LONDON, Ont. – The Guelph Storm beat the Edmonton Oil Kings at their own game.
The Oil Kings called on an old friend – momentum – using it as a driving force early in the second period, only to see it betray them in a 5-2 loss in each team’s MasterCard Memorial Cup opener. Momentum came hand in hand with lady luck and a bounce that led to the Storm’s tying goal in the strangest of circumstances.
Recognizing Edmonton forward Mads Eller had his head down with the puck on his stick during a penalty kill, Kerby Rychel stepped in front of his clearing attempt and the puck ricocheted off the Storm player and Oil Kings goalie Tristan Jarry on the way into the open cage.
“I had seen his head was kind of down and he was obviously trying to put it out,” Rychel said. “I just got in front of it and tried to knock it down.
“The guys were kind of joking, but I’ll definitely take it.”
With the game tied and momentum swinging Guelph’s way, Brock McGinn and Tyler Bertuzzi provided the additional fireworks with three goals in the final 26 minutes.
“It’s tough,” Oil Kings captain Griffin Reinhart said, “but you can’t blame anybody on that. It’s just one of those bounces that happens.”
Why the Storm won: The puck was bouncing the Storm’s way on their first two goals. On Rychel’s first goal, a point shot hit an Oil King defender and sat in the slot, where Rychel corralled it, turned and shot in one swift motion.
After gaining momentum on Rychel’s second goal, the Storm were like sharks to blood in water, preying on an Oil Kings’ group whose confidence was waning.
“It was some bonehead mistakes and some penalties that cost us,” Reinhart said.
The Storm were the more aggressive team after weathering an early storm from the Oil Kings, who were looking to assert physical dominance right from puck drop. Their depth came into play as the game wore on – the Oil Kings looked gassed in the third period while the Storm took over and never looked back.
Bertuzzi provided the first dagger with a solo rush early in the third period before adding another for the 5-2 lead.
Why the Oil Kings lost: The problem with being a team that feeds off momentum is trying to keep it when you’re playing through two additional television timeouts. The Oil Kings had it and promptly lost it after the first break in the second period.
The Storm scored the tying goal on a power play shortly after the first TV timeout of the second period. Momentum changed sides on Rychel’s second goal and never went back to the Western Hockey League champs.
The Oil Kings also ran into some trouble when they tried exiting their zone. Known for the havoc they wreak on their opposition with a turnover-inducing, quick-transition forecheck, the Oil Kings tasted their own medicine. The Storm forwards swarmed the defenders and created a lot of offensive opportunities by pressuring the puck carrier.
Bertuzzi’s second goal – Guelph’s fifth of the night – was a direct result of their puck pressure. Ryan Horvat pinned the puck carrier to the boards at the Edmonton blueline, freeing up the puck for his teammates who would take it and score the decisive goal.
“We have to realize it’s not a seven-game series, it’s one game against each team and I think if we learn from that, we’ll be better,” Reinhart said.
Player of the Game: Bertuzzi was a thorn in the Oil Kings’ sides all game long. In addition to scoring the two prettiest goals of the game, he answered Edmonton’s physical bell, throwing his weight around when the Oil Kings were trying to establish the trenches from the outset. His two goals later killed any chance of a comeback.
Quote of the day: Guelph head coach Scott Walker felt his team was nervous at the beginning of the game. He liked what he saw from his players who fought through adversity once the Oil Kings had taken the lead.
“I will say I like the resilience of the bench,” he said. “We weren’t getting frustrated, we were sticking to the game plan and nobody was slamming doors or breaking sticks so I felt good about that.”