Third period goals by Denver Barkey and Ryan Winterton that came 39 seconds apart in the third period propelled the London Knights to a 5-2 victory in Game 5 of the Western Conference final.
London now leads the best-of-7 series three games to two heading to Game 6 on Sunday afternoon in Sarnia, Ont.
The game had as many faces as a Dungeons and Dragons 20-sided die.
The third period featured six goals in total after most of the game had been played with London out front 1-0.
Winterton scored two goals on and now has six goals in five games in the series.
Easton Cowan and Denver Barkey each had a goal and an assist.
But so much of the story belonged to Knights rookie goaltender Zach Bowen who made 30 saves and was named the game’s second star,
The Sting came out absolutely flying off the opening faceoff.
Sarnia recorded the first eight shots of the game and they came in a frantic six minutes of play and Bowen turned every single one of them away.
Then the ninth shot went in the net at the Sting end of the ice.
Brody Crane brought the puck in across the Sarnia blue line and fed a pass to Ruslan Gazizov who was playing in just his second game of the Western Conference final after missing three straight games with an illness.
Gazizov wired a shot past Ben Gaudreau and gave London a 1-0 lead that they carried into the dressing room at the end of 20 minutes.
The teams combined for 21 shots in the second period but nobody found the back of the net.
The third period was a whole new world.
It began with a player in each penalty box and 40 seconds off the opening draw Sting captain Nolan Dillingham snuck into an opening in the Knights zone and snapped in his third goal of the playoffs to tie the game 1-1.
Undaunted London got control off the faceoff at centre ice and Barkey skated across the blue line and ripped a shot over the shoulder of Gaudreau to restore the Knights lead just 13 seconds later.
Winterton rinsed and repeated on a wrist shot 39 seconds after that and London had a two goal lead at the 1:32 mark of the final period.
The score stayed that way until the clocked ticked under five minutes remaining and Sarnia head coach Alan Letang called Gadreau to the bench for an extra attacker. The Knights survived in their zone for over a minute until the puck sailed into the Sarnia end and Easton Cowan tied that puck up in the right corner.
The Sting eventually moved the puck out of the corner but Cowan stripped it away from Pastujov and flicked it into the empty net to make it 4-1 with two minutes and 30 seconds left.
Pastujov scored on a power play at 18:55 and that saw a second lift of Gaudreau from the Sting goal but Winterton fired the puck from his own zone and scored the final goal of the game.
Sarnia outshot London 32-27.
The Sting were 1-for-5 on the power play.
The Knights were0-for-3.
Sanctions for Niagara
On May 4, the Ontario Hockey League announced sanctions against the Niagara IceDogs. After an investigation the league ruled that, “certain Niagara IceDog players had violated league policies including the Maltreatment, Bullying and Harassment Protection and Prevention Policy and our Code of Conduct.”
That has resulted in a $100 000 fine for the organization, a forfeiture of Niagara’s 1st round pick in the 2024 OHL Priority Selection, a two-year suspension for team owner and general manager Darren DeDobbelaer and a ruling that goalie Josh Rosenzweig and defenceman Landon Cato “have permanently lost the privilege to participate in the OHL.”
DeDobbelaer has announced that he intends to file an appeal.
Up next
Game 6 between the Knights at the Sting will take place on Sunday, May 7 at 2 p.m. at Progressive Auto Sale Arena in Sarnia, Ont.
If a Game 7 is necessary it will happen at Budweiser Gardens on Monday, May 8 at 7 p.m.
The winner of the Western Conference final will take home the Wayne Gretzky Trophy and a spot in the OHL championship series against either Peterborough or North Bay.
Coverage will begin at 6:30 on 980 CFPL, at www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.
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