Two goals by Matvey Guskov helped the London Knights to a 4-1 victory over the Sudbury Wolves on Patrick Kane night at Budweiser Gardens on Friday.
Guskov was five years old and living in Nizhnekamsk, Russia, when Kane was lighting up the Ontario Hockey League to the tune of 145 points in 58 games but he did an awfully nice impression of a Patrick Kane celebration after giving the Knights the lead that they would never give up.
With the score 1-1 in the second period, Guskov zoomed across the Wolves blue line and fired a puck past Sudbury goaltender Christian Purboo. As the puck hit the back of the net Guskov stretched his arms out and glided along the boards on one skate as Kane sometimes did when he was in a London uniform.
Kane’s number 88 went into the rafters before the game celebrating a hockey career that is still producing amazing accolades.
Guskov’s second goal of the night made it 4-1 later in the second period as he found a rebound in the slot after an Alec Regula shot, spun and buried the puck behind Purboo with under a minute to go in the middle frame.
Regula had two assists for London.
Defenceman Ryan Merkley scored his 11th goal of the season on a power play in between the Guskov goals and Jonathan Gruden inched closer to the 20-goal mark as he banged in his own rebound for his 17th of the season in the first period to tie the game 1-1.
David Levin scored the lone goal for the Wolves as he threw a barrage of dekes at the London defence, got to the net and backhanded a puck past Brett Brochu.
Brochu made 28 stops in all as the Knights outshot Sudbury 39-29.
London will host Erie at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 19.
Patrick Kane becomes ninth Knight to have number retired
In a ceremony that took place before Friday’s game, the London Knights honoured Patrick Kane by putting his number 88 into the rafters at Budweiser Gardens. Kane arrived in London in 2006-07 and dazzled OHL fans by scoring 62 goals and leading the Ontario Hockey League in scoring with 145 points in 58 games. Kane went on to be selected first overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and in 12 seasons in Chicago he has helped the ‘Hawks to win three Stanley Cups. Kane currently sits two points away from 1,000 in his National Hockey League career and will be in Toronto on Saturday night to try to hit that mark against the Maple Leafs.
Evangelista and Stranges pick up points at Top Prospects game
Tonio Stranges and Luke Evangelista each made a mark on the score sheet at the 2020 Top prospects game in Hamiton, Ont., on Thursday, January 16. Both Knights forwards spent much of the game on the same line and each picked up an assist on the first goal of the game. Stranges gave the puck to Evangelista and he skated out from behind the net and fed a pass back to the right point to Jeremie Poirier of the Saint John Sea Dogs and he scored to give Team Red a 1-0 lead. Team White got two goals and an assist from Barrie Colts forward Tyson Foerster and won the game 5-3. The Top Prospects game brings together the top-40 draft-eligible prospects currently playing in the Canadian Hockey League.
Myskiw suspended
The Canadian Hockey League announced late Thursday night that Knights goaltender Dylan Myskiw has been suspended for eight games for violating the CHL’s Anti-Doping policy. The league was quick to point out that the “prohibited substance found within a post-workout supplement and that it was purchased from a reliable commercial vendor” and that Myskiw did not know that the supplement “contained the prohibited substances.” Myskiw will be eligible to return to the Knights lineup on February 7.
Up next
The London Knights meet Erie on Sunday, Jan. 20 at 2 p.m. at Budweiser Gardens.
The Knights are 3-0-0-1 against the Otters this season. The two clubs have played in a couple of wild contests, combining for 10 goals in two periods in Erie on Oct. 26. Then both teams closed the door and no one scored again until the shootout, which the Otters won.
Less than a week later, Connor McMichael had six points in a 7-6 overtime win by London. McMichael tied the game with 1:05 remaining and scored the winner 3:04 into OT.
Coverage starts at 1:30 on 980 CFPL, at http://www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.
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