Paying the price

In the first two games, the Knights have been short on guys willing to go to the difficult areas.
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By RYAN PYETTE, SUN MEDIA
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There’s a price to be paid for driving to the net in the OHL playoffs.
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Ask London Knights forward Justin Taylor.
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He has scratches on his face. He’s dropped the mitts. He’s leading the league in postwhistle pushing and shoving.
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The big Guelph Storm defence don’t want him in the grill of goalie Thomas McCollum fishing for rebounds. They’re letting him know it.
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But the Knights have been short on guys willing to go to the difficult areas for rebounds and screens. That has to change in Game 3 tonight at 7 p.m. at the John Labatt Centre.
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rRight now, they need more Justin Taylors.
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“I’m trying to get the (Guelph defence) thinking about me instead of what they’re trying to do out there,” the 19-year-old Londoner said. “I’m trying to get in their faces and stir things up. It’s not easy to go to the net in the playoffs. It’s been a physical series so far and they have big defencemen but I’m letting them know we’re not going to be pushed around. We’re going to be physical right back.”
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Taylor thinks the Knights were too tentative in the first two games. But he also believes this series is just getting started.
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“We looked nervous,” the Washington Capitals draft pick said. “But we can’t play tight. It takes four games to win a series, not two. Things haven’t gone our way but there’s time to change it.
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“There’s pride involved. No one wants to be on a Knights team that loses in the first round.”
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That hasn’t happened since 2001 — right before Taylor started playing on the Junior Knights with London native and Storm star Drew Doughty. The defenceman has killed his hometown team at both ends of the ice and has been involved in a swirl of controversy.
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“You don’t have to do anything that special against him,” Taylor said. “You just can’t give him time and room with the puck. We have to limit that.”
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The Knights are still upset Doughty wasn’t penalized for an errant stick that cost Akim Aliu six teeth in Game 1. They’re also annoyed by a non-call they thought led to Doughty’s goal in Game 2 — a tying tally that jump-started the Storm attack.
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“We thought there should’ve been an icing there but it was waved off,” said Knights assistant coach Pat Curcio. “We dumped it down and made a change. It went past their bench but the linesman waved it off, saying he thought Guelph could’ve played it. It was three feet off the ice — I don’t know how anyone could’ve played it — but it wasn’t called, Doughty brought it back and scored.”
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By scoring just three times in two games, London has forced over-age goalie Jhase Sniderman to be near-perfect. He’s been generally solid but faltered at the wrong times — the flukey bounce in overtime of Game 1 and on Guelph’s go-ahead and insurance goals in Game 2.
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“Any goalie, you get sticks and bodies in front of him and he’s going to have trouble and give up rebounds,” said Knights veteran Jadran Beljo. “We have to do that to (McCollum). Get in front of him and the rebounds will be there.”
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Sean O’Connor beat McCollum for a winning goal three weeks ago by heading to the crease and banging home a loose puck. Beljo scored the opening goal of the series the same way — by heading to the slot.
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“The beautiful part of a series like this is you can have a couple of bad games at the start and still come back and win,” Beljo said. “We have to play loose, same as in the regular season. It’s not about trying to keep our careers alive. I’ve been in this league five years. I went to the Eastern Conference final in my second year (2004-05 with Peterborough). I want a championship before I leave.”
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Before that happens, his teammates all have to get on the same page — and in front of the net.
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KNIGHTWATCH
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Knights vs. Storm
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(Guelph leads OHL best-of-seven Western quarter-final 2-0.)
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Game 3: Tonight, 7 p.m. at the John Labatt Centre.
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Game 4: Thursday, 7 p.m. at Guelph.
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Game 5: Friday, 7:30 p.m. at the John Labatt Centre, if necessary.
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Tickets: Some season-ticket holder seats went unclaimed for tonight’s game and are now available for purchase. Call (519) 681-0800 or visit www.londonknights.com for more information.