A late surge by the Soo Greyhounds pushed them past the London Knights 6-2 on Sunday afternoon at Budweiser Gardens.
Zack Trott, Taylor Raddysh and Hayden Verbeek all scored third-period goals to open up what had been a back-and-forth battle up to that point.
The Greyhounds are now one win away from 50 on the season and still have a shot at a couple of Ontario Hockey League records set by the Knights in 2004-05.
That year London lost just seven times and amassed 120 total points. Both are still mathematical possibilities for Sault Ste. Marie.
The Greyhounds have spent 22 weeks in the Canadian Hockey League rankings, most of those at number one.
Knights’ captain Evan Bouchard admitted after the game that the Soo is a difficult team to contain when they get rolling.
“Once they got momentum, they didn’t slow down and they buried their chances. We created chances —we just didn’t bury all of ours.”
Still, Bouchard was satisfied with the effort that London turned in.
Bouchard gave a special nod to Knights’ goalie and former Soo Greyhound Joseph Raaymakers for his 39-save effort against his old team.
“He was unreal today like he has been all season. Unfortunately, we couldn’t help him out more than we did, but he played strong, like always.”
Despite the loss, London secured a playoff spot after Erie lost 7-3 in Windsor.
With nine games to go in their 2017-18 regular season schedule, the Knights are one point behind the Owen Sound Attack for fourth place in the Western Conference.
How the goals were scored
Anaheim Ducks prospect Jack Kopacka got a great chance, in tight in the first period, but London goalie Joseph Raaymakers made a big glove save to stop him. Kopacka got a second chance minutes later and made good to give the Soo Greyhounds a 1-0 lead.
Andrew Perrott tied the game with his fourth goal of the season as he settled down a puck at the right point, took a step or two and then wired a shot past former London goalie Tyler Johnson and the teams sat even at 1-1 through 20 minutes.
Sault Ste. Marie went ahead 2-1 on Morgan Frost’s 36th of the year as he knocked in a centering feed at at 1:17 of the second period.
Again, London tied it. On a power play, Evan Bouchard blasted a puck from the blue line that Johnson stopped, but Nathan Dunkley popped in the rebound at 4:24 to make it 2-2. It was Dunkley’s 50th point of the season.
With the Knights on another man advantage later in the period, Tim Gettinger grabbed a puck just outside the Greyhounds’ blue line and raced down the ice with Frost on a 2-on-1. Gettinger fed Frost for his second of the game and Sault Ste. Marie led 3-2 after two periods.
The Soo Greyhounds struck for three goals in the third period to finish the scoring as rookie Zack Trott and veteran Taylor Raddysh scored to make it 5-2. Then with the London net empty on a late Knights power play, overage forward Hayden Verbeek scored his 27th goal of the year.
Hey, I know those guys
In October, the Knights and Greyhounds combined on a trade that brought Raaymakers to London and sent Johnson to Sault Ste. Marie. On Sunday, they stared out from their respective creases at their former teams as they went head-to-head in goal. Raaymakers made 39 saves in the game, Johnson made 32.
Chris Kelly to Anaheim
It has been quite a year for former Knights captain Chris Kelly. He began the year on a tryout with the Edmonton Oilers and while he didn’t stay in Edmonton, the Toronto native got a call from the Ottawa Senators and wound up in Belleville playing for the Senators’ AHL affiliate.
From there, Kelly joined Team Canada for the Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland, and his play at the tournament not only earned him a spot on Canada’s Olympic roster, but Kelly was also named team captain.
After his performance in Pyeongchang in helping Canada to a bronze medal, Kelly has now signed with the Anaheim Ducks. Team USA’s Olympic captain Brian Gionta has signed a deal with the Boston Bruins.
Rick Nash to Boston
Gionta isn’t the only new addition on the Bruins’ roster. Boston acquired former Knights player Rick Nash from the New York Rangers on Sunday for Ryan Lindgren, Ryan Spooner, Matt Beleskey, a first-round pick and a seventh round pick.
Nash was the first draft selection made by Mark and Dale Hunter after they purchased the Knights in 2000. He went fourth overall in the OHL Priority Selection behind Patrick Jarrett, Tim Brent and Richard Power. Nash made his Bruins debut on Sunday in a loss to the Buffalo Sabres.
Up next
The Knights head out on a three-game, four-day road trip to Eastern Ontario that will begin in Central Ontario on Thursday against the Peterborough Petes. London will play the Frontenacs in Kingston on Friday and then complete the trek with a game in Ottawa on Sunday afternoon.
They’ll return home to host the Guelph Storm on Wednesday, March 7 at 7 p.m. at Budweiser Gardens. At that point, there will be six games left in London’s regular season schedule.
All games can be heard on 980 CFPL, at www.980cfpl.ca or on the Radioplayer Canada app.
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