Ruslan Gazizov and Oliver Bonk each scored twice as the London Knights doubled up the North Bay Battalion 6-3 on Nov. 23 to open a three-game road trip through North Bay, Sudbury and Barrie.
Bonk also added an assist in the game and London forward Jacob Julien stayed hot with four assists and now has 11 points in his past five games.
After falling behind 2-0 in two consecutive games, the Knights came out in the first period in North Bay and took control with three goals in a span of two minutes and four seconds early in the first period.
Gazizov opened the scoring at 4:15 as he nabbed a loose puck in the slot and out-waited Winnipeg Jets prospect Dom DiVincentiis in the Battalion net for Gazizov’s second goal in as many games and a 1-0 Knights lead.
Just 1:31 later, Easton Cowan scored on a London man advantage to make it 2-0 and Bonk tapped in another power play goal 33 seconds after that.
Julien picked up an assist on each of the first three Knights goals and Denver Barkey collected his 30th point of the season. Barkey had three assists in the game and now has 32 points in 22 games this year.
North Bay’s scoring leader, Anthony Romani, got them on the scoreboard at the 9:14 mark of the opening period with a hard wrist shot from the top of the left circle and the teams went into the first intermission with London ahead 3-1.
Gazizov put the Knights back in front by three goals on a beautiful setup from London defenceman Alec Leonard, who came in off the left point and spun a pass into the slot for Gazizov, who then flipped the puck into the top corner of the Battlion net to the glove side of DiVincentiis.
Once again, North Bay cut into the lead as Ty Nelson connected on the power play at the 10:41 mark and then Battalion captain Liam Arnsby chipped in a centring feed from behind the the Knight net with 27.6 seconds to go in the second period and London’s lead was down to a single goal going into the final 20 minutes.
Julian recorded his fourth assist of the night as Bonk scored his second power play goal three minutes and five seconds into the final period and London led by two goals once again.
Max McCue finished the scoring into an empty net with fourth goal of the year.
The Knights outshot the Battalion 29-27.
London was 3-for-4 on the power play and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill as well.
Will Nicholl was not in the Knights lineup against the Battalion. Nicholl received a three-game suspension following a game misconduct he received against the Erie Otters for being the aggressor in a fight that occurred inside the final two minutes of the game.
London defenceman Ethan MacKinnon missed his 16th consecutive game with an upper-body injury. Knights forward Landon Sim remained out with a lower body injury after off-season surgery.
Brochu serves up brilliant ECHL debut
Former Knights goaltender Brett Brochu stopped 42 of 43 shots in a 3-1 win for the Fort Wayne Komets over the Wheeling Nailers on Nov. 19. It was Brochu’s first game for the Komets this season. He had been practicing as Fort Wayne’s third goalie behind veterans Tyler Parks and Francois Brassard.
Brassard suffered an injury and that opened a door for Brochu and the 21-year old from Belle River, Ont., took advantage.
Knights set to host Teddy Bear toss
London and Sarnia will meet at Budweiser Gardens on Tuesday, Dec. 5 for the Knights annual Teddy Bear Toss in support of the Salvation Army. Easton Cowan scored the Teddy Bear Toss goal for London last year in a game against the Oshawa Generals. The record for Teddy Bears at Budweiser Gardens was set back in 2012 when Seth Griffith scored and brought down a total of 10 671 plush toys.
Up next
The Knights will continue three games in three nights in three different cities against the Wolves in Sudbury on Friday, Nov. 24.
The game will mark the first meeting of the season between the teams.
Sudbury relies on their offence to create problems for opponents. The Wolves sit second in the Eastern Conference in goals for but they are winless in their past five games.
Coverage will begin at 6:30 on 980 CFPL, at www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.