Goaltending was the story in two very different ways on Tuesday night as the Kitchener Rangers doubled up the London Knights 4-2 at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.
Kitchener goalie Pavel Cajan kicked, knocked and blocked every puck directed his way for the first 37 minutes and 13 seconds of the game and made 37 stops in all.
Brett Brochu spent the first 18 minutes and five seconds standing in the Knights crease but then left the game.
The puck was pushed near the London net and without touching it or being touched, Brochu fell forward onto the ice. It was immediately apparent that Brochu was in some discomfort. The issue appeared to be with his left leg. Brochu was attended to by Knights athletic trainer Matt Bogart and wound up leaving with some help from teammates. He did not return.
“We’re going to check him out tomorrow,” said London head coach Dale Hunter. “I don’t think it’s long-term but I’m not a doctor.”
Hunter was complimentary of what Cajan did at the other end of the ice.
“We had some good looks in the slot and he made some big saves,” admitted Hunter.
One of the biggest came in the second period as Isaiah George snuck into the high slot from the blue line, took a pass and ripped a shot at Cajan that the goaltender from Hlubos, Czechia, kicked out a leg to stop it.
Owen Flores stopped 10 of the 12 shots he faced entering the game in relief of Brochu.
London had been able to get off to an excellent start in the game before watching their goalie leave but it was the Rangers who struck first.
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Halfway through the opening period the shot clock read 12-1 London but the scoreboard showed 1-0 Kitchener.
With the Rangers shorthanded, Reid Valade stole a puck at his own blue line and skated alone through three zones on a breakaway and slipped a puck between the legs of Brochu to make it 1-0. Valade has seven goals in eight games against London this season.
Joseph Serpa and Mike Petizian popped in second-period goals to make it 3-0 for Kitchener. Serpa scored his on an individual effort. Petizian knocked in a rebound in front.
London got one of those back as Max McCue’s hard forecheck turned a puck over and the San Jose Sharks prospect fed a pass in front to Camaryn Baber and he wired a shot past Cajan for his 13th goal of the season with 2:47 to go in the middle frame.
The Knights got to within one at the 5:45 mark of the third period when McCue won a faceoff and an Ethan MacKinnon shot hit Liam Gilmartin and went in.
London pulled the goalie on a late power play but Cajan continued to make big saves and Reid Valade was credited with an empty-net goal when he was pulled down on a partial breakaway with 54 seconds remaining.
The Knights outshot Kitchener 39-19.
London leads the season series having won five of the eight games. They won the first five between the teams. Kitchener has won the last three.
The clubs will meet twice more. Both of those games will take place at Budweiser Gardens.
Coach Barch
Former London Knight Krys Barch has put together an unbeaten season with the U9 Huron-Perth Lakers. He coaches the team with Jamie Johnson. Barch says the best part of being behind the bench is what happens away from practicing and playing games.
Barch played in London from 1997-2000 and helped the Knights to get to within one win of the Memorial Cup in 1999.
He went on to play 381 games in the National Hockey League with Dallas, New Jersey and the Florida Panthers. That came after taking a year off in 2003-04 and working his way back into professional hockey through the ECHL the following season.
Throwback jersey auction
London wore jerseys that took them back to the first Knights look the franchise had from 1968-1986. London earned a 4-3 shootout victory over the Guelph Storm in them and now all of those game-worn jerseys are being auctioned off.
The auction is live and will last until March 9 at 7 p.m. You can place bids here.
Up next
The Knights will be in Sarnia, Ont., on Wednesday, March 9 to face the Sting for the first time since Jan. 16.
The game will the the seventh meeting out of 10 this season between the two clubs. London won the first two but Sarnia has reeled off four consecutive wins over the Knights since.
The Sting have two victories in their past three games but had lost four in a row prior to that. They sit in a dogfight with Erie and Kitchener at the moment for the final two playoff spots in the Western Conference.
Coverage will begin at 6:30 on 980 CFPL, at www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.
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