Anthony Stolarz has his second wind.
The London Knights goalie, who ran out of gas in the OHL final, got the net back after a nine-day hiatus and backstopped the OHL champs to a 3-2 Memorial Cup-opening 3-2 win before 10,203 Friday night at the Credit Union Centre.
Jake Patterson won the final three games of the league final against Barrie. But he had the flu this week and the Knights weren't about to roll the dice with a hungry, rested goalie behind him ready to go.
“I think the break did me well,” said the 19-year-old Stolarz, who stopped every Blade but 47-goal overager Josh Nicholls. “Going from eight games in the first half (at the University of Nebraska-Omaha) to 38 in the second half, it takes a toll on your body and I was pretty much conditioned for a (38-40-game) college season.
“They (the coaches) told me (Thursday before practice) to get in a mental state (to play). I was ready for it and it was exciting to get the win. It was all I could've dreamed of and a good start to the tournament.”
He's not tuckered out anymore.
The 6-foot-6 puckstopper from Jackson, N.J., beat Saskatoon's world junior Andrey Makarov. The 20-year-old Russian was sensational at the other end but surrendered the third-period winner to countryman Nikita Zadorov on the Knights' lone power-play goal in six chances.
Zadorov, a likely NHL first-round pick this summer, snuck off the point and hammered home what London coach Dale Hunter called an uncontrollable rebound of captain Scott Harrington's point shot.
“There's no strategy or anything – Nik did a great job noticing he had space to move down and I know for a fact the puck was bouncing,” Harrington said. “First (Lonodon power play) unit, they work the puck around pretty well and rightfully so, they get the prettier goals.
“I know Nik and I go out there and we just try to put pucks on the net.”
The Knights struggled to hold leads in the OHL final against Barrie and often throughout their playoffs.
“We were worried about mistakes,” Zadorov said. “Here, we just played. It went well.”
They slammed the door this time.
“We lost a few leads to Barrie and everyone thinks you can't hold a lead,” Dale Hunter said, “but it's one of those things where kids are playing and they did a good job blocking shots late in the game.”
The Knights improved to 3-0 all-time in Cup openers. They have earned at least the right to play a tiebreaker game next Thursday.
The Blades, who played their first game after a 51-day layoff, will have to eke out a victory against either high-octane Halifax or powerful Portland to stay in the tournament.
“We did prove to a lot of doubters we are for real,” Saskatoon forward Lukas Sutter said. “We are here for good. There's two other teams that took notice. I think it would've been real good for us to get more pucks to the net.
“He (Stolarz) is a big guy. He doesn't move too well.”
He moved better than he had in the last two weeks.
The Knights net belongs to him again.
He dug in late after the London power play struggled early and couldn't capitalize, including a two-man advantage for 54 seconds in the second period. Hunter used its timeout then, used a four-forward set-up, but couldn't increase a one-goal lead.
That big kill provided Saskatoon with a spark and they tied it.
“We had some chances,” Hunter said. “You definitely want it better. You want to go perfect (on the power play) but it doesn't happen.
“We scored a big goal at the right time.”
And now, the Knights are in good shape.
They have their starting goalie and know they can lock down a game late.
Those were their two biggest worries when the plane landed here on Wednesday.
--- --- ---
Knights 3, Blades 2
London goals: Brett Welychka, Seth Griffith, Nikita Zadorov
Saskatoon goals: Josh Nicholls (2)
Next: The Halifax Mooseheads and Portland Winterhawks play Saturday, 7 p.m. (ET).
ryan.pyette@sunmedia.ca
Twitter.com/RyanatLFPress
Source:http://londonhub.blogspot.com/2013/05/change-text-size-for-story-london-free.html
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