OHL Roundup: Boucher hits 40-goal mark as Sting defeat Whalers

Reid Boucher scored his 39th and 40th goals of the season as the Sarnia Sting downed the visiting Plymouth Whalers 5-4 in a shootout on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action.

The 19-year-old winger has scored nine times in his last five games and is the first player in the OHL to reach the 40-goal mark this year.

Charles Sarault scored the winner in the shootout for the Sting (27-17-3), who won for the first time in three outings, and Alex Basso and Nikolay Goldobin also scored in regulation.

Garret Meurs had two goals and an assist for the Whalers (24-14-9) while Stefan Noesen chipped in with three assists.

Cody Payne and Sebastian Ulvira also scored to round out Plymouth's offence.

Knicholas Dawe stopped 36 shots for the win as Matt Mahalak made 24 saves in a losing cause.

Sarnia went 0 for 2 on the power play while Plymouth scored twice on three chances with the man advantage.

Elsewhere in the OHL, it was: Ottawa 5, Kingston 4 (SO); Kitchener 5, Erie 1; Windsor 3, Sault Ste. Marie 2 (SO); Guelph 2, Owen Sound 1; Saginaw 3, Mississauga 1 and Oshawa 3, Sudbury 2 (SO).

At Sarnia, Ont., Boucher opened the scoring and Goldobin made it 2-0 for the Sting before Meurs got Plymouth on the board at 17:44 of the first period.

Basso made it 3-1 for Sarnia 1:29 into the second period, but Payne and Ulvira scored three minutes apart to tie the game.

Boucher regained the lead for Sarnia at 9:26, however Plymouth evened the score for a third time when Meurs scored on the power play at 15:03.

After a scoreless third period and overtime, Sarault was the only player to score in the shootout.

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67's 5 Frontenacs 4 (SO)

At Kingston, Ont., Dante Salituro scored the winner and Sean Monahan, Brett Gustavsen and Nevin Guy each had a goal and an assist as Ottawa (13-33-3) halted its six-game winless streak by beating the Frontenacs (20-22-4).

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Rangers 5 Otters 1

At Kitchener, Ont., Ryan Murphy scored once and added two assists while Joel Vienneau turned aside 31-of-32 shots as the Rangers (27-14-6) handed Erie (15-25-8) its third loss in as many games.

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Spitfires 3 Greyhounds 2 (SO)

At Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., Alexander Khokhlachev scored the shootout winner and Jaroslav Pavelka stopped 32 shots as Windsor (20-20-7) edged the Greyhounds (25-19-4), who fell to 15-7-1 on home ice.

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Storm 2 Attack 1

At Guelph, Ont., Brock McGinn scored two goals and Garret Sparks made 22 saves as the Storm (27-14-5) slipped past Owen Sound (30-13-4) for their sixth straight victory.

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Spirit 3 Steelheads 1

At Mississauga, Ont., Nikita Serebryakov stopped 24 shots and Jimmy Lodge scored the game-winning goal midway through the second period as Saginaw (23-20-5) beat the Steelheads (21-21-4) to retain the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

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Generals 3 Wolves 2 (SO)

At Sudbury, Ont., Franky Palazzese stopped 40 shots for the Wolves (21-17-10), however it wasn't enough as Boone Jenner scored the winning goal in the shootout for Oshawa (27-17-4).