It took only 9 seconds for Jimmy Purves of the Sarnia Pacers to score in the Pacers home opener against the London Blue Devils, in what would be a 12-10 Pacers victory in front of the Sarnia crowd at Clearwater Arena Wednesday night.

Purves would lead the the Pacers with three goals on the night, adding a second period powerplay goal and late third period goal, as well as chipping in with an assist.

After being outscored 8-2 in the first period against Windsor on Saturday, the Pacers looked towards goalie Justin Matthews to lead the way in the first, stopping 14 of the 16 shots he faced, as the Pacers held the 5-2 lead after one.

With a three goal advantage, London and Sarnia exchanged goals in the second period, scoring three each to make it a 8-5 game after the second period.

London would cut the lead to just one within a minute and a half into the third, but Dan Charlton would respond with his single goal of the night, putting the Pacers back in front by two. London's Matt Muszak lead the way for the Blue Devils in the third, scoring three goals, two of which came back to back six minutes apart to bring London to within one.

Purves would take a late slashing penalty after the second goal, leaving his team down a man with under two minutes to play. But Lance Ross would gather up a loose ball for the Pacers and run it down the floor, beating London goalie Zach Grace shorthanded to seal the victory for the Pacers.

The Pacers thrived with a man down, scoring more goals on their own penalty kills than London scored with the powerplay. London managed only two powerplay goals on seven opportunities. London had a chance to tie with a 5 on 3 powerplay at the start of the third period when Kyle Conroy and Lance Ross took unsportsmanlike conduct penalties But the Pacers managed to kill it off, while overall in the game, scored three times shorthanded.

London's lone penalty would give way to Purves second goal of the game as the Pacers were 1 for 1 on the powerplay, a improvement over the 0 for 11 against Windsor.

Dan Charlton had five points on the night, helping with four assists in the game. TJ Mara also added four assists in the victory.

Goalie Justin Matthews made 34 saved on 44 shots in the victory. Matthews would stop early chances at the beginning of each period, sparking the Pacers as the goalie stood tall amongst a barrage of shots on the net.

With the victory Sarnia goes to 1-1-0 on the season. Last season the Pacers were 5-14-1 including a 4-9-1 record at home. But with a 1-9-0 record on the road, the Pacers will need to improve away from Clearwater in order to advance up the Western Conference standings. With three road games coming up against Hamilton, London and Guelph, it will be two weeks before they return to the home town crowd on May 11th against Wallaceburg.

But tonight's victory at home is what the Pacers needed, as they start off their new season.