The Sarnia Sting's offence came alive in a 5-3 win over the visiting London Knights Tuesday night, in game three of the OHL Western Conference final.
Sasha Pastujov had a goal and two assists for the home side, Sting captain Nolan Dillingham had three helpers, and goaltender Ben Gaudreau made 25 saves to help Sarnia pick up its first win of the series -- London leads the best-of-seven 2-1.
Sting forward Luca Del Bel Belluz opened the scoring just 27 seconds into the first period with his team-leading eighth goal of the postseason. Nolan Burke increased the lead with a power play goal at 14:05, his sixth goal of the playoffs, and Sarnia led 2-0 after 20 minutes.
The Sting made it 3-0 at 4:45 of the second period on Pastujov's fifth goal of the postseason. London got on the board at 9:15 of the middle frame, a power play goal from George Diaco, to cut Sarnia's lead to 3-1 heading into the third period.
At 5:39 of the final frame, Marcus Limpar-Lantz restored the Sting's three-goal lead with his third goal of the playoffs. Under two minutes later, Knights forward Brody Crane responded with a goal to make it 4-2.
Sarnia defenceman Ethan Ritchie fired back with a goal at 12:34, his third, to make it 5-2. London's Ryan Winterton pulled his team back within two goals at 16:07, but that's as close as they would get before the final horn blew.
The Sting's five-goal night came after the team combined to score just two goals through the first two games of the series in London, both losses.
Gaudreau was named the game's second star for his performance. Knights netminder Zach Bowen got the start and made 25 saves after fellow goaltender Brett Brochu left Game two with a lower body injury -- he's listed as day-to-day.
Game four of the conference final goes Wednesday night in Sarnia -- coverage on CHOK (103.9 FM/1070 AM) begins at 6:30 p.m.
