See, the London Knights can be beaten in regulation time.
All you need is to do is harness the Force.
Or, in the Saginaw Spirit's case, hold a Star Wars theme night.
The Knights looked as rattled as Luke Skywalker and his pals when they were knee-deep in sludge inside the garbage compactor on the Death Star's detention level in George Lucas' money-printing science-fiction movie franchise.
The OHL's top team fell 5-2 for their first regulation loss since Nov. 1 in Windsor ? a 28-game span of dominance even the Emperor could appreciate -- in front of 4,201 Saturday night at a Wendler Arena sprinkled with wookies, X-wing fighter pilots, Princess Leia and bounty hunter Boba Fett.
?It was definitely the Star Wars stuff,? London forward Alex Broadhurst said, tongue-in-cheek. ?Let's blame it on that. I'll blame it on Darth Vader.?
The dark-helmeted Sith Lord dropped the puck for the pre-game ceremonial faceoff. Things went downhill for the Knights from there.
The vaunted defence has given up 10 goals in the last two games. They look leaky.
The offence is inconsistent again.
To paraphrase Yoda, ?Impressive, they were not.?
?It was a tough one,? said Broadhurst, whose gravity-defying second-period backhander cut a four-goal lead in half in a failed comeback bid. ?We've scored a lot of goals against this team (an 8-2 win at home last week) and I think we took them for granted.
?We took the team from last night (Ottawa) for granted, too. They came back and scored (five) goals on us (in the second and third periods). In games like this, when we kill teams when we played them before, we have to keep our mindset we did in the first game and work hard.
?It's a good lesson for us.?
Better to learn it now than in the spring.
After scoring six goals in the opening 20 minutes Friday, the Knights forgot to recharge the batteries on their light sabres. They limped out to one of their worst periods of the season and quickly stepped into a two-goal hole. Saginaw goalie Jake Paterson, the Canadian world junior team member, was a tractor beam for pucks, pulling them into his body and glove the way the bad guys sucked in Han Solo's Millenium Falcon.
?It was really weird,? Broadhurst said. ?We couldn't get anything going.?
London coach Dale Hunter split up his top line of Seth Griffith, Max Domi and Broadhurst ? the trio who combined for nine points against Ottawa ? to start the game. Brett Welychka went with Griffith and Domi while Broadhurst lined up alongside Chris Tierney and Josh Anderson, back from a charley horse suffered in the second period against the 67's.
?The coaches were mixing up lines and we couldn't get popping until the middle of the second,? Broadhurst said. ?We were just changing things up and see how they went. You never know, especially in the playoffs, you're down by a goal and you have to switch guys up so we were trying a bit of that.?
Broadhurst finished the game dropping the gloves with Saginaw rookie forward Jeremiah Addison. The Knight got in a few good blows, but the rookie recorded a takedown.
?It was the first fight of Broadhurst's life.
?I always had teammates who stuck up for me,? he joked. ?I was at the end of a long shift. It was tiring.?
The first head-to-head duel since midget of like-named goalies Paterson of Saginaw and London's Jake Patterson fizzled out faster than the popularity of Star Wars character Jar Jar Binks.
Patterson was yanked six minutes into the second period after the Knights fell behind by three. Newcomer Anthony Stolarz, still wearing Kevin Bailie's old pads, relieved him and gave up a softie, but held the fort the rest of the way.
The Knights finish up their final three-in-three weekend in a galaxy far, far away ? no, actually Sault Ste. Marie. Based on recent history, they won't be welcomed too kindly.
The Ruperts, in particular, will be under the microscope after past dust-ups with pesky Soo star forward Nick Cousins.
?I'm looking forward to it with what happened last game with Matt, and me (last year),? Ryan Rupert said. ?I remember last game in warmup, they (the fans) were chirping me, just saying my last name and stuff like that.
?You get noticed out there and it just makes it that much more fun.?
But don't be surprised if Hounds GM Kyle Dubas, taking a cue from Saginaw, doesn't hire at least a Stormtrooper or two to greet them at the rink.
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GAME GLANCE
Spirit 5, Knights 2
Saginaw goals: Garett Ross (2), Justin Kea, Andrey Alexeev, Jimmy Lodge
London goals: Bo Horvat, Alex Broadhurst
Next: The Knights are in Sault Ste. Marie Sunday night. Game time is 7:07 p.m.
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3-IN-3 HISTORY
(This is the London Knights' sixth ? and final ? regular-season week with three games in three days.)
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Oct. 25-27: at Peterborough, vs. Plymouth, vs. Guelph. 1-1-0-1 record.
Late comeback against the Petes prevented lost weekend.
Nov. 9-11: vs. Sudbury, at Plymouth, vs. Sault Ste. Marie. 3-0 record.
Shutout road win over Whalers the biggie.
Nov. 22-24: at Sarnia, vs. Peterborough, at Owen Sound. 3-0 record.
Shutout at the Bayshore an impressive feat.
Nov. 30-Dec. 2: vs. Barrie, vs. Guelph, at Mississauga.
Breathless 19-round shootout win kept streak intact.
Dec. 14-16: vs. Owen Sound, at Guelph, vs. Kingston.
Buzzer-beater, shootout and come-from-behind overtime magic.
Jan. 11-13: vs. Ottawa, at Saginaw, at Sault Ste. Marie.
Good start, but loss to the Spirit.
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Saturday
At Wendler Arena
Spirit 5, Knights 2
Free Press 3 Stars
1. Jake Paterson, Spirit. Revenge for last playoffs.
2. Garett Ross, Spirit. No Trocheck required.
3. Alex Broadhurst, Knights. Nice goal, spirited fight.
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First period
1. Saginaw, Kea 16 (Addison, Moutrey) 6:48
Knight d-zone turnover one too many times.
2. Saginaw, Ross 23 (unassisted) 17:41 (pp)
Juicy backhand in front for veteran forward.
Penalties ? Subban, Sag (holding) 7:30, Broadhurst, Ldn (hooking) 8:29, Zadorov, Ldn (elbowing) 16:18.
Second period
3. Saginaw, Alexeev 6 (Kea, Glass) 6:11
High shot from slot chased Patterson.
4. Saginaw, Lodge 14 (Ross, Young) 13:15 (pp)
Banked it in off Stolarz.
5. London, Horvat 21 (Domi, Griffith) 15:09 (pp)
High bullet with the man advantage.
6. London, Broadhurst 15 (unassisted) 18:21
Juked Saggy d-man, then big backhand.
Penalties ? Kea, Sag (slashing) 1:51, Lodge, Sag (slashing) 10:40, Anderson, Ldn (checking to the head) 11:33, Alexeev, Sag (tripping) 14:25, Zadorov, Ldn (delay of game) 19:55.
Third period
7. Saginaw, Ross 24 () 19:44 (en)
Empty-netter on third try.
Penalties ? Lodge, Sag (slashing) 3:18, Locke, Sag (hooking) 4:55, Broadhurst, Ldn (holding) 8:41, Broadhurst, Ldn, Addison, Sag (fighting) 15:52, Locke, Sag (slashing) 17:57.
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Shots on goal by
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London 11 14 9?34
Saginaw 12 9 9?30
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Goal (shots-saves): London: Patterson (14-11) (L, 16-4), Stolarz (16-15, 6:11 of second period). Saginaw: Paterson (W, 14-15).
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Power plays (goals-chances): Ldn 1-7. Sag 2-5.
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Referees ? Ryan Hutchison, Ryan Carroll. Linesmen ? Jean-Francois Menard, Dustin McCrank.
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Attendance: 4,021 (5,700).
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