The Sarnia Sting beat the Flint Firebirds 2-1 in a shootout during the second annual School Day Game at Progressive Auto Sales Arena.
Thousands of students were at the rink when the puck dropped at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
Sarnia's Alessandro Di Iorio scored his third goal of the season, early in the first period during a power play, with assists from Mitch Young and Tyson Doucette.
The Firebirds tied up the game later in the first, on a powerplay goal by Matthew Wang.
A scoreless second and third period forced the game into overtime, and eventually into a shootout.
Forward Carter Kostuch netted the shootout winner for the Sting.
"Obviously, I've had chances and shootouts before and they haven't worked so I just had to change it up," said Kostuch during a post-game conference. "I knew from the get-go what I was doing before I even stepped out on the ice. Kind of just got to follow with it and obviously, you just got to hope for the best, and luckily [I] got it."
Wednesday's game marked the first shootout win for the Sting this season.
"It definitely takes a toll because it's a lot longer than a normal game but today we found a way. It was a gritty win and I think the boys deserved it," said Goaltender Nick Surzycia.
He also noted how different it was to start a game so early in the day.
"Going into the second and third, I felt really good, and especially in that overtime, I just felt real calm, real good," Surzycia said. "I think it was a great game for me."
Surzycia saved a total of 42 shots on net.
Elementary school children in Grades 3 to 6 from the St. Clair Catholic District School Board and Lambton-Kent District School Board attended the game. Kyle’s No Frills in Sarnia also provided over 3,500 light lunches for the students.
The Sting will be back on the ice on Friday to host the Niagara IceDogs. Puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m. Games can be heard live on 103.9FM/1070AM CHOK.
