Evan Bouchard had gone 28 games without scoring a goal. From the start of the year to Dec. 10.
That’s when the London Knights’ assistant coach Dylan Hunter handed him a stick that Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings had left behind after working out in London over the summer.
With that, things began to change. Bouchard broke the stick in the first game he used it but he liked the curve and the feel and ordered new ones.
On Monday afternoon in Ottawa, that stick with that curve in the hands of Bouchard produced a goal, an assist and first star honours as the Knights doubled up the Ottawa 67s 4-2 for their second straight victory and a sweep of their eastern trip.
“The curve (on the stick) just works,” Bouchard said. “I can’t really explain it, but it has been good.
The second-year defenceman from Oakville now has nine goals and 32 points this season. Bouchard is a late birthday, so he won’t even be eligible for the NHL Entry draft until 2018.
After Ottawa went ahead in the first period on a steal behind the net and Mitchell Hoelscher’s second goal in his third Ontario Hockey League game, Bouchard helped to get London’s offence back on track. He knocked down a clearing attempt by the 67s at the blue line and fed it to Alex Formenton and he snapped a puck into the Ottawa net to tie the game.
Before the end of the second period, Bouchard struck again. This time he took the shot. Mitchell Stephens slipped a pass to Bouchard and he beat Olivier Lafreniere with a wrist shot from just outside the left circle and it was 2-1 through 40 minutes.
Ottawa has not had much luck on home ice this year. They own the OHL’s worst home record, but they seemed to feed off the big Family Day crowd at TD Place and eventually knotted things up in the third.
Artur Tyanulin brought the puck into the London end and played give and go with Noel Hoefenmayer, finishing off a play at the side of the net.
Instead of sparking Ottawa, that goal seemed to light a fire for the Knights. Cliff Pu was called for slashing and London killed off the penalty with a ferociousness that carried into their next shifts. With Pu back on the ice, the Knights worked the puck around and around the Ottawa zone, hemming the 67s in. Eventually Pu got the puck in the slot and fired home the goal that would stand up as the game winner.
Robert Thomas added an empty netter with 1.1 seconds to go.
Not lost in the win was the performance of Jordan Kooy, who stopped two first period breakaway chances and made key saves at key times right to the end. Kooy is now 8-1 in ten OHL appearances and has a goals against average under 2.00.
After the game, Kooy was still kicking himself for losing a puck behind the net on the first Ottawa goal, but was happy to get the win.
“This wasn’t an easy one,” he said. “On the road in front of their crowd without much rest (after playing Sunday), but we got it done.”
Tyler Parsons missed his seventh straight game with an upper body injury. Max Jones is expected to find out about a suspension early on this week.
The Knights are in the midst of a stretch in which they play six out of seven games on the road. They will play their lone home game in that stretch on Friday at Budweiser Gardens against the Windsor Spitfires. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. Coverage on AM 980 will begin at 6:30 p.m.
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