A record number of teddy bears were collected for the 24th annual Sarnia Sting Teddy Bear Toss game.
Nolan Burke scored Sarnia's first goal 5:32 into the second period, as the Sting went on to lose 5-3 to the Kitchener Rangers.
"It's a super cool feeling," said Burke. "Great play there by Voit on the ice to go around there and pass it to Daviault and then nice shot by Daviault, got a stick on it. Nolan Dann, nice play there to put the puck there and I kind of just poked it in there, a little gift, but I'll take it though."
About 2,800 bears hit the ice at the Progressive Auto Sales Arena Sunday afternoon, and a total of 4,610 stuffed toys were collected, surpassing the previous record of 4,234 bears set in 2017.
Lambton Ford President Rob Ravensberg said toys will continue to be collected at the dealership until December 13.
The toys will be distributed to kids in need this holiday season through over a dozen local charities, including the Children's Aid Society, Pathways Health Centre for Children and the Salvation Army.
With this year's total, nearly 75,000 bears have been donated in the event's 24 year history.
Around 3,500 fans attended Sunday afternoon's game, which saw Kitchener jump out to a 5-0 lead in the first period.
After Burke got Sarnia on the board in the middle frame, to make it 5-1 after 40 minutes, Sting first round pick Angus MacDonell scored his first OHL goal to make it 5-2 at the 6:20 mark of the third period.
"It was an awesome feeling obviously to finally get the monkey off my back," said MacDonell. "It's been a long time coming, and I've been working for it the whole year and just to finally get what I've been working for was a huge accomplishment for myself."
Sarnia captain Brayden Guy made it 5-3 with under four minutes to play, but that's as close as the Sting would get.
The loss drops Sarnia to 9-10-3 on the season. The club returns to the ice Wednesday in Guelph, the first of three road games for Sarnia this week.
"I definitely think it will be good for us to get on the road together, have some team bonding," said MacDonnell. "Also, get a chance to take two points from Kitchener on the road, as they did to us in our own barn. It will be definitely really nice to get some revenge."
-With files from Josh Boyce
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