Denver Barkey scored twice and added an assist as the London Knights downed the Guelph Storm 4-1 on Saturday night at Budweiser Gardens.
The Storm had been the final team in the Ontario Hockey League without a regulation loss in 2023-24. Now every team has at least one.
The Knights Philadelphia connection got the scoring started in the first period as Oliver Bonk’s wrist shot from the right point was deflected in by Barkey at the 7:14 mark for his first goal of the season.
Barkey was a third-round pick of Philadelphia’s in 2023 and Bonk was the Flyers first-round pick.
The game went through a delay in the first intermission when a jammed door prevented the ice resurfacing machines from getting out to flood the ice. A whole lot of ingenuity helped get the machines around to a different door and onto the ice to get the ice ready for the second period.
The wait did nothing to dampen the London momentum. The Knights came out and played physically to begin the second period.
Will Nicholl carried the puck into the Guelph end just past the six-minute mark of the second period on a 3-on-1 and slid a pass to Jacob Julien on the right side. Julien one-touched a pass to Jackson Edward and he buried his first of the year to give London a 2-0 advantage.
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Charlie Paquette scored for the Storm at 9:21 to cut London’s lead in half but Barkey set up Ruslan Gazizov for his first goal of 2023-24 and the Knights led 3-1 going into the final 20 minutes.
Barkey’s second of the game into an empty net sealed things for London with 49 seconds left in regulation time.
The Knights outshot Guelph 30-16.
Michael Simpson earned his third victory of the season for London.
Brayden Gillespie stopped 26 shots in net for the Storm.
Linesperson Kevin Hastings officiated his 1,038th game and his final game in the OHL. Hastings was honoured before the opening faceoff.
Hastings will take on a new off-ice role with the league.
London wore jerseys for the game that will be auctioned off in support of Epilepsy Southwestern Ontario.
Visit http://www.londonknights.com
Easton Cowan back in Maple Leafs lineup
Knights forward Easton Cowan played in the final Toronto Maple Leafs pre-season game on Oct. 7. It was Cowan’s fourth pre-season game in total. He had a goal and an assist in his first game against the Ottawa Senators and then an assist against the Buffalo Sabres in a game played in St. Thomas, Ont. Cowan also played in Montreal. NHL teams must declare their cap-compliant rosters on Monday, Oct.9, so final decisions will be made between now and then.
Piccinich loving the Norweigian air
A season ago former Knight J.J. Piccinich headed to Norway to play for Stjernan. Piccinich had won a Memorial Cup with the Knights, a Kelly Cup with the Newfoundland Growlers and in his first season playing in the Eliteserien, Piccinich won a scoring title with 65 points in 45 games. In fact, he and his teammates Alex Dostie and Austin Cangelosi were 1-2-3 in league scoring. Through six games Piccinich is doing the same kind of offensive damage with 12 points to sit second in scoring in the Eliteserien. Dostie is no longer playing for Stjernan but Cangelosi is right there with Piccinich tied in points so far as the duo looks for a repeat atop the scoring race.
Up next
The London Knights and the Peterborough Petes will meet on Thursday, Oct. 12 in Peterborough for the first time since last year’s OHL Championship series.
Since the series, the teams have swapped goaltenders so a “Michael Simpson vs Zach Bowen wearing different sweaters matchup” is a possibility.
Coverage will start at 6:30 on 980 CFPL, at http://www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.
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