Three more points from the OHL’s leading scorer led the London Knights to a 4-2 victory over the Owen Sound Attack at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre on Saturday night.
Connor McMichael scored once and added two assists to give him 19 goals and 41 points on the year. The win moved London into sole possession of first place in the OHL’s Midwest Division and stretched London’s winning streak to five games.
The Knights have collected 15 points out of a possible 16 dating back to October 19 and they handed Owen Sound just their second loss on home ice.
McMichael extended his point streak to nine games by setting up the game’s first goal by Liam Foudy on an early London power play and then scored himself on a steal and a slithery move around a defender. Before the buzzer sounded to end the first period, McMichael fed Alec Regula for his seventh goal of the year on another Knights man advantage.
Aidan Dudas scored for Owen Sound in the opening frame.
Between the 12:20 mark of the first and 16:07 of the third period, goalies Dylan Myskiw of the Knights and Mack Guzda shared the spotlight in keeping the puck out of their respective nets. The pair combined for 80 saves in the game.
A goal by Igor Chibrikov with 3:53 left in regulation made for an interesting finish as Owen Sound pressed for the game-tying goal, but solid efforts from players like Alec Regula and Billy Moskal in the defensive zone of the Knights and a couple more saves from Myskiw helped to wind down the clock and the Liam Foudy sealed things by scoring his second of the game into an empty net.
Foudy has at least a point in all nine games he has played for London this season.
The Knights were 2-for-5 on the power play and killed off all five Owen Sound chances on the man advantage.
McMichael in some elite Knights company
Over his past nine games, Connor McMichael has 27 points making for some easy math. He is averaging three points per game in that stretch which puts him into some very exclusive Knights company. Rob Schremp remains king of the high-scoring point streak. He returned from the Edmonton Oilers in 2005 and went on a seven-game tear that saw him put up 32 points. That averages out to a whopping 4.57 points per game. Schremp went on to score 57 goals and record 145 points to lead the OHL in scoring. Dave Bolland had a 28-point run over eight games at just about the same time as Schremp. In Patrick Kane’s only Ontario Hockey League season he also scored 145 points to lead the league. He went through a stretch in February of 2007 that saw the three-time Stanley Cup winner put up 38 points in nine games for an average of 4.2 points per game. Corey Perry had a 24-point run in six games in 2004-05 and in November and December of 2015 Mitch Marner and Christian Dvorak also had 24 points over the course of eight games in the 2016-16 season.
Myskiw the movie star
Knights goaltender Dylan Myskiw spent a great deal of time working out in the summer on and off the ice to prepare for his overage season of Major Junior hockey. He also spent a good chunk of time in front of the camera with the likes of Sean Penn. Myskiw will appear in the movie Flag Day when it is released in the future. It is based on the book Flim-Flam Man by Jennifer Vogel and along with Penn, it stars Josh Brolin, Miles Teller and Penn’s children, Hopper and Dylan.
Going international
Game 4 of the 2019 Canada/Russia series will be played in London at Budweiser Gardens on Nov. 11 at 7:00. It can be heard on 980 CFPL, at www.980cfpl.ca and the Radioplayer Canada app. So far the Canada side has won twice and lost once. Knights forwards Liam Foudy and Connor McMichael and defenceman Ryan Merkley will play for Team OHL and London head coach Dale Hunter will be behind the bench as will Knights assistant coach Dylan Hunter. Dylan has just returned from the Under-17 World Hockey Challenge where he was an assistant coach with Team Canada Black. Londoner Brett Harrison and Team Canada White lost in overtime in the bronze medal to the Czech Republic. Harrison scored the first goal of the game short-handed. Team White was the only Canadian entry to make it to the medal round.
Up next for the Knights
London will play two home games on November 15 against the Flint Firebirds at 7:30 p.m. at Budweiser Gardens and then on November 17 at 2 p.m. when the Kitchener Rangers will be the visitors. It will be the first meetings of the season between the Knights and the other two clubs.
After a difficult 2018-19 Flint has become a true contender in the West. The Rangers had a good roll going until goaltender Jacob Ingham got injured. They have dropped back-to-back games.
Coverage will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Friday from Shoeless Joe’s on King Street on 980 CFPL, at http://www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.
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