Whalers even series against London knights
Apr 21st, 2013
The London Knights lost at home for the first time these playoffs. The Plymouth Whalers came into town Sunday afternoon, and took a 4-3 victory in double overtime, thanks in part to a Rickard Rakell winner and a Tom Wilson hat trick.
Three times, they took the lead in regulation. Three times, the Whalers found a reply.
"It was end to end," said Whalers GM and head coach Mike Vellucci. "I thought our guys dug deep and when we got down, we kept battling."
Plymouth went into overtime with just one goal on the powerplay this series, Tom Wilson's second of the afternoon, but found the winner on the powerplay as well, after London's Alex Broadhurst was penalized for a hooking call midway through double overtime.
"Good bounces," said Whalers forward Tom Wilson. "I didn't come in here expecting a hat trick. I was trying to play for the guys but got a few lucky bounces."
The game was end to end, riddled with penalties to both sides. Bo Horvat, Chris Tierney and Max Domi scored for London, Tierney and Domi finding the net on the power play. In net, Alex Nedeljkovic was solid, making 61 saves.
"I'll have to watch the tape again on the way home to see how many grade A saves he had," added Vellucci. "He made some pretty big saves."
"All the guys like him," added Tom Wilson. "He's a pretty quiet kid. He's grounded and we respect that. Hopefully, we're giving him everything he needs to make the saves."
Vellucci did not resist a jab at referees for the second too many men penalty against his team in overtime.
"One of them was a good call, one of them was a terrible call.," he said. "The first one, one of our defencemen turned the puck over at their blueline and we didn't get a good change. The other one? I have no idea why he made that call."
For the Knights, they now are in never before seen territories this post season. They head into game three tied at one game a piece. "We'll regroup tomorrow, watch some video to look for things to improve on from this afternoon's game," said captain Scott Harrington.
In addition to giving up the lead thrice, the Knights failed to capitalize on three power play opportunities in overtime.
“If you don’t score on the power play, that’s a killer in overtime,” said Knights goalie Anthony Stolarz. “If you get an opportunity, you’ve got to bear down and score a goal.”
On the positive side for London, Plymouth forward Vincent Trocheck is pointless in this series.
Knights head coach Dale Hunter also confirmed that forward Matt Rupert will not play in the next two games at least. Rupert is still out with a lower body injury.
Game three of this Western Conference series goes down Tuesday evening in Plymouth. Puck drop is at 7:05 pm
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The London Knights lost at home for the first time these playoffs. The Plymouth Whalers came into town Sunday afternoon, and took a 4-3 victory in double overtime, thanks in part to a Rickard Rakell winner and a Tom Wilson hat trick.
Three times, they took the lead in regulation. Three times, the Whalers found a reply.
"It was end to end," said Whalers GM and head coach Mike Vellucci. "I thought our guys dug deep and when we got down, we kept battling."
Plymouth went into overtime with just one goal on the powerplay this series, Tom Wilson's second of the afternoon, but found the winner on the powerplay as well, after London's Alex Broadhurst was penalized for a hooking call midway through double overtime.
"Good bounces," said Whalers forward Tom Wilson. "I didn't come in here expecting a hat trick. I was trying to play for the guys but got a few lucky bounces."
The game was end to end, riddled with penalties to both sides. Bo Horvat, Chris Tierney and Max Domi scored for London, Tierney and Domi finding the net on the power play. In net, Alex Nedeljkovic was solid, making 61 saves.
"I'll have to watch the tape again on the way home to see how many grade A saves he had," added Vellucci. "He made some pretty big saves."
"All the guys like him," added Tom Wilson. "He's a pretty quiet kid. He's grounded and we respect that. Hopefully, we're giving him everything he needs to make the saves."
Vellucci did not resist a jab at referees for the second too many men penalty against his team in overtime.
"One of them was a good call, one of them was a terrible call.," he said. "The first one, one of our defencemen turned the puck over at their blueline and we didn't get a good change. The other one? I have no idea why he made that call."
For the Knights, they now are in never before seen territories this post season. They head into game three tied at one game a piece. "We'll regroup tomorrow, watch some video to look for things to improve on from this afternoon's game," said captain Scott Harrington.
In addition to giving up the lead thrice, the Knights failed to capitalize on three power play opportunities in overtime.
“If you don’t score on the power play, that’s a killer in overtime,” said Knights goalie Anthony Stolarz. “If you get an opportunity, you’ve got to bear down and score a goal.”
On the positive side for London, Plymouth forward Vincent Trocheck is pointless in this series.
Knights head coach Dale Hunter also confirmed that forward Matt Rupert will not play in the next two games at least. Rupert is still out with a lower body injury.
Game three of this Western Conference series goes down Tuesday evening in Plymouth. Puck drop is at 7:05 pm
Back to Sports Stories