The Guelph Storm took it to the ‘Max’ in their Friday night game against the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
Forward Max Namestnikov had four goals as the Storm beat the Hounds 7-3 Friday in front of 4,600 at the Sleeman Centre.
The 19-year-old got the first two goals for Guelph in the first period, both coming on the power play. With the Storm up 4-1, Namestnikov completed the hat trick at the 12:59 mark of the second.
He scored his fourth of game, also on the power play, towards the end of the period giving him 27 goals on the season.
“It was one of those nights where everything was going in, just going my way. It was nothing really special,” said Namestnikov. “If you do the little things, you’ll eventually get rewarded for it. The hockey gods are always watching and tonight I got rewarded for it.”
“He is a special player,” said Storm defenceman Michael Buchinger on Namestnikov. “He’s a great guy in the dressing room and we’re really excited to have him.”
Buchinger and forward Braeden Bowman also had big nights on the scoresheet. Bowman had a goal and four assists while Buchinger collected four assists.
The Storm finished 4 for 8 with the man advantage, something Buchinger says they were able to work to perfection against the Greyhounds.
“It was something that we struggled with in the past,” said Buchinger. “Recently, we’ve been trying some new things and it has obviously worked out for the team.”
Soo’s penalty troubles began with a match penalty by Connor Clattenburg for a slewfoot midway through the first period. The Storm scored on three of their first four power play opportunities.
Charlie Paquette and Jake Carabella had the other Storm goals. Kalvyn Watson, Mark Duarte and Brenden Sirizzotti replied for the Greyhounds (17-25-9-5) who are four points back of Kitchener for eighth place in the OHL’s western conference.
The win keeps Guelph (27-24-4-1) on par with Owen Sound for fifth in the west but the Attack have two more games in hand. The Attack took care of the Rangers on Friday night with a 3-2 victory in overtime.
“You’re trying to climb the standings and it’s nice getting the two points,” said Namestnikov.
Perhaps lost in the scoring was the performance in net by Patrick Leaver who made 32 saves for the Storm. Charlie Schenkel and Sam Ivanov combined for 26.
The next game for the Storm is Sunday afternoon when they welcome the London Knights to the Sleeman Centre for a 2 p.m. face off. You can listen to Sunday’s game on 1460 CJOY with the broadcast starting at 1:45 p.m.
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