NATIONALS POWER PAST STARS FOR 2-0 SERIES LEAD
The win gave the Nationals a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven final with Game 3 back in London on Saturday.
The Nationals took Game 1 3-0.
Thursday’s second period wasn’t just wild from a goal-scoring standpoint. There were 16 penalties called in that period, including five misconducts and a game misconduct. The Stars took three of those misconducts and the game misconduct, which came when Stars player Matt Coutu was assessed a major for goalie interference. In total there were 89 minutes in penalties called on 24 infractions.
The only goal in the first period went to Nationals player Max Vinogradov, who connected on the power play. It would be the only power-play goal of the night despite 12 power play chances. The Stars went 0-7 with the man advantage.
The second period belonged to the Nationals. They got a pair of goals from Brenden Trottier and Cohen Kiteley, along with singles to Josh Coyle and Colin Wilson to take a 7-0 lead into the third period.
Jake Robinson and Kevin Hu scored for the Stars in the final period.
Anthony Hurtubise started for the Stars and gave up four goals on 12 shots. He was replaced by Jesse Hodgson. David Ovsjannikov went the distance for the Nationals, facing 31 shots.
By Morris Dalla Costa, The London Free Press
