Lucas Chard proved a one-man wrecking crew Saturday night at the Western Fair District.
He recorded a natural hat-trick in a span of just over five minutes to lead the London Nationals to a 4-1 victory over St. Thomas.
That gives the Nats a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven opening round of the Sutherland Cup playoffs.
Chard’s three-goal outburst included a short-handed goal and a power-play effort.
Jeff Burridge rounded out the London scoring with another power-play goal in the dying seconds of the second period.
All of this wiped out an early St. Thomas lead as Tristen Roberts found the net just 46 seconds into the game.
The Stars managed just 23 shots fired in the direction of London netminder Aiden Berry.
Tyler Roberts was in net at the other end, facing 31 shots.
After scoring four goals in the opening game of the series, the Stars have managed a total of just three goals in the following two encounters.
The teams close out a three-game weekend tonight at the Joe Thornton Community Centre in a 7:30 start.
Written by Ian McCallum
