Cody Morgan’s second goal of the game and 29th of the season gave the London Knights a 4-3 win over the Kitchener Rangers at Budweiser Gardens.
Morgan has been London’s hottest scorer of late and now has eight goals in his past fives games.
The victory ended a six-game winless skid for the Knights, clinched the season series between the teams and set the final shot over the bow before the clubs meet in just over a week to begin a best-of-seven first round playoff series.
Morgan’s eventual game winner came just past the midway mark of the third period on a London power play and at the time made it 4-2 for the Knights.
Kitchener closed the gap to one on a short-handed goal by Trent Swick with 6:47 to go in regulation but a massive stop by Owen Flores and a late penalty kill by London allowed the Knights to hang on.
Morgan also assisted on Tonio Stranges’ first period goal that had put London ahead on one of three occasions.
Luke Evangelista’s OHL-leading 55th of the year broke a 2-2 tie in the second period.
Carson Rehkopf and Adrian Miseljevic also scored for Kitchener.
Jackson Parsons faced 47 shots in net for the Rangers and made 43 saves. Flores stopped 23 for London.
A ceremony was held before the game to honour the members of the 2021-22 Don Brankley London Knights Hall of Fame: Danny Syvret, Tom Kostopoulos, Dave Simpson. Pat Riggin and Bill Long and Darryl Edestrand who were remembered posthumously.
Another post-season chapter
The London Knights and the Kitchener Rangers will meet in the playoffs for the 11th time in their histories in the first round of the 2022 OHL post-season.
London has the upper hand with eight wins in the first 10 matchups. The Knights have also won five series in a row dating back to 2010. The last series win in 2016 by London was part of 17 victories on the way to a Memorial Cup championship in Red Deer, Alta.
Official Hall of Famers
Prior to the start of the game on Wednesday at Budweiser Gardens, six new members were enshrined in the Don Brankley Hall of Fame.
Bill Long, Darryl Edestrand, Pat Riggin, Dave Simpson, Tom Kostopoulos and Danny Syvret were all enshrined. Each year the Don Brankley Hall of Fame recognizes one builder and one player from each of the decades that the Knights franchise has been in existence along with a player from the post-2000 era.
The Don Brankley Hall of Fame can be found at the east end of the third floor concourse at Budweiser Gardens.
Up next
Two games remain on the Knights regular season schedule. They will be played in under 24 hours and will act as London’s final tune-up before their first round matchup with Kitchener.
The Knights will be in Saginaw, Mich., on Saturday, Apr. 16 to meet the Spirit and then return home on Sunday, Apr. 17 to host the Sarnia Sting at 2 p.m. at Budweiser Gardens.
Coverage will get going at 6:30 pm for the game against Saginaw on 980 CFPL, at www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.
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