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Strome’s 6-pack of points clinches CHL points title, Otters win: Sunday’s 3 stars

Erie's Dylan Strome wrapped up the season with six points, including four goals, in a 8-7 win over Niagara to clinch the OHL and CHL leading scorers' titles. (CP / Matt Mead)
Erie's Dylan Strome wrapped up the season with six points, including four goals, in a 8-7 win over Niagara to clinch the OHL and CHL leading scorers' titles. (CP / Matt Mead)

No. 1 star: Dylan Strome, Erie Otters (OHL)

No McDavid, no problem for the Erie Otters, who rested the sure-fire first rounder with second place wrapped up, but they relied on another sure-fire first rounder to pick up the slack.

Strome fired home four pucks and assisted on two other goals as Erie came-from-behind to defeat Niagara 8-7 in a wild finish to both team’s OHL regular season schedules. His six points secured both the OHL scoring title and the CHL one, as his 129 points eclipsed London’s Mitchell Marner and Moncton’s Conor Garland, with both players not playing Sunday.

Marner finished with 126 points, while Garland equaled Strome’s 129, but had 10 less goals.

Buzzing the Net teammate Neate Sager described Strome’s night as such:

Time again, Strome displayed exceptional puck control and vision as he found openings. Niagara entered the contest with motivation to shut down Strome since it still had a chance of earning home-ice advantage for its playoff series against the Ottawa 67's, but Strome was a force unto himself.

Strome and teammate Alex DeBrincat (1G, 5A), who had six points of his own, carved up the IceDog defence, a stingy lot who have had success shutting down teammate Connor McDavid, holding the young phenom pointless in two meetings previous.

Erie came back from 2-1, 5-2, 6-3 and 7-5 deficits to steal the win at home going away. Niagara, who could have clinched home-ice with a win and an Ottawa loss, took the tough defeat and will play the 67’s starting on the road.

Darren Raddysh had three assists in the win, with Daniel Dekoning (13-of-14)earning the win in one period of relief for starter Devin Williams. Matt Gillard had three assists in the loss for Niagara, while Cody Payne had a goal and two helpers, and Jordan Maletta scored twice. Brandon Hope was in net for the whole game, witnessing the carnage of the blown leads and taking the loss, stopping 24-of-32 shots.

No. 2 star: Robby Fabbri, Guelph Storm (OHL)

Fabbri finished off a difficult injury-plagued year with a hat-trick to propel Guelph to a 6-2 win over Sarnia.

He suffered a charley horse in summer camp for Team Canada, battled through an upper-body injury at Blues camp, delaying the start to his OHL season, and then a high-ankle sprain suffered during Team Canada’s quarterfinal win over Denmark at the 2015 WJC. He missed nearly three months of OHL action with Team Canada commitments cut short with the ankle trouble.

But he’s back in the lineup and ready to go, showing it with his three goals in the Storm’s dominant 6-2 win. He potted the game’s first goal just a half minute into the game’s first puck drop, and followed it up with two goals in the third period. He finished the year with 51 points in only 30 games, less impressive than his 87 points in 58 games last season, but a better points-per-game average.

Tyler Bertuzzi assisted on two of Fabbri’s markers, and a team effort in goal with Bradley Van Schubert and Justin Nichols each stopping pucks in the win, Nichols earning the victory with the first two frames under his belt.

No. 3 star: Connor Hicks, Belleville Bulls (OHL)

Hicks took the loss in his game Sunday, a 3-1 loss to Western Conference leaders Oshawa, but his performance stands out in the sheer amount of rubber he steered aside.

He gave up three goals, but stopped 62 other shots in the loss, Belleville’s final regular season game before packing it up for Hamilton next fall.

The Generals outshot the Bulls 16-7 in the first period, 22-10 in the second and 27(!)-5 in the third period, scoring once in each frame, and benefitting only from four powerplays, which can skew a shot total. Final shot counter read Oshawa 65, Belleville 22.

The ice was certainly tilted in the Generals favour, and Hicks, who just turned 18 last month, stopped most of them, but not enough for the win. Oshawa netminder Jeremy Brodeur stopped 21-of-22 for the victory in the other goal.

Notables: Oliver Bjorkstrand’s three points capped off a 5-3 Portland win over Tri-City, and added to his WHL leading point total. The dashing Dane finished the season with 118 points, nine over second place Trevor Cox of Medicine Hat. Nic Petan and Chase De Leo each earned goals and assists in the win. … Michael McLeod scored twice in Mississauga’s last hurrah, a 4-2 win over Peterborough, the team that beat the Steelheads to the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Jacob Brennan got the win in his final CHL start as an overager, making 39 saves. … Mike Amadio and Zach Bratina each had three assists, while Ryan Kujawinski and Brenden Miller each potted a pair as North Bay whitewashed Kingston 6-0 in what could b a preview of their first round matchup. Austin Kosack had a goal and two assists for the Battalion, and Jake Kment (21-of-21) registered the shutout. … Darcy Moynihan scored a goal and assisted two others as the Halifax Mooseheads defeated the Moncton Wildcats 5-2 in a makeup game for a snowed out contest earlier in the week. Moncton, assured second place regardless, rested several regulars in the finale, including Conor Garland and Ivan Barbashev, and Halifax jumped from 14th to 12th in the Q playoff picture, opting to face Shawinigan instead of Blainville-Boisbriand. … Dante Salituro had three assists and Nathan Todd scored twice as Ottawa ends a miserable season for the Sudbury Wolves 6-0. Liam Herbst stopped all 15 shots he faced for the goose egg. Ottawa secured home-ice over Niagara with the win. … Jordy Stallard potted a goal and added a helper, while Radel Fazleev had two assists in Calgary’s 5-3 win over Kootenay. Sam Reinhart had a goal and an assist in the loss in what could also be a preview of their first round matchup. … A goal and an assist from Nick Ritchie and an 18-save shutout from Brandon Halverson secured the OHL regular season title for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds with a 3-0 win over the Kitchener Rangers. … Adam Helewka scored twice and added an assist but it wasn’t enough for his Spokane Chiefs as they fell 5-4 against visiting Everett in a first-round playoff preview. Three ‘Tips – Logan Aasman, Cole MacDonald and Kevin Davis – each had a pair of assists.