Edmonton Oilers prospect Sam O’Reilly headed into a familiar building on Saturday afternoon and looked right at home as he scored once and assisted on three others in a 5-4 shootout victory by his London Knights over the Erie Otters.
The game was played at the Joe Thornton Community Centre in St. Thomas, Ont., where O’Reilly had spent more than a few nights as a member of the London Nationals in 2022-23.
Jesse Nurmi scored once in regulation and recorded the shootout winner. O’Reilly also scored a shootout goal.
Finn Wilson stopped both Erie shooters that he faced in the shootout. Wilson made his London pre-season debut as he split duties with St. Thomas native Owen Willmore who made 10 saves on the 10 shots he faced in front of his hometown fans.
Kaeden Johnston of the Knights scored two goals for the second game in a row as he kicked off the scoring at the 18:25 mark of the opening period as he took a pass from Alec Leonard, curled off the left side boards and snapped a shot past Charlie Burns to make it 1-0.
He followed that in the second period with a backhand that found a hole through Burns at 3:58 and the Knights lead by two.
O’Reilly skated the puck in behind the Otters net on a man advantage and found New York Islanders draft pick Jesse Nurmi in front for his first goal in an OHL uniform. Nurmi played last year in the Finnish Liiga with KooKoo.
Before the end of the second period, Erie got themselves on the scoreboard with a short-handed goal by Martin Misiak who could be back in the OHL as an overage player if he does not stick with the Chicago Blackhawks organization.
Gabe Frasca cut the London lead to 3-2 early in the third before O’Reilly wired a wrist shot from the left circle on a London power play to give the Knights a bit pf breathing room.
That breath evaporated as the Otters potted two short-handed goals in a span of 34 seconds that sent the game directly to a shootout as per preseason rules
Erie outshot London 27-22.
Ruslan Gazizov headed to rookie camp with the Ducks
Knights forward Ruslan Gazizov has earned himself an invite to Rookie Camp with the Anaheim Ducks. The potential London overager will head for California on Sept. 12 and will participate in on-ice sessions at both Great Park Ice and FivePoint Arena in an attempt to land a professional contract.
Gazizov has played three seasons with the Knights and has 157 points in 173 games. In 2022-23 the Novy Urengoy, Russia, native came within a single point of tying the London franchise record for most points in a game when he had a goal and six assists against the Flint Firebirds on the night that the the Knights honoured the memory of his good friend, Abakar Kazbekov.
Up next
London will play two final pre-season games that will both be against the Sarnia Sting.
The first takes place at 7 p.m., on Friday, Sept. 20 at Budweiser Gardens. The second will happen in Sarnia, Ont., at 7 p.m., on Saturday, Sept. 21.
Following that the Knights will await the arrival of the Flint Firebirds and their season and home opener on Friday, Sept. 27.
Coverage of both games against Sarnia can be heard beginning at 6:30 p.m., at http://www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.