Last year, Sarnia Legionnaire goalie Kyle Washer was known around the dressing room as 'Mr. Dependable.'

That's because although he lived in Michigan, he was always the first player to arrive at the rink and the last to leave. But after his last two starts, he might want to change that nickname to 'Mr. Zero.'

The 18-year-old registered his second straight shutout Saturday as Sarnia blanked the St. Thomas Stars 4-0. Two days earlier, Washer recorded a 9-0 whitewashing of the Leamington Flyers.

The goose eggs were the first of his Jr. 'B' career.

More than that, they helped the Legionnaires claim sole possession of sixth place in the Western Conference of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. Going into Saturday's contest, they were tied with St. Thomas for that spot.

"It's something I wasn't expecting,” the acrobatic goalkeeper said of his back-to-back shutouts. He added his teammates deserved a lot of credit for his success, noting they continuously cleared rebounds away from his cage.

He was also a little lucky, with the Stars ringing a shot off the cross-bar just before the second period ended.

It was just as well that Washer was on his game because this was a thrilling, end-to-end contest that was much closer than the final score would indicate. Indeed, Sarnia only outshot the Stars 30-28.

Washer got the shutout despite the fact that he was roaming all over the ice all night long. He was out of his net so much that two Stars picked up goalie interference penalties when they collided with him.

On a few occasions Washer got caught out of position, including once in the first minute of play when he gave the puck away. “I didn't see the second (St. Thomas) forward,” he explained. Fortunately, the Stars player shot wide of the open net.

As for his wanderlust,Washer said, “That's just me having fun. I know a lot of people get scared when I do it, especially when I mess up.”

Late in the game, Washer came out of his net and fired the puck up the ice, setting Tanner Garrick into the clear on a breakaway. Unfortunately, Garrick failed to score and Washer didn't get the assist he was looking for.

Still, his work, which included half a dozen great saves, earned him first star honours. It also gave him his 11^th win of the season while lowering his goals against average to a sparkling 2.95. His save percentage stands at .917, third best among the 18 goalies in conference.

Washer felt his best save came in the first few minutes of play when he stopped a breakaway, flopping on his belly and shooting out his glove hand to catch a goal-labeled drive.

He added one of the St. Thomas players skated up to him late in the game and mouthed the word 'shutout' in a bid to jinx him. But the Sarnia goalie decided he would break the jinx then and there.

Brent Sauve gave the Legionnaires the only goal they would need at the 15:53 mark of the opening frame when he slammed home a goalmouth pass from Jesse Drydak to cap a beautifully executed two-on-one break. Chase Clark also picked up an assist on the goal, which was Sauve's fourth of the campaign.

In the second stanza, Clark got his 17^th (from Garrick) to make it 2-0 at 2:21. Six minutes later Drydak scored his 29^th from point blank range. Owen Rogers was credited with the only assist. Drydak, who leads the Legionnaires in goals, now has as many tallies this season as Matt Abercrombie got last year when he was the top Sarnia marksman. And he just missed his 30^th in the third period when he hit the goal post.

Late in the third period, defenceman Jeff Paulley rounded out the scoring, finding the back of the net for the first time this year with a blast from the point. The powerplay marker was assisted by Joel Steeves.

• Attendance was a season high 1,723. That figure was bolstered by the fact that the Legionnaires gave 500 tickets to the Canadian Cancer Society as part of a fundraising promotion.

• Drydak was second star and Rogers third.

• Sarnia is back up the .500 mark with a record of 19-19-6.

• The Legionnaires return to action next Thursday when they host the LaSalle Vipers. Sarnia had a short bench, with only 14 skaters dressed, including only eight forwards. But blueliner Anton Zupancic filled in up front, doing at admirable job that allowed head coach Jeff Perry to ice three full lines.

• Defenceman Tommy Ziolkowski didn't pick up any points but he was cool as a cucumber on the back end.