Oliver Bonk and Denver Barkey each scored twice as the London Knights knocked off the Storm 5-2 in Guelph, Ont., on Nov. 15.
London’s special team shone against the Storm.
The Knights penalty kill and power play were both near perfect. London was 6-for-7 killing penalties and 4-for-5 on the man advantage as they improved to 3-0 against the Storm this season and drew the Knights to within one point of the Kitchener Rangers for first place in the overall OHL standings. Both teams have played 19 games.
It took just one minute and 28 seconds for the OHL’s Player of the Week to cash in his 12th goal of the season as Barkey directed a beautiful Sam Dickinson pass past Guelph goaltender Brayden Gillespie on a two-on-one to make it 1-0 London. It was the only even-strength goal London would get in the game.
Jackson Edward snapped in his fifth goal of the season on a power play less than three minutes later and the Knights were off to a hot start against the Storm.
Before the end of the first period, Hunter McKenzie took advantage of a London turnover in their own zone to cut the lead in half with his third goal of 2023-24 and the teams went to their dressing rooms with the Knights ahead 2-1.
London’s penalty kill locked down the Storm power play through a 5-on-3 man advantage that saw Oliver Bonk on the ice defending against almost all of it and then Bonk went to work on a Knights power play as he converted a three-way passing play from Easton Cowan and Jacob Julien and London led 3-1 through 40 minutes.
Jake Karabela of Guelph cut the Knights lead for a goal as he banged in a bouncing puck at 7:34 of the third period.
Storm forward Justin DeZoete received a five-minute major penalty for checking from behind for a hit on London’s Kaeden Johnston and the Knights cashed in on the power play as Bonk scored his second of the game.
Kasper Halttunen set up Barkey on another London man advantage before the end of the game for Barkey’s second of the game and 13th goal of the season to end the scoring.
Cowan had three assists in the game.
Michael Simpson made 21 saves in goal for London.
Gillespie stopped 24 shots for Guelph.
Denver Barkey named OHL Player of the Week
After ending three games in three days, Knights forward and Philadelphia Flyers prospect Denver Barkey sat with two goals and five assists for seven points and he and teammate Easton Cowan had each stretched their current point streaks to seven games.
On Nov. 13, Barkey was named OHL Player of the Week. Barkey has been held without a point just twice this season and sits fourth in league scoring with 11 goals and 15 assists for 26 points in 18 games.
Four former Knights part of early-season perfection
The UNB Reds improved to 12-0 to begin the AUS men’s hockey season with an 8-3 victory over the Dalhousie Tigers on Nov. 10. Former Knights co-captain Sean McGurn has 10 points in 12 games as does former London forward Cody Morgan. Camaryn Baber and Jason Willms are also a part of the run so far. Willms has five goals and eight assists in 13 games.
UNB will play the Saint Mary’s Huskies on Nov. 18 in their next game.
Up next
The London Knights will return home on Nov. 17 to face the Flint Firebirds for the first time this season.
The Firebirds got off to a tough start in 2023-24. They lost four straight games to begin the year by a combined 28-7 but have been building some momentum recently. Flint has four victories in their past seven games
Coverage will begin at 6:30 on 980 CFPL, at www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.
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