Wednesday night’s 9-1-1 First Responders game against Sarnia was definitely an event you did not want to miss. Eight seconds into the game Riley MacRae scored his 22nd goal of the season assisted by Killborne and Davis to put the Nationals in a quick lead. Four and a half minutes later, the game saw its first penalty, a slashing call on Max Daerendinger of Sarnia putting the Nationals on the power play. London was able to capitalize with a great setup pass across the net by Christian Polillo to Zach Speedy for a tap-in goal at 5:24. The Nationals scoring did not stop there, as great puck movement in Sarnia’s zone sent the puck up to Noah Tooke for a point shot to put them in a strong 3-0 lead at 8:58. Sarnia reacted quickly with a goal by Nolan DeGurse from the left circle a minute later putting them on the board. However, this did not stop the Nationals momentum. A beautiful pass behind the net by Cal Davis to Christian Polillo for an easy tap-in at 11:02 retained the Nationals three-goal lead. Sarnia was able to quickly turn around just 11 seconds later with a goal by Joseph Ferrera to make the score 4-2 for the Nationals. Shortly after, Colin Wilson of the Nationals got a tripping call, the first penalty of the game for them at 11:56. However, the penalty kill did not stop London’s momentum as a turnover by Sarnia deep in their zone brought Max Vinogradov a shorthanded goal at 13:11. The Nationals went into the second period with a commanding 5-2 lead.
The second period brought lots of penalty trouble for both teams. Seven and half minutes into the period, Sarnia’s Ethan Dupont received a slashing penalty. Nationals Cal Davis easily carried the puck into Sarnia’s end on the power play and with a shot from the top of the circle, made the score 6-2 at 8:23. A rush by Sarnia in the Nationals end sparked a huge fight involving all the players on the ice making it very difficult for the refs to break up. London tallied a total of six two-minute minors with both Jukka Schotter and Zach Sheedy receiving double minors from the fight. Five two-minute minors were allocated to Sarnia with Matt Stoia receiving a double minor. The emotions from the fight did not stop the Nationals from continuing their goal progression, Cal Davis’s second of the period was an easy tap-in from a beautiful pass by Josh Castle at 11:59. Another rush by Sarnia sparked a fight between Nicolas Hatzikiriakos of the Nationals and Isaac McLean of Sarnia both receiving a 5-minute major and game misconduct as well as the Nationals James Turner receiving a cross-checking penalty. Sarnia followed up with another penalty shortly after, a roughing call on Jake Vince at 15:37. With less than a second left in the period, Sarnia’s Blake Butler scored to make it 7-3 going into the third.
Starting off the third period, Sarnia’s Matt Stoia received a 5-minute major and game misconduct for cross-checking, putting the Nationals on the power play. Less than 20 seconds later, Cal Davis scored from a back-door pass by George Diaco making it his third hat trick of the season. The Nationals were able to capitalize on the 5-minute major one more time with their ninth goal scored by George Diaco at 4:18. With just over five minutes left in the game, a cross-check by Cal Davis sparked a fight between Zach Sheedy and a Sarnia player.
The Nationals finished the game winning 9-3 with Cal Davis of the Nationals racking up a total of six points. Their next home game is on Wednesday, February 6th at 7 pm against St. Mary’s.