London Knights 8 vs. Owen Sound Attack 2

Friday, November 06, 2009

Knights prevail in wild battle

By RYAN PYETTE

The winning goal was a wacky one.

Fitting, in fact, for such a bizarre night.

Nazem Kadri was just killing a second-period penalty when the puck went in the Owen Sound corner. Attack defenceman Jesse Blacker and goalie Jordan Binnington collided. They both fell down.

"You see that, I know the goalie's out and I just tried to fire it as hard as I could," said Kadri, who zipped a bad-angle effort off defender Geoffrey Schemitsch's glove in the crease with enough mustard to get over the goal line.

Instant backbreaker. The revived Knights stormed on to an 8-2 win before 9,064 at the John Labatt Centre.

But first, things got weird.

Kadri got a roughing penalty during the post-goal celebration. He ran into Owen Sound overager Marcus Carroll.

Awkward tally. Odd penalty.

"I saw him (Carroll) coming and initiated contact," said Kadri, who added his 10th goal this season later in the third period. "I'm a vet in this league and I can't take a penalty like that. It put us down five-on-three.

"It was needless."

There was a lot of sit-down time in a marathon match filled with post-whistle scrums, fights and early exits.

Zac Rinaldo earned back-to-back 10-minute misconducts in the first two periods. He was nailed again for the infamous improperly worn mouthguard infraction.

The ref who called Rinaldo on it --veteran Matt Parlette -- didn't return for the second period. He had been vilified by London fans early for that and other unpopular penalty calls. But he felt light-headed during the first intermission and was taken by ambulance to Victoria Hospital as a precautionary measure.

"He's part of our league and we treat him just like one of our players, with the utmost concern," London assistant GM Jim McKellar said. "He was examined by our medical personnel and it was decided that he shouldn't continue."

Dave Koziel went solo the final two periods.

Parlette's condition caused a considerable post-intermission delay.

"We were ready to go," Kadri said, "but we had to wait. We didn't do much (in the room). Just sat around."

The Attack know what's that like.

A while back, they went on a road trip to Erie for a Saturday night game. On the way back, they hit the Buffalo border and the driver turned off the bus after seeing a No Idling sign. It wouldn't start again.

They spent much of the night in the bus bay and didn't get back to Owen Sound until 1 p.m. the following day.

If they didn't have bad luck, they'd have no luck at all.

But Owen Sound, no matter how it's rolling, rarely wins in London. This was the latest in a long list of odd JLC losses.

Last month, they helped the London power-play look good.

This time, the chippy nature of the game might have helped the Knights bond as a club.

Time after time, London players rushed to the defence of fallen or wronged teammates. Kadri and Phil McRae, the top two scorers, got in fights.

That kind of grit was evident as much last year.

"That's what winning teams do," Kadri said. "You stick up for each other."

And sometimes, you steal their thunder. Kadri has scored in five straight games.vHis rookie linemate Michael MacDonald has potted goals in four in a row now. The Knights are 9-1 at home, but there could be a few tweaks on the way.

Sault Ste. Marie GM Davie Torrie and scout Peter Sljivic were at the JLC watching the action.

A few weeks back, London GM Mark Hunter was in Kitchener to catch the Rangers and Greyhounds game. The 'Hounds have some veteran defencemen, including overage captain Jake Muzzin from Woodstock.

Might a deal be in the works?

SHOTS
Owen Sound Attack - 33
London Knights - 45

SCORING
1. OS McGee, (2) (Doan), 5:04
1. LDN MacDonald, (4) (Ekelund, Kadri), 10:39
2. LDN Salters, (6) (Knight, Varone), 4:17 (PP)
2. OS Wilson, (6) (Doczy, Shipley), 9:31 (PP)
2. LDN Kadri, (9) , 14:46 (SH)
2. LDN Erlich, (5) , 17:32
3. LDN Varone, (3) (Harrington), 1:40
3. LDN Taylor, (6) (Varone), 4:43
3. LDN Kadri, (10) (Erlich, Tarasuk), 13:43
3. LDN Taylor, (7) (MacDonald), 15:22

PENALTIES
1 - LDN Hunter, 2:29 - Interference , 2 min (PP)
1 - LDN Hunter, 7:47 - High Sticking , 2 min (PP)
1 - OS Doczy, 9:18 - Slashing , 2 min
1 - LDN Rinaldo, 9:18 - Unsportsmanlike Cnd. , 2 min
1 - LDN Rinaldo, 9:18 - Misc-Mouth Guard (9.9), 0 min
1 - OS McGurk, 13:35 - Cross Checking , 2 min
1 - LDN Martin, 13:35 - Diving , 2 min
1 - OS Doczy, 15:14 - High Sticking , 2 min (PP)
1 - LDN Served By Martin, 18:53 - Too Many Men , 2 min (PP)
2 - OS McGurk, 1:18 - Instigator , 2 min (PP)
2 - OS McGurk, 1:18 - Fighting , 5 min
2 - OS McGurk, 1:18 - 10-Min. Misc. , 0 min
2 - LDN Kadri, 1:18 - Fighting , 5 min
2 - OS Doan, 4:07 - Inter. on Goaltender , 2 min (PP)
2 - OS Doczy, 4:43 - Cross Checking , 2 min (PP)
2 - OS Carroll, 5:23 - Slashing , 2 min (PP)
2 - LDN Rinaldo, 8:09 - Roughing , 2 min (PP)
2 - LDN Rinaldo, 8:09 - Misc-Abuse of Off. (40.4), 0 min
2 - LDN D'Orazio, 12:09 - Cross Checking , 2 min (PP)
2 - LDN Martin, 14:31 - Too Many Men , 2 min (PP)
2 - LDN Kadri, 14:46 - Roughing , 2 min (PP)
2 - OS Carroll, 20:00 - Roughing , 2 min
2 - LDN D'Orazio, 20:00 - Roughing , 2 min
3 - OS Doczy, 1:36 - Check from Behind , 2 min
3 - OS Doczy, 1:36 - Fighting , 5 min
3 - LDN McRae, 1:36 - Instigator , 2 min
3 - LDN McRae, 1:36 - Fighting , 5 min
3 - LDN McRae, 1:36 - 10-Min. Misc. , 0 min
3 - OS Blacker, 4:18 - Check from Behind , 2 min
3 - LDN Rinaldo, 4:18 - Roughing , 2 min
3 - LDN Varone, 4:43 - 10-Min. Misc. , 0 min
3 - OS Doan, 10:20 - 10-Min. Misc. , 0 min
3 - LDN Salters, 10:20 - 10-Min. Misc. , 0 min
3 - OS Wilson, 12:14 - 10-Min. Misc. , 0 min
3 - LDN D'Orazio, 12:14 - 10-Min. Misc. , 0 min

OWEN SOUND ATTACK GOALIES
31 Binnington, Jordan Goals Against: 8 Mins: 60:00 Shots: 45 Saves: 37 PIM: 0
40 Stajcer, Scott Goals Against: - Mins: - Shots: - Saves: - PIM: -

LONDON KNIGHTS GOALIES
29 Houser, Michael GA: - MIN: - SH: - SV: - PIM: -
41 Hutchinson, Michael GA: 2 MIN: 60:00 SH: 33 SV: 31 PIM: 0

THREE STARS
1. LDN - 91 Nazem Kadri
2. LDN - 71 Phil Varone
3. LDN - 27 Michael MacDonald

ICE OFFICIALS
Dave Koziel (8), Referee
Matt Parlette (11), Referee
Ryan Park (67), Linesman
Glenn Anderson (97), Linesman

OFF-ICE OFFICIALS
Dean Johnson, Score Keeper
Brian Rooke, Online Scorekeeper
John McInerney, Goal Judge 1
Dave Longfield, Goal Judge 2
Dave Whaley, Video Goal Judge

ARENA
John Labatt Centre
Attendance: 9064
Start: 7:36 PM
End: 10:12 PM
Length: 2:36