Dragons Roll Past Imperial with 14-4 Win at Ally Pally

The London Dragons put together one of their strongest performances of the season on 21 November, beating the Imperial Devils 14-4 at Alexandra Palace Ice Rink in Checking 1 South.

We took control from the opening minutes and never let the game drift. Aleksandr Zaborskikh scored the game-winning goal and was named MVP for the Dragons, while Tal Elbaz took MVP honours for Imperial. The shot count told its own story. We finished with 87 shots on goal to Imperial’s 16 and carried the play for most of the night.

The scoring started early. Patrick Chapman opened the game at 1:47 from Bradley Tuomi and Michael D’Aprix. Nikita Piazenko made it 2-0 at 3:11 from Matthew Azevedo and Zaborskikh, and Artem Meshcherin added a third just 40 seconds later from Piazenko and Zaborskikh. After Rohan Kingwell was called for holding, we continued to press, and when Imperial’s Tal Elbaz went off for boarding at 11:18, we converted. Kingwell scored on the power play at 12:03 from Tom Jungbluth and D’Aprix to make it 4-0. Imperial got one back late in the period through Daegan Penner at 17:29, but we still took a 4-1 lead into the break.

The game blew open in the second. Zaborskikh scored unassisted at 21:03, Tristan Monden added our sixth at 22:15 from John Cookson and Aarav Lohia, and Preston Hwang made it 7-1 at 22:37 from Lohia and Kingwell. Piazenko restored the pressure at 28:32 from Meshcherin, Chapman scored his second at 29:26 from Tuomi and D’Aprix, and Zaborskikh struck again at 31:35 from Meshcherin and Piazenko. When Imperial’s Julius Unger was called for boarding at 32:27, we scored again almost immediately, with Zaborskikh converting on the power play one second later from Piazenko and Meshcherin. Chapman completed his hat trick at 33:05 from Meshcherin and Kingwell, and Kingwell added another at 38:06 from Jungbluth and Seamus Nangle. By the end of the second, we had turned the game into a rout at 13-1.

Imperial had a better third period and found three more goals, with Penner scoring twice more to complete his hat trick and Conor Carton adding a late power-play goal. But we stayed in control, and John Cookson added our only goal of the period at 50:50 from Joshua Hudak to round out the scoring at 14-4.

There were strong performances throughout the lineup, but Zaborskikh led the way. He scored four times, including the game winner, and was deservedly named our MVP. Meshcherin had a four-point night with one goal and three assists. Chapman scored three times, Piazenko had two goals and three assists, and Kingwell finished with two goals and two assists. D’Aprix recorded three assists, while Tuomi, Lohia, and Jungbluth all had multi-point contributions.

This was a dominant team performance. We were clinical, we rolled four lines, and we created constant pressure from the start. The second period in particular was decisive, with nine goals scored in a stretch that put the game completely out of reach. Imperial’s MVP Tal Elbaz was involved in three of their four goals, but overall this was our night from the outset.

The result moved us forward with another strong attacking display and another convincing win. With 14 goals on 87 shots, this was one of our most productive offensive nights of the campaign and a performance built on pace, pressure, and depth throughout the lineup.

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