After a loss to the Sarnia Sting on Wednesday, the London Knights were looking to bounce back. And they did.
The Knights knocked off the Owen Sound Attack 5-3 on Friday night at Budweiser Gardens.
Alex Formenton, Cliff Pu and Evan Bouchard each had a goal and an assist and Joseph Raaymakers made 27 saves for their fourth win in five games.
London limited the Attack to very few chances early and then put up a defensive front throughout the third period to hold off players like Sean Durzi who leads all OHL defencemen in scoring and Nick Suzuki who sits second overall in assists and third overall in points.
The victory moved London ahead of Erie into eighth in the conference. The Knights sit three points out of fifth and four points out of fourth in what is becoming a very congested West.
How the goals were scored
In a word, quickly. At least to begin the game. The Knights went to the power play just 1:15 into the game, but the Attack scored first. Aidan Dudas came down the ice short-handed and took a shot that Raaymakers stopped with his blocker, only to have Londoner Suzuki crash the net and knock the puck out of the air and in.
London continued on the man advantage and while they didn’t score before it ended, Alex Formenton wired a shot behind Mack Guzda before the penalized player, Ethan Szypula, could get back into the play and the game sat tied 1-1 just over three minutes in.
The Knights’ power play clicked on its very next opportunity as Sam Miletic set up Evan Bouchard for a one-timer from the left side of the ice. The goal gave London a 2-1 lead. Bouchard is eligible for the 2018 NHL Entry Draft and now has 26 points in 24 games.
Before the end of the period, the Knights struck again. Alec Regula got a shot away that went high, but seconds later Robert Thomas fed him a pass from about the same spot and found the back of the net to make it 3-1 for London through 20 minutes. That goal spelled the end of the night for Guzda. He was replaced by Riley Daniels.
The Knights added to their lead 5:15 into the second period as Tyler Rollo hit the goal post and then banged the puck off Daniels and in. London led 4-1.
After recording just 10 shots through the first half of the game, Owen Sound fired 11 at the Knight net through the second half of the second period.
On a power play, Suzuki fed Markus Phillips and he scored to make it 4-2 and then at even strength, Suzuki took a feed from Szypula and scored his second of the game and 16th of the season to make it 4-3 heading into the third period.
The only goal in the third came 18 minutes and 52 seconds into the period as the Knights were weathering a final push from the Attack. Cliff Pu pulled a puck free from a pile outside the London blue line and wristed it down the ice and into an empty Owen Sound net to give the Knights a two-goal cushion.
Climbing the ladder
The Knights’ victory moved them past the Erie Otters in the Western Conference standings. When the evening began, a win had a chance to vault the Knights over the Guelph and Saginaw, but both the Storm and the Spirit won.
Next up
The London Knights will go to Guelph on Sunday afternoon for their seventh game in 13 days. The teams have seen each other twice this year. On Oct. 29, the Storm shut out the Knights 4-0 in Guelph. On Nov. 16, London returned the favour, beating Guelph 7-4 at Budweiser Gardens.
The pre-game show begins at 1:30 on 980 CFPL, at www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.
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