The London Knights picked up their fourth win in five games with a 4-1 victory over the Bulldogs in Hamilton on Saturday afternoon.
Billy Moskal scored a goal and added an assist for London and Connor McMichael scored the game winner against his old team.
After flying back and forth in a tumultuous match-up in Kitchener on Friday, that saw London and the Rangers combine for 14 goals in an 8-6 Knights win, London and the Bulldogs teamed up for just a single goal through the first 46 minutes and three seconds of the game on Saturday.
Jordan Kooy came within 41 seconds of his second career Ontario Hockey League shutout, but still picked up his 13th win in 23 appearances. Both Kooy and Hamilton goalie Zachary Roy made 27 saves in the game.
The Knights will be in Erie on Sunday afternoon to close out a three-game weekend before returning home for their final two games of the regular season against Flint on March 8, and against Saginaw on March 9.
Watch: Remembering back to the 1990 Memorial Cup final in Hamilton
The goals
Liam Foudy banged in a Kevin Hancock rebound for his 35th goal of the season after a Hamilton defenceman fell creating a 2-on-1. The assist gave Hancock 101 points on the season.
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Connor McMichael put the Knights up 2-0 with a goal against his old team on another 2-on-1. McMichael put home his own rebound for his 36th goal of the year at 6:03 of the third period.
The Knights went ahead 3-0 on Billy Moskal’s 14th as his shot hit a body and tumbled into the Bulldogs’ net with just over ten minutes to play.
Hamilton pulled the goalie on a power play with just over a minute remaining in regulation time and right off the face-off London defenceman Joey Keane took the puck and wristed it about 185-feet down the ice and right into the middle of the Bulldogs net to increase the Knights lead to 4-0.
Arthur Kaliyev took away Jordan Kooy’s shutout bid with 41 seconds left as he hit 50 goals a few more seconds into that late Hamilton man-advantage.
Joey Keane signs with Rangers
The New York Rangers drafted Knights defenceman Joey Keane in the third round of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. On March 1, Keane’s agent, Keith McKittrick, tweeted that New York has signed Keane to a contract. The Homer Glen, Ill., native joined the Knights from the Barrie Colts in late December. Keane has played almost 200 games in the OHL and his next point will be his 100th. The signing makes it likely that Keane will begin his professional career in the Rangers organization in 2019-2020.
Raaymakers reaches 30 regular season wins
Knights goalie Joseph Raaymakers has won a whole lot of hockey games throughout his Ontario Hockey League career. On Friday, in Kitchener, the Chatham native hit 30 victories in a single season for the first time. Raaymakers fell just on short when he won 29 games in 2017-18. He now ranks third all-time in the OHL with 109 and is five victories behind Londoner Kyle Gajewski for second on the OHL career wins list with seven games remaining in the Knights regular season.
The Knights’ 50-goal/100-point club
Kevin Hancock got to 50 goals and 100 points on Friday night in Kitchener. He scored 31 of those goals and added 31 assists with the Owen Sound Attack but became the first player to hit the 50 and 100 marks in a Knights uniform since Christian Dvorak did it in 2015-16. Twelve other players have hit 50 goals and 100 points in the history of the Knights franchise: Dave Simpson, Dino Ciccarelli, Dennis Ververgaert, Dennis Maruk, Dave Lowry, Patrick Kane, Rob Schremp, Dave Bolland, Jason Allison, Reg Thomas, Chris Taylor and Dvorak. Simpson is the all-time single-season leader in points with 155 in 1981-82. Ciccarelli set the single-season record for goals with 72 in 1977-78.
OHL suspends Lochead for hit on Samorukov
The Ontario Hockey League has handed down a four-game suspension to London Knights’ overage defenceman Will Lochead for what was called a check to the head of Guelph Storm defenceman Dmitri Samorukov. The incident took place in a game on February 26, at Budweiser Gardens. Lochead will be eligible to return on March 9 when the Knights host the Saginaw Spirit.
Up next
The Knights finish a three-game road trip in Erie on Sunday and in doing so will finish their season series with the Otters. London has a 4-0-1 record against Erie this season. Their only loss came on February 15 at Budweiser Gardens when Otters rookie defenceman Jamie Drysdale scored 19 seconds into overtime. The Knights have outscored Erie 27-12 in four wins. The Otters are attempting to scratch and claw their way to the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. They sit three points back of Windsor with eight games to go and they have two games in hand on the Spitfires.
Coverage will begin at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday on 980 CFPL, at http://www.980cfpl.caand on the Radioplayer Canada app.
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