Sean Josling had two goals as the Sarnia Sting beat the Niagara IceDogs 6-5 Sunday afternoon at the Meridian Centre in St. Catharines.
It's a crucial two points for the Sting as they sit in a tightening race for the remaining open spots in the OHL Western Conference playoffs. They currently have the seventh seed and 59 points in the standings.
The home team got on the board first thanks to Jack Studnicka's 31st goal of the year, scored shorthanded at 5:45 of the opening segment. Sarnia tied the game later in the period with Anthony Tabak's second lamplighter of the season.
Sarnia continued to score in the second period. Josling picked up his first goal of the afternoon at 6:47, then Franco Sproviero added a shorthanded insurance goal just past the midway point of the frame. Niagara came right back with a pair of their own to knot the game at 3-3 after 40 minutes of play. Jason Robertson scored at 13:44 and Studnicka struck again less than four minutes later.
The Sting jumped back out in front with a goal to start the third period. Josling hit again at 1:21. Curtis Egert added a cushion late in the frame with a power-play goal. The IceDogs did not go away quietly, as Kirill Maksimov got a goal back at 17:21, but Sarnia responded when Kelton Hatcher fired a puck into an empty net. Ben Jones did pull Niagara within one with a goal scored at 29 seconds left in regulation, but the IceDogs were unable to tie the game.
Ethan Langevin had 43 saves out of 47 shots in goal for the Sting. Stephen Dhillon stopped 26 shots for Niagara.
Sarnia travels to Sault Ste. Marie for their next game on Saturday night.
