Nolan Degurse scored his first Ontario Hockey League goal, and rookie Jacob Perreault fired home his 30th as the Sarnia Sting beat Flint 6-3 Sunday afternoon.
With the win, before a crowd of 3,923 at Progressive Auto Sales Arena, the Sting finished the regular season in seventh place in the Western Conference with a record of 28-33-5-2.
They take on the second seeded Saginaw Spirit in conference quarterfinal action beginning Thursday night at the Dow Event Center.
The Firebirds opened the scoring Sunday on a goal by Ty Dellandrea, but Hugo Leufvenius scored his 37th of the season to tie the score at 1 after the opening period.
The Sting scored two unanswered in the second period. Perreault hit the 30 goal mark in his strong rookie campaign, and defenceman Colton Kammerer got his fifth.
Calvin Martin (14), Degurse (1) and Anthony Tabak (3) rounded out the scoring for Sarnia in the third period while Cody Morgan scored twice in the final frame for Flint.
Sarnia outshot the visitors 46-21.
Ethan Langevin was solid in the Sting goal, while Emanuel Vella earned third star honours for the Firebirds despite giving up six goals.
Degurse was named the number one star and Leufvenius the second star.
Saginaw (2) vs. Sarnia (7)
Game 1, Thurs., March 21 at Saginaw – 7:05 p.m. Game 2, Sat., March 23 at Saginaw – 7:05 p.m. Game 3, Tues., March 26 at Sarnia – 7:05 p.m. Game 4, Thurs., March 28 at Sarnia – 7:05 p.m. Game 5, Sat., March 30 at Saginaw – 7:05 p.m.* Game 6, Sun., March 31 at Sarnia – 4:05 p.m.* Game 7, Tues., April 2 at Saginaw – 7:05 p.m.*
Tickets go on sale at the Sarnia Sting box office and online, Monday morning at 10 a.m.