Anaheim Ducks prospect Sasha Pastujov had a goal and two assists as the Sarnia Sting knocked off the London Knights 5-3 in Game 3 of the OHL’s Western Conference final on Tuesday night in Sarnia, Ont.
If the Sting wanted a fast start in front of a sold out home crowd that was three-deep in standing room they got exactly that.
Luca Del Bel Belluz knocked in his second goal of the series on a rebound just 27 seconds into the game. The puck got to the front of the net and Del Bel Belluz slid it past Zach Bowen who started his first playoff game in the absence of Knights overage goaltender Brett Brochu who is listed as out day-to-day with a lower body injury after leaving Game 2 late in the second period.
The Sting went up 2-0 on a power play goal by Nolan Burke at the 14:05 mark of the opening period.
Sasha Pastujov picked up his first goal and third point of the game just under five minutes into the second period as he got into the London zone as the Knights were changing and cut to the net for his fifth goal of the post-season.
London got on the board on a 5-on-3 man advantage when the Knights’ co-captains connected. Sean McGurn got a puck in front to George Diaco and Diaco found a way to put it past Ben Gaudreau and into the Sarnia net.
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Diaco came close on two other occasions in the game. He rung the puck off two goal posts.
The teams exchanged pairs of goals in the final 20 minutes as Brody Crane and Ryan Winterton found the back of the net for London and Ethan Ritchie and Marcus Limpar-Lantz countered for the Sting.
The Knights were never able to get the goal that brought them to within one.
London head coach Dale Hunter pulled Bowen for an extra attacker with 4:09 left and got a goal from Winterton while the Knights kept the puck out of their empty net but Sarnia held on.
The Sting outshot London 30-28.
Brochu times three
Brett Brochu earned his third OHL Goaltender of the Week honour for the week ending Apr. 30. Brochu leads all goalies in goals against, save percentage and shutouts. However, the Belle River, Ont., native would surely trade all of those stats to get back into the London net.
The story surrounding Brett Brochu at the moment is his health. Brochu left game two of the London-Sarnia series with 3:35 to go in the second period with a non-contact injury that occurred as he was positioning himself at the right post of his net. Brochu is currently listed as day-to-day with a lower body injury.
He did not dress for Game 3 in Sarnia. Owen Willmore who is currently playing for the Stratford Warriors in the Sutherland Cup slotted into the backup role behind Zach Bowen.
Plus Plus Plus
Heading into Game 3 in Sarnia, Ont., the London Knights were the only team to have all of their players on the positive side of OHL post-season plus-minus. Every single one. Ethan MacKinnon and Max McCue lead the way at plus-11. Knights co-captain Sean McGurn is a plus-9 and five other London players come in at plus-7. (Isaiah George, Oliver Bonk, Logan Mailloux, Sam Dickinson and George Diaco)
Former Knight Avery Winslow who plays for North Bay leads all players in plus-minus at a plus-12. The Battalion are the closest any other team sits to having all players in the positive. Only one North Bay player presently sits in the minus.
Up next
London and Sarnia will be back on the ice less than 24 hours after Game 3 ended as they meet on Wednesday, May 2 in Game 4 right back in Sarnia, Ont.
Coverage will begin at 6:30 on 980 CFPL, at www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.
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