Alex Formenton got the London Knights to within a goal, just past the halfway mark of the third period, but the Ottawa 67’s held London off the rest of the way in a 4-2 victory over the Knights on Friday.
Formenton is a second-round pick of the Ottawa Senators and was flying all game long. He scored both London goals, one on a power play and the second on a short-handed breakaway.
Tyler Rollo came about as close as you can get to tying the game as he got a shot away with 67’s goalie, Olivier Tremblay out of position, only to have Nikita Okhotyuk sprawl and just get his leg in the way to block the shot.
Ottawa did a very good job getting into lanes and blocking shots all game and got themselves a big two points that helped to leapfrog Oshawa and move into sixth place in the Eastern Conference.
The Owen Sound Attack moved to within a point of London in the Western Conference with a 7-6 overtime victory in Guelph.
How the goals were scored
The first goal of the game came early in the game and very early into a London Knights power play. Alex Formenton scored seven seconds into a London man-advantage and 1:20 into the opening period as he snapped a shot past Olivier Tremblay from the left side of the Ottawa end.
The 67’s tied the game at 16:39 on a goal by Ottawa native and former Mississauga Steelhead, Merrick Rippon and the teams went to the first intermission tied 1-1.
Mitchell Hoelscher grabbed broke that deadlock just over 12 minutes into the second period as he grabbed a puck in the London zone and scored the eighth goal of the season.
Then two more Ottawa trade acquisitions combined to find the back of the net in the second period as former Sarnia forward, Sasha Chmelevski, found former Spirit forward, Tye Felhaber, and he popped a centering pass past Joseph Raaymakers for a 3-1 Ottawa lead.
Streak updates
The 67’s held Liam Foudy off the scoresheet, ending his seven-game goal-scoring streak, but the second-year forward still has 14 goals in his last 14 games. Evan Bouchard and Nathan Dunkley assisted on Formenton’s first goal of the game to keep their assist streaks alive. Both have recorded at least one assist in five consecutive games. Bouchard had two assists against the 67’s and now has three goals and nine assists for 12 points in his last five games.
Shining stars of the 2015 NHL draft class
Former London Knight Mitch Marner has seven goals and 12 points in his last 10 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Marner has already hit 100 career points in the National Hockey League and also has another distinction when you compare him to fellow 2015 draftees. Marner is third in points produced by players from that draft behind Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel. Marner was selected fourth overall by the Maple Leafs in 2015.
Up next
The top-ranked team in the Canadian Hockey League arrives in London on Sunday afternoon as the Knights host the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. The ‘Hounds entered the weekend with six losses in regulation time this year. London will meet them after winning five of their past seven games. Coverage starts at 1:30 p.m. on 980 CFPL, at www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.
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