Knights take pounding

ERIE, Pa. — Brad Boyes may have been robbed r of a goal Thursday night in London, but last night the Erie Otters’ slick r centre got that back and with plenty of interest. r

Boyes scored four times — twice while short-handed — as the Otters r sunk the Knights 8-1 before a capacity crowd of 5,540 at Tullio Arena. r

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The game deteriorated into a line-brawl with 1:37 remaining, but it r already was a disaster for the Knights as the Otters scored four straight r short-handed goals — two in the second period, then two to begin the r third — for a 6-1 lead.

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The Knights need a win tonight at the Ice House to keep from drowning r in these OHL playoffs. The Otters lead the best-of-seven Western r Conference semifinal 3-2.

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Boyes had scored eight minutes into the third period in Game 4 on r Thursday, but referee Scott Hutchinson missed it. That would have given r the Otters a 4-3 lead. The Knights instead won 4-3 in overtime.

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“Thursday I was pretty upset but I wasn’t playing well in the series r and all day today I felt good,” said Boyes, the 2000 Toronto Maple Leafs r first-round draft pick.

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“Everywhere in the papers you would read about the goal but you can’t r worry about it . . . just worry about what you do well.”

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Scoring is something Boyes does well. He leads playoff scoring with 11 r goals and 12 assists in 10 games and has a playoff-leading four r short-handed markers.

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“He was on a mission tonight,” Otters coach Dave MacQueen said. “He was r very upset about what happened in Game 4 and wanted to take things into r his own hands.

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“We know what type of kid he is. He was told by Toronto, depending on r what happened over the next month and a half, he could be pencilled into r St. John’s (of the AHL) or Toronto. I think he’s showing where he wants r the pencil to be.”

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The Knights know after last night they have to sharpen up if they’re to r come back.

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“Four short-handed goals. It’s a tough loss for us,” said captain Danny r Bois.

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The Knights dressing room was a little more spirited than one might r think it would be following a whooping.

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“They’re all talking about the brawl,” Bois said. “We know we have a r game to play (tonight) and it’s a must win, obviously, so the guys are r trying to forget about this as quick as they can.

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“We’re going to have to find a way to forget this. We’ve got to be r focused.”

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The Knights’ Logan Hunter and goalie Jan Chovan, who’d replaced starter r Chris Houle for the third period, were ejected for their roles in the r brawl, along with Erie’s Mike McKeown. The teams will pay $100 to buy back r each of the suspensions.

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“We were expecting it,” MacQueen said., “It was pretty obvious. r (Enforcer Chris) Bain gets a regular shift from the second period on, but r they have to live with how they want to play.”

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Knights coach Dale Hunter was short with his postgame remarks. When r asked about the four straight short-handed goals, he replied: “Was there? r I didn’t even notice.”

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Hunter said he’d already parked the rout and figured his players will r have no trouble doing the same.

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“It’s hockey. It’s one game in a series. Whether you get beat 1-0, 7-1 r or 20-1, it’s still one game in a series,” he said.

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The Knights were fortunate to escape from the first period tied 1-1. r The Otters had a half-dozen solid scoring chances in the opening five r minutes, and that was after Boyes scored just 18 seconds in.

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Rick Nash tied it for the Knights with his ninth goal of the playoffs r on a power play at 13:19. It was his playoff-leading sixth power-play r goal.

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Then came the second period and three Erie goals — one on the power r play, then two short-handed.

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Then the third period, and four more — two short-handed, followed up r by two power-play goals.

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“They were flying and we couldn’t slow them down,” Bois said.

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GAME GLANCE

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Otters 8, Knights 1

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Series: Erie leads the best-of-seven OHL Western Conference r semifinal 3-2

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London goal: Rick Nash

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Erie goals: Brad Boyes four, including two short-handed, Scott r Dobben two, both short-handed, Sean Courtney and Chris Martin

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Next: Game 6 is tonight at the Ice House at 8 p.m.; there are r 150 unclaimed season tickets and 300 standing-room tickets that go on sale r at 10 a.m.; phone 681-0800