Knights defeat Sea Dogs 5-3
SHAWINIGAN, Saturday, May 19, 2012 – Vladislav Namestnikov scored two of the Knights’ five goals, leading the way in a 5-3 victory over the defending MasterCard Memorial Cup champions in front of over 4,500 fans at the Bionest Centre.
The Sea Dogs registered the first shorthanded goal of the tournament at 1:37 of the opening frame. Charles-Olivier Roussel blasted a bullet past goaltender Michael Houser while Jonathan Huberdeau was serving a two-minute penalty.
The Knights were awarded two additional power-plays but failed to capitalize. The story was different five-on-five as Max Domi registered his first goal of the MasterCard Memorial Cup at 14:11. Then, London took the lead with a Vladislav Namestnikov marker off a redirection.
Both clubs traded scoring chances in the first half of the second period, but Houser and Corbeil stood tall. Seth Griffith put the Knights up by a pair when he buried the puck in a wide open net following a fat rebound at 12:41.
Saint John added another shorthanded goal before the end of the second period. Jonathan Huberdeau slapped the puck towards Houser from just inside the blue line. The puck took a strange bounce before it found the back of the net.
In the third period, London retook a two-goal lead at 11:49. Defenseman Pierre Durepos committed a costly turnover behind his own net as he lost the puck to Ryan Rupert who fed Austin Watson in the slot.
The Sea Dogs battled back just over a minute later. Ryan Tesink pushed the puck in the net to cut the lead to one.
Unfortunately for the Sea Dogs, Jonathan Huberdeau received a double-minor with two minutes to go and Vladislav Namestnikov recorded his second goal of the game to seal the deal.
Austin Watson was named the game’s first star.
Game three of the 2012 MasterCard Memorial Cup goes tomorrow as the London Knights take on the host Shawinigan Cataractes live on Sportsnet and TVA Sports starting at 7 pm ET.