Great Scott!

by Eric Balnar, Guelphstorm.com

The Guelph Storm eliminated the London Knights for the second time this season in the final round robin game of the Mastercard Memorial Cup.

Scott Kosmachuk had a hat trick, Tyler Bertuzzi scored twice and the Storm finished the first stage of the tournament with a perfect 3-0 record after a 6-2 victory over the host London Knights.

It’s deja-vu all over again for the London, who were elminated by Guelph in the second round of the OHL Playoffs in early April.

The hostshad no answer for the offensively overpowering Storm. They finish their tournament without a win, bowing out with a disapointing 0-3 effort in front of the hoem fans.

It didn’t take long for the Storm to inflict their wrath on the Knights.

Just six minutes into the game, Brock McGinn threaded a nifty pass through traffic and on to the tape of Kosmachuk’s stick. Seconds later it was in the back of the net.

Kosmachuk struck gold again later in the first to push Guelph’s lead to two.

But the first period was not as smooth as the scoreline may suggest. Guelph faced early adversity when top-line winger Zach Mitchell received a game misconduct and a major penalty after a knee-on-knee hit with Knights forward Dakota Mermis.

The Storm fought through the ensuing five minute penalty, limiting London’s chances, and ultimitely killed off the major.

A late-period Brett Welychka strike appeared to breathe life in London’s game but Guelph used solid goaltending from Justin Nichols to keep it 2-1 after one. In total, Nichols made 45 saves to claim his 54th win of the season.

As the second period began, so did the Tyler Bertuzzi show.

The Detroit Red Wings draft pick threw hits, battled through a collision of his own and potted two goals to help sink London in the middle frame.

His first goal came on a wide shot took a strange bounce off the backboards, ricocheted off of Anthony Stolarz and in. 3-1 Guelph.

It was the last shot Stolarz saw of the season, who promptly got the hook in favour of Jake Patterson.

Then, midway through the second with Guelph up 3-2, Bertuzzi was on the wrong end of a scary looking hit by Nikita Zadorov.  Despite lying on the ground for a couple minutes, and wincing in pain on the bench, Bertuzzi returned in the biggest way possible.

Much to the dismay of the Knights crowd, Bertuzzi tore down the rink and popped in a late second period goal to suck life out of the Budweiser Gardens and put Guelph up 4-2

The period was yet another feather in the cap for Bertuzzi who is enjoying a marvelous Memorial Cup with five goals and counting. 

Just 1:20 into the third, Jason Dickinson scored on the power play to all but seal the fate of the London Knights. Kosmachuk completed the hat trick with a beautiful tip in just a few minutes later. 6-2 Guelph.

Marc Stevens added Guelph’s last goal to give us our final score. Guelph 7, London 2. A perfect round robin after a perfect result for Storm fans.

Impressively, the Storm still poured on the pressure the entire final period, never letting up, despite knowing they would be playing for the Championship on Sunday. It was another total team effort from Guelph who outscored their round robin opponents 18-7.

Guelph was largely aided by fabulous special teams play. In addition to their five minute penalty kill in the first, the Storm went 4-6 on the PP.

After a full OHL season, four rounds of playoffs and a Mastercard Memorial Cup round robin against the country’s best, the Storm have the biggest hockey game of the season looming on Sunday.

The Storm will play the winner of Friday’s semi-final between the Foreurs de Val D’Or and the Edmonton Oil Kings.  

BOX SCORE

London Knights 2 at Guelph Storm 7 – Status Final
Wednesday, May 21, 2014 – Budweiser Gardens

London 1 1 0 – 2
Guelph 2 2 3 – 7

1st Game Period-1, Guelph, Kosmachuk 1 (McGinn, Dickinson), 5:56. 2, Guelph, Kosmachuk 2 (Fabbri, Finn), 12:44 (PP). 3, London, Welychka 1 (Rupert, Domi), 17:05 (PP). Penalties-Mitchell Gue (major-kneeing, game misconduct), 6:56; Rupert Ldn (high sticking), 11:02; Bell Ldn (cross checking), 13:49; Bertuzzi Gue (diving), 13:49; served by Stevens Gue (too many men), 16:53; McCarron Ldn (roughing), 19:15; Bertuzzi Gue (roughing), 19:15.

2nd Game Period-4, Guelph, Bertuzzi 4 (Finn, McGinn), 2:23 (PP). 5, London, Anderson 1 (Marner, Austin), 5:34. 6, Guelph, Bertuzzi 5 (Dickinson), 16:05. Penalties-Rupert Ldn (slashing), 1:25; Stevens Gue (tripping), 8:58; Zadorov Ldn (tripping), 10:19; Anderson Ldn (check from behind), 19:24.

3rd Game Period-7, Guelph, Dickinson 2 (Ebert), 1:20 (PP). 8, Guelph, Kosmachuk 3 (Rychel, Fabbri), 8:01. 9, Guelph, Stevens 1 (Leslie, Trojanovic), 17:14. Penalties-Fabbri Gue (holding opp. stick), 3:00; Bell Ldn (roughing), 16:16; McCarron Ldn (high sticking), 16:16; Smith Ldn (10-minute misconduct), 16:16; Welychka Ldn (roughing), 16:16; Fabbri Gue (slashing), 16:16; Domi Ldn (slashing), 20:00.

Shots on Goal-London 15-14-18-47. Guelph 13-9-16-38.
Power Play Opportunities-London 1/4; Guelph 3/6.
Goalies-London, Stolarz 0-3-0-0 (17 shots-14 saves); Patterson 0-0-0-0 (21 shots-17 saves). Guelph, Nichols 3-0-0-0 (47 shots-45 saves).
A-8,863
Referees-Mario Maillet (21), Sean Reid (26).
Linesmen-Mike Hamilton (86), Mike Harrington (90).