A trio of players born in the year 2000 led the way for the London Knights on Friday against the Erie Otters.
Liam Foudy, Billy Moskal and Nathan Dunkley scored every London goal in a 4-1 victory at Budweiser Gardens to begin three games in two-and-a-half days.
Foudy had two goals and an assist, Dunkley had a goal and two assists and Moskal ended the game with one of each.
After years of having the Knights and Erie neck and neck, at or near the top of the Ontario Hockey League standings, both clubs had lots of young talent on display.
London also got some veteran help in the crease as Joseph Raaymakers made 29 saves for his 21st victory of the season. The win stopped a three-game slide by the Knights, who kept their hold on fourth place in a Western Conference that now has London, Guelph, Saginaw and Owen Sound separated by a single point from spots four to seven.
The Knights have 17 games remaining in the regular season.
London defenceman Shane Collins missed the game with an upper-body injury. He is listed as day-to-day.
How the goals were scored
The line of Dunkley, Moskal and Foudy created all of the offense early. That trio combined for seven points in the first period and all three found the back of the net.
Foudy opened the scoring just over four minutes into the game as he took a feed from Dunkley and snapped a shot over the glove of Erie goalie Daniel Murphy.
Dunkley set up Moskal at 12:47 for Moskal’s third goal of the season to give London a 2-0 lead and then Dunkley got one of his own as he got his stick on a Jacob Golden shot, but had to wait through a review of a possible offside before the goal was counted. It was Dunkley’s 16th goal of the year and 42nd point in his 43rd game.
Josh Wainman scored the Otters’ only goal with 8:31 to go in the third period as he fired a shot through a screen that London goaltender, Joseph Raaymakers didn’t see.
Foudy finished the scoring into an empty net at 19:21 of the third as he used his speed to streak down the right wing and cut to the net to score his second goal of the game and 12th of the season.
Gordie Howe hat trick
Billy Moskal scored a goal, recorded an assist and ended up being challenged to a fight by Otters’ forward, Maxim Golod after Golod was checked into the boards in front of his bench by Liam Foudy. Gordie Howe always gets credit for the goal, assist and fight trifecta, but actually only had two throughout his entire 1767 game career. Rick Tocchet actually holds the record for most “Gordie Howe hat tricks” with 18. Former Knight, Brendan Shanahan is tied for second with Brian Sutter at 17.
Chris Kelly named Team Canada’s captain
Team Canada’s men’s hockey team is getting set for their first game in Pyeongchang, South Korea on Thursday, February 15 at 7:10 a.m. EST against Switzerland. Heading into the games, former Knights’ captain Chris Kelly was named the captain of Team Canada. Kelly was a part of Canada’s winning side at the Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland over the holidays.
Bahl suspended
The Ontario Hockey League handed down a ten-game suspension to Ottawa 67s defenceman, Kevin Bahl for a check to the head of Peterborough Petes’ defenceman Cole Fraser. Bahl was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct on the play.
Budweiser Gardens goes green
Saturday, February 10, 2018 will be a first at Budweiser Gardens. The building is going green and will be getting help from London Hydro and the London Transit Commission. Budweiser Gardens aims to make the night as eco-friendly as possible. Fans in attendance are asked to join in and reduce the amount of waster they create by putting bottles and other recyclables into the proper receptacles on the concourses. London Hydro will be handing out LED bulbs and the LTC will be offering free rides to anyone with a valid ticket to see the London Knights and the Sudbury Wolves, beginning after 5 o’clock.
Up next
The London Knights will host Sudbury Wolves in their second home game in as many nights. This will be the second and final meeting between the teams this season. With windchill values in the -40s C in early January, the Knights got hot at Sudbury Arena and knocked off the Wolves 5-1. Liam Foudy and Evan Bouchard each had two goals in that game. Saturday’s pre-game show gets going at 6:30 p.m. on 980 CFPL, at www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.
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