Jesse Nurmi’s first goal of the year came in the second period and stood up as the game winner as the London Knights edged the Oshawa Generals 5-4 at the Tribute Communities Centre on Jan. 4.
Nurmi, who was returned to the London Knights by the Islanders less than a week earlier, was playing in his third game back in London.
The goal was the only one scored through the final 40 minutes of the game after a furious first period. The Knights scored four goals on their first five shots of the game while the Generals scored four times on their first six shots.
Ryan Brown’s first in a London uniform got the scoring octet started. He went in on a breakaway and beat former Knight Jaden Cholette at just 3:15 into the game to make it 1-0 Knights.
Braiden Clark made it 2-0 at 5:19 just as a London power play expired and then Oshawa’s Brooks Rogowski got them on the board on a Generals man advantage at 8:03.
Just 34 seconds after that, Jaxon Cover and Evan Van Gorp combined to set up Will Nicholl for his first goal of the season and a 3-1 Knights lead.
Only 18 seconds after Nicholl’s goal, Oshawa was left Cohen Bidgood alone in front of their net; he snapped in his seventh goal of the year to make it 4-1 for London. The Generals made a goaltending change at that point in the game as Reid Thomas replaced Cholette and the move sparked Oshawa.
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Brady Murnane’s first OHL goal combined with Londoner Harrison Fransson’s fifth goal in six games and a goal from veteran Lucas Moore on a shot from the blue line had the score knotted 4-4 through the first 20 minutes of the game.
Seb Gatto replaced Aleksei Medvedev in the Knight net to begin the second period. He and Thomas combined to stymie all shooters for the first 14 minutes and 45 seconds of the period.
Nurmi hammered in a puck that bounced off a skate in the slot at the 14:45 mark to give the Knights a 5-4 lead through 40 minutes. London was able to fend off the Generals from there.
Shots were 28-28. The Knights were 0-for-1 on the power play. Oshawa was 2-for-3.
Denver Barkey scores his first goal in the NHL
Former Knights captain Denver Barkey won’t have to stretch the truth when he tells his grandchildren that his first goal in the National Hockey League was picture perfect.
It was.
Barkey, now with the Philadelphia Flyers, dished a puck to Sean Couturier and he fed Owen Tippett as Barkey powered past an Edmonton defender straight toward the edge of the Oilers crease. Tippett feathered a pass to Barkey and he tipped it by Calvin Pickard to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead in a game played on Jan. 3.
Barkey led London to a Memorial Cup championship in 2025 and had 258 points in 228 regular season games. He had 73 points in 53 OHL playoff games and 11 points in nine Memorial Cup tournament games.
Up next
The Knights will return home to take on the Brantford Bulldogs on Friday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m., at Canada Life Place.
Brantford blanked London 2-0 on 39 saves by David Egorov in their only other meeting this season.
Coverage will begin at 6:30 p.m. on 980 CFPL, at http://www.980cfpl.ca and on the iHeart Radio and Radioplayer Canada apps.
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