Top line terrorizes Knights in big win
Tyler Bertuzzi sets a new franchise record by recording a 7-point game in 9-4 win over London
by Matt Pelkey
Just when they needed them the most, the Guelph Storm’s top line trio of Tyler Bertuzzi, Robby Fabbri, and Pius Suter came up big.
Struggling to find goals as of late, Guelph exploded for five goals in the first period and never looked back, en route to a 9-4 victory over the rival London Knights Sunday afternoon at the Sleeman Centre.
The story of the game was the Storm’s top line trio, who combined for eight goals and 10 assists for 18 points in a win that saw the Storm break a three-game losing streak.
Tyler Bertuzzi led the way with seven points (2+5) and set a new franchise record for points in a game, eclipsing the previous record of six. Fabbri and Suter each scored a hat-trick while Ben Harpur added a single. Fabbri and Suter finished with six points (3+3) and 5 points (3+2) respectively.
Zac Leslie (0+3), Harpur (1+2), and Phil Baltisberger (0+2) also had multiple-point games.
Michael McCarron and Mitchell Marner each scored twice for London, who saw an eight-game win streak snapped.
For a Guelph team that averages just 2.33 goals for per game at home, the scoring started fast and happened often.
Suter opened the scoring seven minutes into the opening frame when he banged home his own rebound to give Guelph a 1-0 lead, comforting the home fans as the Storm are 3-2-0-0 so far this season at home when scoring first.
The Knights’ Marner would tie the game right back up less than two minutes later on a London 5-on-3 power play when he ripped a shot from the slot past Storm goaltender Justin Nichols.
From that point on, the game got a little wild.
On a four-minute Guelph power play thanks to a high stick on Marc Stevens, Suter pounded home his second of the game and team-leading 14th of the season.
On the same power play, Fabbri would get in on the scoring when he fired a shot past the Knights’ Michael Giugovaz after receiving a feed from Bertuzzi behind the net.
London kept it interesting, though, when Marner scored his second of the game just over a minute later on a power play of their own.
18 seconds later, Bertuzzi would restore the two-goal Guelph lead when he banged home a Fabbri rebound. He would score his second of the game under three minutes later when he redirected a Ben Harpur point shot on another Storm power play.
Guelph headed to the intermission with a 5-2 lead after an outburst of first period goals that saw its top-line combination of Fabbri, Suter, and Bertuzzi with all five goals. They also outshot the Knights 18-9 in the opening frame.
The second period started off with two Guelph power plays in the first five minutes of the period but failed to capitalize to extend their three-goal lead.
With Tyler Parsons taking over in goal for London, the Knights would make the most of the power plays they got midway through the period.
McCarron scored on back-to-back London power plays just 44 seconds apart to get the Knights within one. Both teams continued to put pucks on the net and create scoring chances almost by the minute.
Fabbri would bury his second goal of the game on a 5-on-3 power play one-timer when he finished on a beautiful passing play with Bertuzzi and Suter. Guelph would go into the second intermission with a comfortable 6-4 lead.
The third period saw more domination from the home team.
On yet another Storm power play seven minutes into the third period, Fabbri would complete the hat-trick when the puck redirected off Parsons pad directly onto the stick Fabbri where he potted it into an open net. The goal provided the Storm with a 7-4 advantage.
Then, Bertuzzi sprung Suter on a breakaway where he faked the London netminder with a series of dekes before sliding the puck into the net on his backhand to give Guelph a four-goal lead.
The Storm would increase the lead to five when Harpur fired home a slap shot from the point. The goal was Guelph’s sixth power play goal of the game, somewhat impressive as the team entered the game with just a 12.5% efficiency rate with the man advantage.
Guelph dominated the game from start to finish and got back in the win column with a 9-4 victory over the Knights.
The Storm’s record improved to 9-7-0-1 while London dropped to 12-7-0-0.
Guelph is on the road for three games next weekend when they make the trip to Kingston, Belleville and Ottawa. They return home on Friday, November 21 to face the Plymouth Whalers at 7:30 PM.
GAME NOTES
– The Storm snapped a 3-game losing streak while snapping London’s 8-game win streak.
– Tyler Bertuzzi recorded a single-game career-high 7 points. He also set a new franchise record for points in a game by a single player.
– Top Line Terror: The top line of Robby Fabbri, Pius Suter, and Bertuzzi combined for 18 points.
– Guelph went 6-for-12 on the PP (50%).
– Matthew Hotchkiss made his return to the lineup after missing the last 4 games as he was representing Canada at the U-17 World Hockey Championships in Sarnia, ON.
– Captain Jason Dickinson missed his 3rd straight game with the flu while James McEwan and Tyler Boston were also out with injuries.
– The Storm wore special Remembrance Day jerseys for today’s game. The jerseys will be available for auction Nov. 10 with all proceeds going to Guelph’s John McCrae statue.
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London Knights 4 at Guelph Storm 9 – Status: In Progress (2:13 remaining in 3rd)
Sunday, November 9, 2014 – Sleeman Centre
London 2 2 0 – 4
Guelph 5 1 3 – 9
1st Period-1, Guelph, Suter 12 (Fabbri, Leslie), 6:57. 2, London, Marner 12 (Domi, Giugovaz), 8:27 (PP). 3, Guelph, Suter 13 (Harpur, Bertuzzi), 12:22 (PP). 4, Guelph, Fabbri 6 (Bertuzzi, Baltisberger), 13:20 (PP). 5, London, Marner 13 (Rupert), 14:26. 6, Guelph, Bertuzzi 7 (Fabbri), 14:44. 7, Guelph, Bertuzzi 8 (Harpur, Leslie), 17:29 (PP). Penalties-Bertuzzi Gue (hooking), 3:11; Suter Gue (high sticking), 7:42; Harpur Gue (slashing), 8:08; Klima Ldn (high sticking, high sticking), 11:35; Crawley Ldn (slashing), 16:40.
2nd Period-8, London, McCarron 7 (Domi, Dvorak), 9:03 (PP). 9, London, McCarron 8 (Domi, Marner), 9:47 (PP). 10, Guelph, Fabbri 7 (Bertuzzi, Suter), 15:34 (PP). Penalties-McCarron Ldn (check to the head), 0:45; Crawley Ldn (high sticking), 4:03; Harpur Gue (boarding), 7:24; Stevens Gue (high sticking), 9:36; Bertuzzi Gue (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 13:27; Marner Ldn (tripping), 13:34; Bergman Ldn (holding), 14:50; Mete Ldn (delay of game), 15:42; Craievich Gue (closing hand on puck), 17:04.
3rd Period-11, Guelph, Fabbri 8 (Suter, Leslie), 7:30 (PP). 12, Guelph, Suter 14 (Bertuzzi, Baltisberger), 14:59. 13, Guelph, Harpur 3 (Fabbri, Bertuzzi), 16:19 (PP). Penalties-Bergman Ldn (high sticking), 6:04; Valentini Ldn (roughing), 9:09; Suter Gue (high sticking), 10:48; Mete Ldn (check from behind), 15:09; Valentini Ldn (roughing), 18:03; Stevens Gue (roughing), 18:03.
Shots on Goal-London 8-11-10-29. Guelph 17-10-12-39.
Power Play Opportunities-London 3 / 9; Guelph 6 / 12.
Goalies-London, Giugovaz 9-2-0-0 (17 shots-12 saves); Parsons 3-4-0-0 (22 shots-18 saves). Guelph, Nichols 7-5-0-1 (29 shots-25 saves).
A-4,343
Referees-Scott Oakman (23), Ryan Carroll (9).
Linesmen-Dave Pfohl (96), Dustin McCrank (68).
3 Stars
3) GUE Pius Suter (2g, 3a)
2) GUE Robby Fabbri (3g, 3a)
1) GUE Tyler Bertuzzi (2g, 5a)
