Friday night in front of 4,553 fans at the Sleeman Centre, the Storm gained ground on a few teams in the Western Conference playoff race with a 6-3 win over the visiting Sarnia Sting.  Looking for their 18th straight playoff appearance, Guelph moved five points in front of ninth place Owen Sound and climbed within three points of the Erie Otters for seventh and four behind the Saginaw Spirit who hold down sixth.

The trio of Taylor Beck, Peter Holland and Michael Latta combined for 10 points in the win with Brandon Foote improving his record to an impressive 16-8-1-0 in a 21 save performance.

Guelph got on the scoreboard only 37 seconds in and never looked back in the contest with Holland notching his first of two on the night.  The Sting scored late in the first to cut the lead to 3-1 and actually made it 3-2 just past the midway point of the middle frame.

Beck would break the game open with two goals in just 46 seconds in the final three minutes of the second period.  The Storm's leading scorer climbed back into a tie for fifth in league scoring with his two goal and two assist night.

In the final twenty, Holland added his 28th of the year to give Guelph their first four goal lead of the game before Saginaw replied on the powerplay just over two minutes later.

The Storm's next home action will be this Sunday afternoon when the Kitchener Rangers come to town for a 2 pm start.  Sunday's game is Student Day including a post-game Skate With the Storm.  Next Friday night, Guelph will play their final home game of the 2009-10 regular season against the Erie Otters in what could be a critical match-up as the Storm hopes to jump the Otters in the standings.  For tickets to either game call or visit the Guelph Storm box office or purchase online at GuelphStorm.com.

Sarnia Sting 3 At Guelph Storm 6 - Status: Final
Mar 5, 2010 - Sleeman Centre

Sarnia 1 1 1 - 3
Guelph 3 2 1 - 6

1st Period-1, Guelph, Holland 27 (Lofquist), 0:37. 2, Guelph, Sisca 32 (Latta, Comrie), 9:41. 3, Guelph, McNaughton 14 (Beck), 12:04. 4, Sarnia, Peters 15 (Stevens), 16:45. Penalties-No Penalties

2nd Period-5, Sarnia, Peters 16 (Ritchie, Francisco), 11:03. 6, Guelph, Beck 36 (Holland, Latta), 17:13 (pp). 7, Guelph, Beck 37 (Carroll), 17:59. Penalties-MacQueen Sar (hooking), 2:24; Chiarlitti Sar (interference), 7:51; Neuber Sar (interference), 13:13; Flemington Sar (cross checking), 17:04.

3rd Period-8, Guelph, Holland 28 (Beck, Latta), 1:48 (pp). 9, Sarnia, Kavaratzis 2 (Francisco, Peters), 3:49 (pp). Penalties-Alderson Sar (tripping), 1:36; Guskov Gue (slashing), 3:14; Maione Gue (high sticking), 6:16; Menard Gue (delay of game), 8:08; Van Laren Gue (holding), 10:14; Stoughton Sar (high sticking), 18:53.

Shots on Goal-Sarnia 9-4-11-24. Guelph 15-17-6-38.
Power Play Opportunities-Sarnia 1 of 4; Guelph 2 of 6.
Goalies-Sarnia, Campbell 7-23-2-0 (38 shots-32 saves). Guelph, Foote 16-8-1-0 (24 shots-21 saves).
A-4,553
Referees-Dave Lewis (16), Seth Ferguson (39).
Linesmen-Matthew Traub (50), Dustin McCrank (68).