Sometimes things come easy.
Most times, it’s hard to be that lucky.
On Sunday, the London Knights defeated the Erie Otters 6-2 at Budweiser Gardens in a game that seemed to see every quality chance by the Knights end up in the Otters’ net.
On Tuesday in Erie, London had to battle back from an early 2-0 hole and win 3-2 in overtime and grab a very important two points in the congested Western Conference.
Erie scored twice in the first eight minutes and forced the Knights to climb back, but it wasn’t easy. The six-foot, four-inch frame of Anand Oberoi in the Otters’ net kept getting in the way, and what appeared to be a game-tying goal early in the third period was disallowed after a review.
Even the game-winner was made tough by the fact that Sam Mlietic had to thread a pass on his backhand to Evan Bouchard while moving at high speed on a 2-on-1 and then Bouchard had to finish the play on his backhand in order to score the game winner.
“It wasn’t a perfect setup for a 2-on-1,” admitted Knights assistant coach Dylan Hunter. “But they got it done.”
Miletic liked the fact that the Knights carried on a trait that has been a big part of past London success.
“One of the characteristics of Knights teams all three years I have been here is, no matter what the score is, if we are down we always find a way to come back,” said Miletic. “I think that’s the most important quality we have.”
With World Junior camps now underway, teams find themselves without some of their veteran stars and the Knights have fallen into that category again this season.
“This was huge knowing we had Robby (Thomas) and (Alex) Formenton missing, it was tough. After the first period, I think we really stepped up and played great,” said Bouchard.
The victory gives London a 15-5-1 record in their last 21 games and moves them to within four points of fourth overall in the Western Conference.
How the goals were scored
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Kyle Maksimovich opened the scoring with a knuckler of a shot off a face-off. Ivan Lodnia won the draw back to Maksimovich and as he tried to shoot, a Knights’ stick struck his and the puck flipped end over end at the London net and it found a hole and dropped in behind Joseph Raaymakers for a 1-0 Erie lead.
The Otters got their second goal of the period just over four minutes later as Maksimovich carried across the London line on the left side and sent a cross-ice pass to Maxim Golod who had to reach behind him to get it. Golod corralled the puck and whipped a pass to Gera Poddubnyi who was headed to the net and he flipped a backhand up high to make it 2-0.
The Knights cut the lead in half just as an Erie power play had ended. With Christian Girhiny racing to get back in the play, Cliff Pu zipped a puck into the slot that hit a skate and went right to Cole Tymkin and he buried his third goal of the season.
London thought they had tied the game early in the third period as a puck made it to the goal line and was called a goal on the ice. After a review, it was ruled that the puck had not completely entered the net and the scored stayed 2-1 for the Otters.
The Knights continued to press and at 8:40 of the third, Liam Foudy got his stick on an Evan Bouchard shot and trickled it through Erie goaltender, Anand Oberoi, to tie the game 2-2.
In overtime, Miletic and Bouchard flew down the ice on a 2-on-1 and made the backhand to backhand play to win the game for London.
Raaymakers’ 21
Joseph Raaymakers has made 21 consecutive starts for the London Knights. He is in the Top 3 in goals-against average and in the Top 5 in save percentage and made some incredible saves on Erie shooters throughout the game on Tuesday. Raaymakers saved his two best stops for Cade Robinson, lunging to stop the second-year forward on a 2-on-1 in the second period and then stoning him in the slot in overtime.
The Miletic streak
Miletic has at least one point in each of his last six games. Last year he led the Knights with 37 goals. This season, he has a team-high 30 assists.
Mete to Team Canada
The Montreal Canadiens announced on Monday that they were loaning Victor Mete to Team Canada for their World Junior selection camp this week. The camp wraps up on Wednesday, Dec. 13 and most hockey experts expect Mete to not only make the roster but play on Canada’s top pairing with Jake Bean of the Calgary Hitmen. Bean is a Carolina Hurricanes’ prospect.
Team Canada will play a pre-tournament game at Budweiser Gardens on Dec. 20 against the Czech Republic and open the tournament on Boxing Day at 4 p.m. against Finland.
What would be next for Mete?
That is the big question. If and when Mete makes Team Canada, his schedule will be set until Jan. 5. That’s when the gold and bronze medal games take place and Team Canada is expected to have a roster that will take them that far. At the end of the tournament, the Canadiens would have two choices for Mete. He would be able to return to Montreal to finish out the season in the National Hockey League or he could be assigned to the London Knights.
If we look back at recent history, in 2015 Jake Virtanen was loaned to Team Canada by the Vancouver Canucks for the World Junior and then returned to the NHL afterward.
In 2014, Curtis Lazar was loaned to Canada by the Ottawa Senators and captained a gold medal winning team with a tremendous tournament. The New York Rangers loaned Anthony Duclair to that same team and he also had a fantastic performance. At the end of the celebration, Lazar returned to Ottawa and Duclair was sent to the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL. Quebec hosted the MasterCard Memorial Cup tournament that year. It is anyone’s guess what Montreal might want to do with Mete this year.
Up next
The London Knights will meet the Sarnia Sting on Friday night at Budweiser Gardens. Right now, the Sting sit second overall in the OHL. They are 13-6-1 in their last 20 games. The London Knights have been one win better at 14-5-1.
The teams met on Wednesday, Nov. 22 in Sarnia when Hugo Leufvenius of the Sting scored a hat trick and Sarnia won 4-1.
This will be just the second of six games between the teams in the regular season. The next two will be the annual New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day games.
Friday’s coverage will get going at 6:30 p.m. on 980 CFPL, at www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.
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