OHL Roundup: Auger, Maple Leafs prospect Sparks lift Storm to 8-0 win

Justin Auger scored once and set up four more while Garret Sparks turned aside 23 shots as the Guelph Storm blanked the host Erie Otters 8-0 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League play.

Sparks, a 2011 seventh-round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs, improved his record to 18-7-3 and the shutout was his fourth of the season, which gives him the OHL lead.

The 19-year-old has carried much of Guelph's goaltending duties all season as he also leads the league in minutes played with 1,731 in 31 appearances.

Brock McGinn and Zack Mitchell each scored twice for the Storm (20-9-3), who have won three games in a row, while Tanner Richard chipped in with four assists.

Matt Finn had a goal and an assist and Robby Fabbri and Ryan Horvat scored a goal apiece to round out Guelph's offence.

Devin Williams stopped 36-of-44 shots for the Otters (8-18-5).

Guelph went 1 for 9 on the power play while Erie failed to score on either of its chances with the man advantage.

The Otters hosted a season high 4,013 fans on Saturday for their annual teddy bear toss, however with no goals from the home club the fans decided to toss the stuffed animals onto the ice after the Storm's fifth goal at the 9:25-mark of the second period.

Elsewhere in the OHL, it was: Oshawa 4, Plymouth 3; Peterborough 5, Sudbury 4 (SO); Sault Ste. Marie 6, Saginaw 4; Barrie 6, Kingston 2 and Belleville 4, Owen Sound 2.

At Erie, Pa., Mitchell opened the scoring with a short-handed goal 2:36 into the first period.

McGinn and Horvat added two more goals in the opening period to give Guelph a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes of play.

Fabbri and McGinn scored 31 seconds apart in the second period and Finn put one away at 12:05 to make it 6-0 heading into the final period.

Mitchell scored a power-play goal 16 seconds into the third period and Auger added one more 32 seconds later to round out Guelph's scoring.

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Generals 4 Whalers 3

At Plymouth, Mich., Sebastian Uvira and Scott Sabourin scored third-period goals as Oshawa (17-11-3) edged the Whalers (14-9-7), who lost in regulation time for the first time in six outings.

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Petes 5 Wolves 4 (SO)

At Sudbury, Ont., Eric Cornel scored the winning goal in the eighth round of the shootout and Brett Findlay scored twice in regulation as Peterborough (8-20-4) slipped past the Wolves (12-16-5).

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Greyhounds 6 Spirit 4

At Saginaw, Mich., Nick Cousins scored once and set up two more and David Broll had two goals as Sault Ste. Marie (14-15-2) beat the Spirit (13-16-4) for its first win in three outings.

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Colts 6 Frontenacs 2

At Barrie, Ont., Andreas Athanasiou, Winnipeg Jets prospect Mark Scheifele, Ryan O'Connor and Anthony Camara had three points apiece and Mathias Niederberger turned aside 29 shots as the Colts (21-8-1) beat Kingston (16-14-1).

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Bulls 4 Attack 2

At Owen Sound, Ont., Garrett Hooey scored twice and added an assist while Charlie Graham stopped 40 shots as Belleville (18-9-4) doubled up the Attack (22-7-3) for its third win in a row.