Two points from Victor Mete in his return to the London Knights’ lineup lifted them a to 4-1 win in Kingston on Sunday afternoon.
Mete missed 15 games after taking a puck to the head in the first period of a game on January 13 against Saginaw. Going into his return to the lineup in Kingston he said, “I want to hit the ice flying.”
He certainly did.
Mete zoomed all over the place in period one. First, he helped to set up Cliff Pu on a power play to open the scoring at 14:07. Just 58 seconds later, Mete got to a puck at the London blue line, split between two Kingston defenders in centre ice and broke in alone, before being caught and locked up without getting an opportunity to score. That effort earned Mete a penalty shot, and he made good for a 2-0 London lead.
Mete was even called for holding before the horn sounded.
After creating very little in the opening frame, Kingston came out firing in the second period and turned Jordan Kooy into a story in the Knight net. Kooy was called upon to make three fast saves as that late penalty to Mete wound its way down. Kooy made 14 more middle period saves after that.
Kooy’s appearance in the London net was his ninth of the 2016-17 season. He can play as many as ten until his main team, the London Jr. Knights Major Midgets, finish their season, but he has raised eyebrows every time he has played at the OHL level. Kooy now has seven victories and just one loss in his nine appearances with the Knights. He has also played games for the St. Mary’s Lincolns of the GOJHL.
Kingston continued their push as the second period moved along, but it was London who found the back of the net a third time. On a delayed penalty call, Mete directed the puck to the left corner of the Frontenac zone using his knee and it went from there to Robert Thomas, to Alex Formenton and then to Brandon Crawley, who cut into the slot and wired a shot through a screen to make it 3-0 London through 40 minutes.
The teams played a penalty-free final period, but traded goals just over five minutes in, as a giveaway behind the Knights’ net slid in front to Ryan Cranford, and he lofted a shot over Kooy to cut London’s lead to 3-1.
Just 56 seconds later, a shot from the high slot by Liam Foudy went off a leg, right to Janne Kuokkanen and he had about a three-foot putt for his 21st goal to restore the three goal advantage and complete the scoring in front of just under 3500 fans.
The Knights outshot Kingston 35-33 and swept the two-game season series, outscoring Kingston 11-1.
London will finish a swing to the east in Ottawa on Family Day afternoon against the 67s. The pregame show will begin at 1:30 on AM 980. The puck drops at 2:00
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