Matthew Sop scored twice for the Kitchener Rangers as they downed the London Knights 4-2 at Budweiser Gardens on Nov. 5.
London was playing their third game in three nights and had an uphill climb for most of the game after Kitchener got the upper hand early.
The Rangers took a 2-0 lead on goals by Adrian Miseljevic. With a hard wrist shot right off a faceoff and a swooping wrap-around by Trent Swick, the six-foot-six-inch winger reached the puck around the net and in for his second goal of the season.
Not long after that Swick was whistled down for a high-sticking double-minor and London cashed in on the man advantage when Kasper Halttunen blasted home his fifth power-play goal of the season to cut Kitchener’s lead to 2-1 through 20 minutes.
London may have been hoping to carry some momentum from that goal into the second period, but Matthew Sop of the Rangers had other ideas. He raced into centre ice when the Knights got caught up, coming across the Kitchener blue line with Luke Ellinas finding him with a pass. Sop got to the London net and scored his first goal of the night just 20 seconds after the opening face-off and the Rangers had their two-goal lead back.
Easton Cowan cut that lead to one with a steal at centre and a determined rush to the Kitchener net, finishing with a backhand for his third goal and ninth point in Cowan’s past four games.
London forward Jacob Julien was assessed a five-minute major penalty for cross-checking at 13:28 of the second period. The play was reviewed and the call was upheld.
Kitchener scored once on the ensuing five-minute man advantage as Sop connected on a one-timer for his second goal of the night.
The Rangers outshot the Knights 35-27.
Kitchener was 1-for-5 on the power play. London was 1-for-4.
The win allowed the Rangers to fend off the Knights and keep themselves in first place in the Midwest Division as London came into the game one point behind Kitchener with one game in hand.
Perry producing
Former Knight Corey Perry recorded an assist for the Chicago Blackhawks in their 5-2 win over the Florida Panthers on Nov. 4, which improved his 2023-24 point total to seven points in ten games.
Perry is 38 years old and in his 19th season in the National Hockey League. Many players slow down and their point totals reflect that. Perry’s career points per game total is 0.7 points per game. This season he is at 0.7 points per game. Add the fact that he has won every major championship available in hockey including the Stanley Cup and individual awards that include a Hart Trophy in 2010-11, and Perry has the resume to make quick entry into the Hockey Hall of Fame whenever he decides to call it a career.
Up next
The Knights will meet the Windsor Spitfires on Thursday, Nov. 9 at the WFCU Centre.
It will be the first of six meetings between the teams.
Windsor had a tough start to the season with only one victory in their first eight games but they have gone .500 since then.
Part of that may be the return of Alex Christopoulos who was injured to begin the year. Christopoulos has four goals and eight points in five games for the Spitfires.
Coverage will start at 6:30 p.m. on 980 CFPL, at http://www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.