In a year where trying to script anything was akin to catching lightning in a bottle the last London Knights game of the regular season felt very Hollywood.
Over-age forward Cody Morgan hit the 30-goal mark with the only goal of the game. Owen Flores made 31 saves for his second career shutout, less than 24 hours after a tough loss in Saginaw, Mich. London blanked the Sarnia Sting 1-0 at Budweiser Gardens.
“It’s been an emotional day,” admitted Morgan. “I just feel lucky to have been able to play in this league.”
Morgan took a nifty feed from rookie forward Denver Barkey and ripped a low shot past Anson Thornton of the Sting at 6:42 of the third period to break a scoreless tie.
Morgan was honoured before the game with fellow over-age players Tye McSorley and Camaryn Baber as their careers will come to an end after 2021-22.
“The last ten games or so have certainly been different,” said McSorley. “You go into a building thinking this will be my last time in here. You do something and you think this will be the last time I do this.”
Sarnia went into the game prepared to fight for their playoff lives knowing that they might need a win over the Knights if the Erie Otters had found a way to win their final game against Hamilton. That pressure was reduced by a large Bulldogs lead as the puck dropped between London and the Sting. When the last touches were put on a 10-2 Hamilton victory, Sarnia exhaled, put starting goaltender Ben Gaudreau on the bench and continued on knowing their year was going to continue into the post-season.
The Knights played their second game without their top three offensive players in Luke Evangelista, Tonio Stranges and Sean McGurn. Baber and Liam Gilmartin were also given the afternoon off as were 19-year old defencemen Gerard Keane and Kirill Steklov.
The Sting outshot London 31-21.
The Knights will now get set for the start of the post-season.
Game 1 against Kitchener will be Thursday, Apr. 21 at 7 pm at Budweiser Gardens.
Evangelista topping charts
Luke Evangelista’s career year saw him lead the Ontario Hockey League in goals with 55. The Knights captain was on of just two players to crack the 50-goal barrier. Brennan Othmann of the Flint Firebirds scored four times in his final game to reach 50. Evangelista finished fourth overall in league scoring with 55 goals and 56 assists for 111 points.
That is the highest point total by a Knights player since 2015-16 when Christian Dvorak had 121 points and Mitch Marner had 116. Evangelista also led the OHL in shots with 340. The Oakville, Ont., native also tied for third with five short-handed goals.
Round 1 about to begin
London and Kitchener will open their Western Conference quarter-final series on Thursday, Apr. 21 at 7 pm at Budweiser Gardens. The first two games will be in London, Ont., before the series shifts to Kitchener, Ont., for the next two.
Should the series go to a Game 5 there would be a five day break between games. Much of that is due to the OHL Priority Selection being held Apr. 29-30.
Schedule:
Game 1 – Apr. 21 – Kitchener at London – 7 pm
Game 2 – Apr. 22 – Kitchener at London – 7 pm
Game 3 – Apr. 24 – London at Kitchener – 2 pm
Game 4 – Apr. 26 – London at Kitchener – 7 pm
Game 5 – May 1 – Kitchener at London – 2 pm* if necessary
Game 6 – May 3 – London at Kitchener – 7 pm* if necessary
Game 5 – May 4 – Kitchener at London – 7 pm* if necessary
Up next
The playoffs begin Thursday, Apr. 21 for the Knights as they host the Kitchener Rangers at 7 pm at Budweiser Gardens in Game 1 of a Western Conference Quarter-final series.
London won the season series between the teams with a recored of 6-2-2 but it had some ebbs and flows to it.
The Knights won the first five games. The Rangers came back and won the next four after that. London finished up with a 4-3 victory on home ice on Apr.13.
Coverage will begin at 6:30 on 980 CFPL, at http://www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.
Comments