Connor McMichael’s sixth hat trick of the season propelled the London Knights to a 7-4 win over the Windsor Spitfires on home ice Friday night.
The victory kept London perfect at Budweiser Gardens in 2020.
McMichael had three goals and an assist to take him to within two goals of Ottawa’s Jack Quinn. McMichael has 37 in 36 games this year for the Knights and 80 points overall.
His linemate Luke Evangelista hit two nice round numbers as well, as he reached 20 goals and 50 points thanks to a goal and three assists against the Spitfires.
Ryan Merkley had a three-assist night for London. Liam Foudy added a goal and an assist and was a plus-5.
In the four games played between the teams before Friday the word “close” had rarely come into focus. Three of those games had ended in identical 6-3 scores and the other wound up 4-2.
On Friday night, the Knights and Spitfires actually went to the third period locked up 3-3, but four goals in the final frame brought about that familiar three-goal bulge in the end.
The Knights have now won seven games in a row and 12 of their past 13. London held their position a point behind the Kitchener Rangers for first place in the Western Conference with a game in hand.
With the Knights trailing 2-0 early in the second period, Markus Phillips ripped a shot off the goalpost and past Windsor goalie Xavier Medina for his second goal in as many games.
A reaching deflection by Liam Foudy in the slot put a puck through the legs of Medina to tie the game two and a half minutes past the halfway mark and then McMichael gave London their first lead before the end of the period.
With the Knights on a power play, the Spitfires nearly had a steal at their own blue line that would have resulted in a three-zone breakaway, but a deft poke check by Ryan Merkley kept the puck in the Windsor zone and then Merkley made a play to McMichael for his first of the game and London’s first lead.
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Windsor tied it on Egor Afanasyev’s second of the night which set up the fireworks of the third period.
McMichael’s second made it 4-3 at 1:41 and then a nifty feed from Tonio Stranges to Nathan Dunkley made it 5-3.
The Spitfires tightened the gap 44 seconds after Dunkley’s goal, when Tyler Angle scored but Evangelista’s 20th and an empty-netter by McMichael to complete the hat trick finished the scoring and sealed the win.
Windsor outshot the Knights 41-36 as Brett Brochu made 41 stops for his 11th win in a row and 21st in his rookie season. Michael Houser won 17 games as a 17-year old rookie in 2009-10.
London dominated in the faceoff circle again by winning 43 of 67 draws.
The Knights will head to Sarnia on Saturday afternoon for a 4 p.m. game against the Sting.
Dylan Hunter: Knights playoff king
On Feb. 11, Dylan Hunter will be inducted into the Don Brankley London Knights Hall of Fame along with Reg Thomas, Garry Unger, Chris Kelly, Brian Bradley and builder John McDonald.
Hunter holds a few distinctions with the Knights as the franchise’s games-played leader, fifth in all-time scoring and the record-holder for most playoff series victories. As a player, Hunter was a part of 11 series wins, an OHL championship and a Memorial Cup Championship.
The 11 series wins are more than any other London player. To give it some perspective, a player who plays the maximum of five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League can potentially play in a maximum of 20 playoff series. Hunter played in 15 total in his career and won 11 times.
Flint Firebird Flying
Most players who win gold at the World Junior Hockey Championship come back with a little extra something in their skating stride.
Ty Dellandrea of the Flint Firebirds has hit some kind of groove with that stride, claiming18 points in a five-game span. Dellandrea picked up two goals and three assists against Kingston on Jan. 19, followed that up with two goals and two assists in Sault Ste. Marie and then put up three points in a home and home with Guelph and an 8-3 victory by the Firebirds in Windsor.
Dellandrea joined Flint after a difficult season for the franchise that saw the team owner suspended and the coaching staff fired on two separate occasions. He vowed to be part of the solution. Then he made it through a 17-game winless streak with the Firebirds to begin 2018-19 and again vowed to be part of the solution.
Dellandrea’s latest performances had Flint on a 5-game winning streak and solidly in a playoff spot in fifth place in the Western Conference. The Dallas Stars prospect was held off the score sheet on Friday against Erie but the Firebirds kept their momentum going with the sixth victory in a row.
Up next
The Knights head to Sarnia to play the Sting on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m.
The teams will be meeting for the fourth time this year. Sarnia won the first game in London by a score of 5-3 and then the Knights swept a home-and-home series that wrapped up in Sarnia on New Year’s Eve.
The Sting currently sit in last place in the Western Conference and have just one win in their past 17 games.
London will be in St. Catharines on Tuesday, Feb. 4 for a make-up game against the Niagara IceDogs. The teams played on Dec. 12 but the game was postponed after IceDogs goaltender suffered a serious skate cut to his leg. Tynan is currently at home rehabbing in Chicago, Ill.
Coverage will begin at 3:30 on Saturday and then at 6:30 on Tuesday. You can hear the pre-game show and play-by-play on 980 CFPL, at http://www.980cfpl.ca and on the RadioPlayer Canada app.
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