Dec 25, 2010 | stottle | 938 views
Stars Hand Knights the Broom for Christmas
The minor Bantam Jr. Stars handed the London Jr. Knights the broom on Thursday night at the Western Fair with a 3-2 win in their last game of 2010. The victory earned the Stars the sweep of the home-and-home series as well as the season series against the Knights. London has lost a total of five games all season, three of which have come at the hands of the Stars. With another respectable effort, Greyson Tottle extended his undefeated streak against the Knights to five games dating back to last season.
The start of the game created some concerns for Stars fans. Bryce Kernohan was called for slashing during the first two minutes of the game although he had one hand on his stick and his blade never left the ice surface. Nonetheless, Stars penalty killers shut down the Knights power play on the early opportunity, as well as two others in the first period, to keep the game scoreless heading into the second period.
The Knights opened the scoring early in the second period with a bit of a lucky bounce. Despite good defensive coverage, the Knights drew first blood when a centering pass deflected off the blade of Knights' Jake Owen and over the shoulder of Rogie Tottle. However, less than a minute later, Josh Mallory won a face off to the left of Knights' goaltender Davis King cleanly back to Zach Smith at the blue line. Zach let go a good hard, low wrist shot which Pierce Lawrence was able to deflect past King to tie the game at 1-1. Josh Mallory was credited with the only assist on the play.
At 4:55 of the second period, our old friend Brandon Glover gave the Knights a 2-1 lead when he slammed home a loose puck from the side of the net. However, the Stars were not to be denied on this evening. Less than a minute later, Dane Jacoletti scored on a brilliant individual effort. After faking a Knights defenceman out of his jock just inside the London blue line, Dane managed to slip a wrist through the "seven hole" of Knights netminder King to tie the score at 2-2.
The Stars took the lead on a power play with 1:34 left in the second period. After losing an offensive zone face off, Jesse Tottle was able to corral a loose puck in the corner and feed Josh Reda, who was parked on the doorstep, for an easy slam dunk and a 3-2 Stars lead.
The Stars continued to play solid, positional hockey throughout the third period which prevented the Knights from generating any sustained offensive pressure. The Stars were able to kill off a late penalty and held on for a gritty, well-deserved 3-2 win.
Game Notes: For the past four games, the Stars have emphasized the unique and novel idea of thinking while on the ice. It was always frustrating to watch the players seemingly disregard what they have been taught in practice and talked about before the game. Being able to read and react to situations has been the team's new focus and it appears to be paying dividends. Perhaps the coach should have been thinking about this idea earlier in the season....the Knights game was temporarily under protest as MicMacs post-game urine sample was found to have high levels of Sudafed. After reviewing the regulations however, the appeal was denied....The Stars remain undefeated with Michael on defence....It is still uncertain whether the Stars will receive a bye in the first round of the playdowns...Not sure if we want one...Hope everyone had a good Christmas...Until next time, keep your stick on the ice and keep reaching for the Stars.