Sting up 3-1 entering the third period. The goal came on a break-away after Pastujov received a pass from DelBelBelluz from inside the Sting defensive zone and he beat goaltender Tristan Lennox (New York Islanders) through the five-hole. Kyrou drew the second assist on the goal. The Sting out-shot the Spirit 9-4. Both teams went 0/1 with the man-advantage.
Sarnia will close out their three-game road trip on Tuesday night against the Kitchener Rangers, before returning to home ice on the following Friday night with a rematch against the Soo Greyhounds.
