It was 94 games in the making, but all that did was make it sweeter.
Dorchester’s Riley Coome scored the game-winning goal against the Kitchener Rangers in a 4-2 London Knights victory on Saturday night at Budweiser Gardens.
It was Coome’s first career OHL goal and it broke a 2-2 tie with just 1:58 left in regulation time. The goal came unassisted as the puck was flipped by Connor McMichael off a Kitchener stick from the side of the Ranger net. Coome kept it in and launched a shot from the middle of the Kitchener blue line that went straight through everyone and past Ranger goalie Lucas Pfeil, who faced 42 shots in the game
Jordan Kooy made his first start for the Knights since January 4, after missing time with an injury. He stopped 24 shots for his 11th win on the year. Kooy’s start ended 12 consecutive by Joseph Raaymakers.
Cole Tymkin received a game misconduct in the first period after tossing away his stick as he headed to the bench in pain after taking a hit in front of the Ranger net. The stick hit referee Ryan Hutchison and resulted in a game ejection.
London will be off until Friday, February 8, when they will complete their three-game homestand against the Owen Sound Attack.
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How the goals were scored
Liam Foudy extended his point streak to 13 games and put London ahead 1-0 just two minutes and 16 seconds into the first period as he snapped a shot past Lucas Pfeil from the right side of the Kitchener zone. The goal also gives Foudy 13 goals in his last 13 games.
The score stayed that way until the 5:12 mark of the third period when Isaac Langdon kept a puck in at the Knights blue line and found Greg Meireles in front of the London net. Meireles deked and slid the puck underneath Kooy for a 1-1 tie.
Adam Boqvist put the Knights ahead 2-1 as he took a pass from Matvey Guskov, sliced between two Kitchener defenders and lifted the puck into the top corner.
Just one minute and 20 seconds later, the Rangers tied the game for a second time as Riley Damiani banged in a rebound.
Overtime began to loom and then Riley Coome managed to put his shot through all kinds of traffic at 18:02 for a very memorable first OHL goal.
Alex Turko wound up being credited with an empty netter at 19:19 as Joseph Garreffa accidentally put the puck into his own net as he was trying to get away from the forecheck of London’s Billy Moskal.
Kane reaches 900 points
Former Knight Patrick Kane returned from the NHL All-Star break with 896 career points. First up for Kane and the Chicago Blackhawks was a game against his hometown team, the Buffalo Sabres. Kane always seems to find a little extra for games against the Sabres and he found a whole lot on Friday night. Two goals and two assists helped Kane to hit 900 points in under 12 seasons. He is also back on pace to score 50 goals this year as Chicago continues to creep up the standings and back into the NHL’s Western Conference playoff picture. Kane is the fastest American-born player to reach that milestone in National Hockey League history.
Coaching change in Owen Sound
The Owen Sound Attack became the first team to make an OHL coaching change in 2019. Owen Sound relieved Todd Gill of his position behind the bench on January 28. The move was made with the Attack in the midst of a 1-6 stretch. The one win had come against the Flint Firebirds and Owen Sound lost their first two games with Alan Letang at the helm on an interim basis. Attack general manager Dale DeGray used terms like “a need for fresh ideas” and a “more skill-driven strategy” when talking about what he would like to see from this point on.
Kingston vs Flint
This has nothing to do with a game between the teams and everything to do with where they sit in the standings. There is a very good chance that Shane Wright of the Don Mills Flyers will be granted exceptional status and an opportunity to play in the Ontario Hockey League as a 15-year old. He is a star in the making. The team that finishes last will more than likely land him. Right now, the Frontenacs are in free-fall. They can’t score and they can’t win. Kingston has 7 goals in their last 9 games and they have lost seven games in a row. Flint has been playing better and despite their 0-16-1 start to the season, they could find themselves picking second behind the Frontenacs in the 2019 OHL Priority Selection.
Up next
The Knights will complete a three-game homestand on February 8 against the Owen Sound Attack. The teams have played each other tight this year, but that was before Owen Sound traded away a great deal of veteran talent. After that London will head to Saginaw and Sault Ste. Marie for games on February 9 and 10.
Coverage of London and Owen Sound will begin at 6:30 p.m. on 980 CFPL, http://www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.
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