The Sarnia Sting are one win away from the OHL Western Conference Final after a 5-3 win in Saginaw Tuesday night.
Five different Sting players found the back of the net, Ben Gaudreau made 30 saves and Sarnia now leads the best-of-seven series 3-0.
Sting forward Nolan Burke opened the scoring at 4:20 of the first period, his fifth goal of the playoffs. Saginaw's Sebastien Gervais responded at 9:23 and the game was tied after 20 minutes. The Spirit outshot the Sting 12-5 in the first period.
After a scoreless second period, Luca Del Bel Belluz restored Sarnia's one-goal lead at 7:11 of the final frame. Del Bel Belluz is tied with Burke for the team-lead in playoff goals with five.
Saginaw tied the game at 2-2 at 11:08 of the third period, a power play goal off the stick of Zayne Parekh. Sting forward Sandis Vilmanis answered right back just over two minutes later to make it 3-2. After Sarnia's Ethan Ritchie scored an empty net goal to make it 4-2, with three minutes on the clock, Parekh put home his second of the period at 18:10 to bring his team back within a goal. However, Sting captain Nolan Dillingham put the game on ice just 22 seconds later when he scored his club's second empty-netter.
Saginaw outshot Sarnia 33-24. Through three games, the Sting have a slight lead in shots, 95-93.
Game four of the series goes Thursday night in Saginaw -- coverage on CHOK (103.9FM/1070AM) begins at 6:30 p.m. With a win, the Sting would advance to the OHL's west final for the first time in franchise history.
