Tonio Stranges scored the game winning goal with 21.7 seconds remaining in regulation time as the London Knights defeated the Otters 3-2 in Erie, Pa., last night.
Stranges had two goals and an assist in the game. He now has 17 points from his last 8 games.
With time winding down in the third period, the Otters stole a puck in the neutral zone and carried it across the London blue line. Stranges was back covering the play and broke up the rush. Stranges fed a pass ahead to Luke Evangelista and bolted for the front of the Erie net.
Evangelista slid a pass to him in the slot, but Otters forward Brendan Hoffman slashed the stick out of Stranges’ hands drawing a penalty with 37 seconds to go.
London set up their power play and Stranges got a shot away from the top of the left circle that was stopped by Otters goalie Nolan Lalonde. But Lalonde lost his stick on the play and Stranges got the puck back, firing it home for the go-ahead and, eventually, game-winning goal.
Stranges got the scoring started in the game with a power play goal in the first period.
Erie tied it in the second period when Vancouver Canucks prospect, Connor Lockhart, stole the puck inside the blue line and laserred home a wrist shot at the 11:06 mark.
The Knights went ahead just under four minutes later when a Stranges dump-in took a funny bounce in the Erie end. A hard-charging Luke Evangelista had an empty net to shoot at for his 36th goal of the season. That gave London a 2-1 lead going into the final minute of the period.
With the Otters on a man advantage, Noah Sedore blasted a shot past Owen Flores, into the Knight net, making it 2-2 heading into the final 20 minutes.
Flores was making his first start since January 22. He made 25 saves for his third career victory.
The victory kept London three points behind the Flint Firebirds for first place in the Western Conference. The Knights have five games in hand on Flint. The Firebirds defeated Windsor 3-2 in a shootout on Saturday night.
Stranges sizzling
Tonio Stranges has had an incredibly productive month so far. The Plymouth, Mich., native has eight goals and 17 points in an eight-game span. Stranges has only been held off the scoresheet twice — in both games the Knights have played against the Windsor Spitfires.
When he isn’t playing Windsor, the Dallas Stars prospect has been pouring in points. He has put up three points in three separate games and had four points in a win over Sault Ste. Marie. Stranges also has three-straight game-winning goals and four game winners during February.
A February to remember
Former London Knight Mitch Marner is on pace for a massive month. Through just seven games for the Maple Leafs the 2016 memorial Cup champion has 12 points, which matches his output over the month of January.
Toronto has won four of the seven games. In the three that the Leafs lost, Marner wasn’t on the scoreboard. The Thornhill, Ont., native had 16 points in a wildly busy month of November when Toronto played 14 times. Marner is on pace to better in the remainder of this month.
Latest Knights 50/50 runs to Monday
The London Knights and the London Knights Alumni Foundation kicked off their latest 50/50 draw on Feb. 16 when London defeated the Guelph Storm 4-2. The draw will be open throughout Family Day weekend to the end of the second period of their game against the Kitchener Rangers on Family Day itself.
Tickets can be purchased at knights5050.com
Up next
London and Kitchener will meet on Family Day at 2 pm at Budweiser Gardens
The teams last played on February 11 at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium where the Rangers became the first team to beat the Knights this season.
The Rangers come into the game after back-to-back losses to the Sarnia Sting. The first came in a shootout on Feb. 15 and the second saw Sarnia double up Kitchener 6-3 on February 18.
Coverage will begin at 1:30 on 980 CFPL, at http://www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.
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