ST. THOMAS – A shorthanded Sarnia Legionnaires hockey club picked up a gusty win here last night.

With four forwards and a defenceman out of the lineup in the third period, the visitors still managed to skate off with an important 3-0 win over the St. Thomas Stars.

The victory put an end to a five-game losing streak and left the Legionnaires with a 10-11-5 record.

“We worked hard and we got rewarded for doing it,” Head Coach Jeff Perry said afterward.

The Legionnaires started the game without the services of Chase Clark, who was injured in a game last week. Tanner Garrick, meanwhile, was a healthy scratch.

In the second frame, forwards Shawn Waldie and Tanner Tomlinson were hurt. Neither came out for the final 20 minutes, although Perry said the wounds did not appear to be too serious. If all that wasn't enough, blueliner Anton Zupancic was ejected for fighting, leaving the Sarnians with a very short bench when the final buzzer sounded.

In the first period, which ended in a scoreless draw, the tight-checking Legionnaires held the Stars to a paltry three shots on goal, none of them of the dangerous variety. At the other end of the rink, they pumped nine pucks at Stars goalie Jared Richmond.

In the second stanza, the Legion crew erupted for three power-play goals.

Jesse Drydak scored his 14^th of the season when he popped in a shot from the side of the net at the 7:51 mark. Owen Rogers and Joel Steeves drew assists.

Anthony Donati scored his eighth of the year when he stepped off the point, dispsy-doodled around a St. Thomas defender and blasted home a low wrist shot. Rogers and Steeves again drew assists on the play, which came at 11:42.

Drydak made it 3-0 with a sensational goal that came with less than four minutes left in the second stanza. After taking a pass from defenceman Tanner Ferguson, he skated around two Stars and whipped a backhand shot under the crossbar for his team-leading 15^th goal. Sarnia went into the dressing room with a 33-13 edge in shots.

In the final period the Stars pressed early, only to be thwarted by Raymond, who made two big saves in the opening five minutes.

The Legionnaires failed to add to their total, although they had their chances. Brett Sauve got in alone and just missed scoring and Drydak rang a shot off the post. Later, Tyler Cicchini was stopped from point blank range by the St. Thomas netminder.

In all, the Legionnaires outshot the home team 44-28.

• The win gave sixth place Sarnia a three point lead over seventh place St. Thomas in the Western Conference of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League.

• Sarnia's Anton Zupancic and the Star's Dave Morden were ejected for fighting.

• The Legionnaires are home Thursday to the Chatham Maroons. Game time is 7:30 p.m at the Sarnia Arena.