LONDON – The Sarnia Legionnaires lost a heartbreaker here last night but still managed to picked up a valuable point in the standings.

Coach Jeff Perry's Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League club was nipped 2-1 in overtime by the London Nationals.

After the game, Perry singled out goalie Mike Reed for praise, saying he held the Legionnaires in the contest long enough for them to get into extra time. That, in turn, assured them of a point.

In fact, Reed made 50 saves over the course of the game. Sarnia pumped 26 shots on net.

The point was a big one for the Legionnaires, who are in the midst of a seven-team dogfight in the league's tough Western Conference.

Sarnia now has 13 points, good enough for fifth place, one point ahead of London, Chatham and Leamington and just one back of St. Marys.

Strathroy and St. Thomas are just two points ahead of Sarnia.
 

Poor start

The Legionnaires started slowly last night, allowing the Nats to pepper Reed with 17 pucks over the first 20 minutes. But the rookie netminder made a number of good stops, including a splendid pad save, while allowing only one goal.

In the second frame, Chase Clark squared matters from close range with the Legionnaires enjoying a two-man advantage. Jesse Drydak and Shawn Waldie drew assists.

Tyler Annett almost had a second Sarnia goal when he circled the net and fired a shot that failed to find the back of the net.

Penalty parade

The second frame was dominated by the officials, who sent a whole slew of players to the penalty box. Sarnia's penalty killers were steady, beating back all seven shorthanded situations the team faced over the course of the game.

In overtime, Chase Clark almost won it for the Legionnaires when he stickhanded through the Nats defence, only to be denied at the last moment.

London got the winner shortly after that after a defensive breakdown in the Sarnia end.

• Sarnia played without Captain Tyler Cicchini (injured) and defencemen Steve Farlow (sick) and Tanner Ferguson (injured). Also out was Russian import Ilya Arkolav, who is still awaiting permission from Hockey Canada to play his first game.

• When Brent Sauve was ejected for fighting early in the second period, the Legionnaires found themselves going with a very inexperienced defence corps the rest of the way, with only Jeff Paulley being a veteran Jr. 'B' blueliner.

• The Legionnaires are home to Chatham tonight. Game time at the Brock Street Barn is 7:10 p.m.

• Sarnia has collected at least one point in five of its last six games and is 6-6-1 overall.