Montreal Canadiens draft pick Owen Beck banged in a rebound 2:07 into overtime as the Mississauga Steelheads defeated the London Knights 5-4 on Friday night.
The goal ended an entertaining game that burst back and forth and saw the teams tied three separate times.
It also marked the debuts of George Diaco and Alec Leoonard in London uniforms.
Diaco did exactly what he was brought in to do as he scored a goal, broke up plays and had a couple of key shot blocks. Leonard was a solid presence on defence and ended the game a plus-one.
London fell behind early after goals by Charlie Callaghan on a wrap-around and a pick of a top-corner shot by Beck put Mississauga ahead 2-0 only 5:28 into the game.
Sam Dickinson changed the momentum as he scored his first goal in the OHL on an absolute blast from the blue line after Mathieu Paris pushed a puck through a pile back to the London rookie. That cut Mississauga’s lead in half.
Diaco tied the game with a beautiful inside-outside move in his first game with a Knights logo on his chest since he played for the London Jr. Knights in the 17-18 season.
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Diaco was acquired by London from the Hamilton Bulldogs on Oct. 11.
The teams exchanged goals in the second period as former Knights first-round draft picks Luca Testa and Denver Barkey combined to set up Ryan Del Monte at the 2:20 mark for his first goal of the year to give London their first lead of the game.
Zachary Lavoie got that back just under six minutes later with his fifth goal in his fifth game of the season.
Columbus prospect Luca Del Bel Belluz banged in a rebound to put the Steelheads back in front 4-3 with 7:26 remaining in regulation time.
The Knights pressed and a late power play gave them a chance late and Dickinson put a puck to the net and Denver Barkey tipped it past reigning OHL Goaltender of the Week Alessio Beglieri to ultimately push the game to overtime where two early chances by the Knights failed to find the back of the net and opened the door for Beck and Mississauga.
Brett Brochu made 21 saves in goal for London. Beglieri stopped 27 pucks for the Steelheads.
Two Trade Tuesday
The Knights made two deals on Oct. 11 that effectively brought in forward George Diaco and defenceman Alec Leonard for defenceman Gerard Keane and a 12th round draft pick. London traded away a 2nd rounder and a 3rd rounder in the deal for Diaco but received 2nd and 3rd round picks in return for Keane.
Montreal Canadiens return Logan Mailloux to London
The Canadiens announced on Oct. 13 that defenceman Logan Mailloux was being loaned to the Knights for the 2022-23 season. Mailloux had an extended stay in Montreal following the end of training camp as he continued to rehabilitate a should injury that he suffered while playing for the Knights in 2021-22.
Mailloux did not appear in any rookie tournament games for the Canadiens or in any pre-season games either.
Up next
London heads for Hamilton, Ont., on Sunday to face the defending OHL Champion Bulldogs.
George Diaco will be facing his former teammates for the first time since being acquired by the Knights.
Coverage will begin at 1:30 p.m. on 980 CFPL, at www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.
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