Mississauga Steelheads forward Luke Misa scored three times on Friday night at Budweiser Gardens in a 5-1 victory over the London Knights.
Mississauga is the youngest team in the Ontario Hockey League this year but they have been a threat all season and currently lead the Central Division and share identical 15-8-1 records with London.
The Knights carried a 5-on-3 power play into the second period and cashed in. Denver Barkey scored his 14th goal of the year on a wrister through traffic to give London a 1-0 lead and keep the Knights power play sizzling hot. It now ranks second overall in the OHL.
Mississauga tied the game 1-1 at 11:43 of the second as Londoner Zander Vecchia got a puck to the side of the London net with a nice move and then slid a pass to Luke Misa for a tap-in just inside the right post.
The Steelheads scored a power play goal of their own less than five minutes later as Vecchia knocked down a clearing attempt and got a quick shot away that found the back of the Knight goal and Mississauga led 2-1 going into the final 20 minutes.
An early third period power play for the Steelheads led to their third goal of the game as Angus McDonell found Misa to the right side of the net just ten seconds into the man advantage.
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Misa completed his hat trick into an empty net and then former Kitchener Ranger Adam Zidlicky ended the scoring by knocking the puck over the London goal line with 9.5 seconds remaining in the game after a scramble in front.
Mississauga outshot the Knights 32-30.
Dickinson and O’Reilly crack Craigslist
Draft rankings are beginning to pop up as the hockey world looks toward the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. Former National Hockey League GM Craig Button released his Craigslist for TSN ahead of the 2024 World Junior Hockey Championship. London defenceman Sam Dickinson sits eighth overall and Knights forward Sam O’Reilly comes in at number 38 which would translate to a high second round selection in the draft.
London’s 2023 CHL Import Draft selection Daniil Ustinkov was slated 58th on the list. Macklin Celebrini is the number one prospect on Button’s list. Celebrini is from Vancouver, B.C., and attends Boston College.
Zadorov now with Canucks
Former Knights defenceman Nikita Zadorov has been traded from the Calgary Flames to the Vancouver Canucks. The Flames received a third round pick in 2026 and a fifth round pick in 2024. Zadorov had reportedly requested a trade out Calgary after a loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs in November. Zadorov will join his fifth NHL team and will wear numb er 91 for the Canucks.
Up next
The Knights will make their second visit of the season to Saginaw on Saturday, Dec. 2 to face the Spirit.
Saginaw started the season with twice as many losses as they had wins in their first dozen games.
As the hosts of the 2024 Memorial Cup tournament the Spirit appeared to be feeling all eyes on them early in the year but they have been clicking since.
Saginaw set a franchise record with a ten-game winning streak that ended on Nov. 29 in a 4-3 loss to Sault Ste. Marie.
The pre-game show will begin at 6:30 live on 980 CFPL, at www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.
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