Cohen Bidgood scored once and assisted on another as the London Knights defeated the Sting 3-1 at Sarnia’s Progressive Auto Sales Arena on Sunday.
London was limited to just 16 shots by the Sting but made good on its opportunities to win its fourth straight game and remain two points back of the Kitchener Rangers in the Ontario Hockey League’s Midwest Division standings.
The Knights also got another big performance from goaltender Seb Gatto, who made 34 saves on the night.
Rene Van Bommel had two assists in the game for London.
Alessandro Di Iorio of Sarnia got the scoring started after the holiday break as he struck for his eighth goal of the year off a faceoff in the Knights’ end at the 7:01 mark of the opening period.
London roared back in the second with three goals to take a 3-1 lead through 40 minutes.
First Knights forward Brody Cook grabbed a puck that hit an official and got it into the slot to Mike Zakharov, where the former Dynamo-St. Petersburg forward wristed home his second of the season to tie the game just 2:53 into the middle period.
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With under three minutes remaining in the second, London winger Bidgood pushed a puck out of a pile and back to the left point, where Jared Woolley walked in and wired a shot past Sting goalie Patrick Quinlan to put the Knights up by a goal with 3:39 left on the clock.
Just 32 seconds later, Kaedon Hawkins came flying through centre ice and poked a puck into the Sarnia zone. Hawkins caught up to the puck and pushed it to Van Bommel, who centred a pass to Bidgood, who scored his sixth goal of the year to give London a two-goal lead going into the final 20 minutes.
No goals were scored the rest of the way.
The Sting outshot the Knights 35-16.
London was o-for-2 on the power play and Sarnia was 0-for-3.
Knights and Sting swap first-round picks
Just hours before London and Sarnia met on the ice, they met off the ice and completed a trade.
The Knights acquired 18-year-old forward Ryan Brown in exchange for 17-year-old forward Logan Hawery in a player-for-player deal.
London’s associate general manager, Rob Simpson, says the trade presented an opportunity for a couple of fresh starts.
“Both guys are not off to the starts that they maybe wanted,” Simpson admitted. “It made sense for both sides to make the move and hopefully kick-start their seasons in the direction that they wanted.”
Brown has six goals and 23 points so far this season.
Simpson says Brown should be an easy fit.
“He’s our style of player,” Simpson said. “He’s a puck possession player.”
Brown was Sarnia’s first-round pick in 2023. Hawery was the Knights’ first-round selection in 2024.
Up next
The Knights and the Sting will meet again on New Year’s Eve afternoon at London’s Canada Life Place.
The game will mark the fourth of six meetings between the clubs this season.
Coverage will begin at 3:30 p.m. on 980 CFPL, at http://www.980cfpl.ca and on the iHeart Radio and Radioplayer Canada apps.
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