On an evening when the London Knights recognized a whole lot of wins, they were able to pick up a victory over the Peterborough Petes, however, it wasn’t all that easy.
Evan Bouchard’s blast from just inside the blue line, 50 seconds into overtime, finally ended a game that provided more than a few twists for the fans in attendance at Budweiser Gardens.
Dale Hunter was honoured before the game for becoming only the third Ontario Hockey League coach to reach 700 career victories and then the Knights paid tribute to the Vanier Cup champion Western Mustang football team in the first intermission.
During the game, London fought through three game-tying goals by the Petes and a crazy finish in regulation to nab their seventh victory in a 10-game stretch and a very important two points in the crowded Western Conference standings.
With the Knights up 3-2 and time ticking down, they looked poised to seal the game with an empty-netter, only to have play whistled down on an offside at the Peterborough blue line.
Off the ensuing faceoff, the stick of Robert Thomas broke and the Petes sprinted down the ice, came close to their own offside call and a goaltender interference call, but tied the game on a one-timer from Matthew Timms from the right side of the Knights’ zone with 5.5 seconds remaining in regulation time.
London regrouped and got the puck into Peterborough territory, where Cliff Pu stripped it free and got it to Bouchard, who played the role of hero.
How the goals were scored
Alec Regula has demonstrated his ability in the defensive zone throughout his rookie season. He has excellent size and an outstanding hockey IQ. Regula showed off his hands to open the scoring against the Petes. Thomas found Regula going to the net and he put a quick deke on Edmonton Oilers’ prospect, Dylan Wells for his second OHL goal.
The Petes tied the game in the second period on a London power play as Peterborough captain Logan DeNoble picked off a pass that was headed from the Knights’ zone into centre ice and he fired a shot past Joseph Raaymakers to make it 1-1.
With London on a power play later in the period, Bouchard threaded a pass to Max Jones at the Petes’ blue line and he drove past a defender and was awarded a penalty shot as he got hauled down going to the net. Jones made good, going from his backhand to his forehand and sliding a puck past Wells to put the Knights ahead 2-1.
The Petes tied the game again in the third period on a power play as Pavel Gogolev found Zach Gallant at the side of the London net.
Thomas put London in front for the third time in the game by batting a puck out of the air on a power play at 9:04 of the third period for a 3-2 edge on the scoreboard.
Peterborough took advantage of the late offside call against the Knights that resulted in a faceoff and a blast from Timms that found the back of the London net with 5.5 seconds to play as Raaymakers appeared to be pushed out of position.
Undeterred, the Knights worked the puck into the Petes’ zone in overtime, Pu stripped it free in the right corner, got it back to the blue line to Bouchard and he blasted a slap shot off the post and in for the game winner.
The importance of special teams
Prior to starting seven games in 11 days, the Knights worked a whole lot on their power play and penalty kill. Asked why, London assistant coach Dylan Hunter pointed to the time of year.
“Usually around this time of year, the guys are getting tired,” Hunter said. “That can lead to more penalties and games get sorted out by special teams.”
London killed off all but one penalty, which came with just 13 seconds to go in the Peterborough man advantage, going 5 for 6 on the night. With Jones’ penalty shot goal, the Knights went 2 for 4.
Leapfrogging the Attack
London’s victory, combined with a 6-3 Owen Sound loss in Guelph, moved the Knights a win ahead of the Attack and into seventh place in the Western Conference, a point back of the Saginaw Spirit who have gone 8-1-1 in their past 10 games.
Next up
The Knights will be home to the Erie Otters for a rematch of last season’s Western Conference finals. Erie has dropped back-to-back games in Windsor and then in Sarnia. The puck will drop at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Coverage starts at 1:30 p.m. on 980 CFPL, at www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.
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