All Ruslan Gazizov could do was put his hands to his head in disbelief.
He had just been robbed by Sarnia Sting goaltender Ben Gaudreau who had gone diving across the crease to snatch the puck out of the air on a London Knights power play chance.
Gaudreau had London shooters feeling that way quite often throughout a 4-2 victory by the Sting over the Knights in Sarnia, Ont., on Tuesday night.
A Gaudreau toe save on Colton Smith. Two breakaway stops on London captain Luke Evangelista. Another breakaway save on Tonio Stranges. Gaudreau made 36 stops in all and got some help offensively from a Sarnia power play that had ranked last in the league heading into the game.
Sarnia scored twice on the man advantage courtesy of Nikita Tarasevich and Nolan DeGurse as part of a three-goal second period. Max Namestnikov and Brayden Guy scored the other goals for Sarnia.
Veteran Cody Morgan had both London goals. One came off a rebound on a Tonio Stranges shot and the other was set up by Stranges and Luke Evangelista.
The assist for Evangelista extended his point streak to 12 games giving the Oakville, Ont., native at least one point in every game he has played this year. Evangelista had 11 shots in total against Sarnia.
Brett Brochu made 22 saves in net for the Knights.
The 10-game season series between the teams now sits a 2-1 in favour of London. The next game in that season series happens on Friday, November 19 at 7:30 at Budweiser Gardens.
Stranges named Player of the Week
Tonio Stranges had the start of his season in the OHL delayed by an injury that he suffered while at Rookie Camp with the Dallas Stars. When Stranges returned to the ice he began to pick up assists but the puck would not go into the net for him.
Then came a third period power play against the Guelph Storm and a pass from Ruslan Gazizov that went across the zone and left Stranges with a wide open side to hammer home his first goal of the year. It tied the game with under five minutes remaining in regulation and earned London a point in an overtime loss to the Storm.
It also allowed Stranges to catch fire. Stranges had a pair of assists against Sault Ste. Marie on Nov. 12 and then scored twice and added another assist in Erie, Pa., the next night. That gave the Plymouth, Mich., native seven points in three games and Player of the Week honours in the OHL.
Face-off finesse
Through six weeks of the Ontario Hockey League season the London Knights are in first place overall in the standings. They are also in first place in face-off percentage.
If “possession is nine-tenths of the law” then London is helping themselves out immensely off the draw. The Knights are winning face-offs at a 52.93-per cent clip (424/801). Next is Guelph at 52.86 per cent and then Mississauga at 52.82 per cent.
London’s Cody Morgan leads the OHL in individual face-off percentage (for players who have taken at least 100 draws. Morgan has won 95 of 149 face-offs this season for a 63.8-per cent success rate.
Up next
London will conclude one home-and-home series and start get set to start another one on Friday, Nov. 19 when they host the Sting at 7:30 at Budweiser Gardens. London and Sarnia will meet 10 times in all.
The Knights will host the Kitchener Rangers on Saturday, Nov. 20 at 4pm and then make a return visit to play the Rangers in Kitchener on Sunday, Nov. 21. London and the Rangers have not met yet in 2021-22. Once they do the only team left on the Knights schedule this year who they will not have played yet will be the Saginaw Spirit. London will not see Saginaw until Jan. 13.
All Knights games. can be heard on 980 CFPL, at www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radio player Canada app. The pregame show begins 30 minutes before puck drop.