The Otters blew open what was otherwise a very close series with a 7-0 win in Erie Friday night to eliminate the Sting in five games in their opening round OHL Western Conference playoff.
Erie's top players, held in check to a large degree in the first four games, found their stride.
Dylan Strome, Connor McDavid and Travis Dermott had a goal and two assists each and Nicholas Baptiste two goals in the dominating win.
The Otters led 1-0 after one period and 4-0 after two.
Sting head coach Trevor Letowski says power play goals early hurt.
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Taylor Dupuis was busy all night with Erie outshooting the Sting 49-26. The overage goaltender made a total of 172 saves in the series. Devin Williams, after being pulled in the first period of game four at the RBC Centre, bounced back with the shutout.
Overall, the best of 7 series was much tighter than the final game count would suggest. Sarnia took game one but lost the next four, three of which were very close.
Friday's loss brought to a close the OHL careers of Dupuis and fellow overagers Joshua Chapman and Stephen Pierog.
The second seeded Otters advance to the conference semi finals while the Sting look ahead to the OHL Priority Selection Saturday April 11.
The Sting played without last year's number one pick, standout rookie defenseman Jakob Chychrun, the entire playoff series. Chychrun, reportedly nursing a nagging shoulder injury, last played against Guelph March 8. He recorded 33 points including 16 goals in 42 games in his rookie campaign.
Rookie forward Jordan Kyrou led the Sting in playoff scoring with a goal and five assists.
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2015-2016 will be Sarnia's first full season under new owners Derian Hatcher and David Legwand.
