When Wednesday comes around, it means the London Nationals are at home to play a hockey game. The Nationals were taking on the Komoka Kings, and what a game that was!
The Nationals are in first place and it shows… they have great speed and skill. You can see the chemistry the players have with one another, they know where to look during the game, and they play smart and fast hockey. The Nationals appeared to be the better team, they were in the right places at the right time, and created many opportunities. The goal coming into this game for the Kings was to control the pace of the game. They needed to make sure that they shut down the Nationals offense quickly, and they had to keep it simple. The Nationals are a very fast team which is why they are in first place. They beat their opponent by outskating them, tonight was a prime example of that.
The game was close, the Nationals were in command of most of the play throughout the first, and the Kings had their fair share of chances. No one would capitalize. Then the second period came, and the Nationals wasted no time. Less than five minutes into the second, the Nationals would score, and they were overwhelming the Kings. Since, the Nationals are a fast team getting caught with your feet flat isn’t the kind of situation you want to be in. Cal Davis Opened the scoring and the Kings answered quickly, but then the Nationals took over.
From that point on, the Kings had no control of the game, they couldn’t keep up with the speed. Bad line changes were made, they gave up a lot of odd man rushes, and it would cost them. Just when they thought “oh we got this.” They were wrong if you took your foot off that pedal you were done! The second period was all Nationals, except for that goal the Kings would eventually score on Jukka Schotter. Schotter wasn’t very busy in the early going, but when he needed to make the saves… he did. The 5-3 win wasn’t all because of Schotter, it was a team effort. Everyone contributed, the back check was good, the offensive speed and pressure was there, you had the odd hiccup from the defense, but they would redeem themselves by contributing on the score sheet.
If there is anything to take away from this game, The Nationals need to make sure they don’t let up defensively, and the Kings need their defensive core to step up to help their offense. The outcome of this game might of been different if they were more disciplined on the blue line. The London Nationals will be back on home ice next Wednesday January 23, when they take on the Strathroy Rockets.
