The London Knights finished off four consecutive wins on the road by doubling up the Oshawa Generals 4-2 on Sunday night in Oshawa, Ont.
Brett Brochu made 34 stops for London and Ben Bujold scored the game winner in the second period during a play that you don’t see every day.
It was actually started by the Generals at the London blue line. Oshawa defenceman Lleyton Moore was carrying the puck across the blue line when he collided with his teammate Ben Danford and Brody Crane swooped in, grabbed the puck and raced down the ice on a breakaway with Ben Bujold. Crane fed Bujold a pass and the Kanata, Ont., native converted for his second goal of the season. Crane ended up with two assists on the night.
Sean McGurn and Denver Barkey scored first period goals for London. McGurn had a goal and two assists and now has at least one point in 12 of his past 13 games. Barkey now has points in eight consecutive games.
Easton Cowan finished the scoring with an empty-netter in the final ten seconds of the game after the Generals hit the outside of the net on a chance in tight and Logan Mailloux of the Knights flung a puck the length of the ice and put it off the post on the empty Oshawa net.
Brochu came up with big stops on four different occasions in the final 20 minutes.
Former London Jr. Knight Dylan Roobroeck scored on a power play for the Generals in the first period. Roobroeck also set up Cameron Butler for the other Oshawa goal in the second period.
The Knights road record now stands at a league best 9-2.
They will host Guelph on Tuesday, Nov. 29 as they unveil something brand new jersey. More details below.
Marner chasing Sittler
When Mitch Marner opened the scoring 40 seconds into an eventual 4-1 win by the Toronto Maple Leafs over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Nov. 26 the former Knight stretched his point streak to 16 games. The all-time Maple Leafs record is 18 games and it is shared by Eddie Olczyk and another former Knight in Darryl Sittler.
Marner is currently tied with Dave Andreychuk, John Anderson and Babe Dye who had points in 16 consecutive games 101 years ago in the 1921-22 season. According to Sportsnet Stats Toronto is 14-01 when Marner, Auston Matthews and William Nylander score in the same game.
London Jr. Knights crack top-3 in first OHL Cup rankings
The London Jr. Knights U16 team grabbed the number three spot in the first OHL Cup rankings of the year. Only the York-Simcoe Express (#2) and the Toronto Marlboros (#1) ranked higher.
The Jr. Knights competed in the Silver Stick tournament in Whitby, Ont., this past weekend and went undefeated into the quarter-final only to lose to the Toronto Jr. Canadiens.
Dylan Roobroeck and Ethan Weir are both considered top picks for the 2023 OHL Priority Selection but it is expected that a number of Jr. Knights will hear their names called on draft day. The Jr. Knights are coached by Danny Syvret who captained the Team of the Century in 2004-05.
Up next
London will continue a run of ten games in 18 days on Tuesday, Nov. 29 at home to the Guelph Storm where they will be unveiling a new jersey. The Knights have been giving fans hints on social media leading up to what will be a big unveiling for anyone in attendance.
The jersey will become a part of the Knights uniform collection going forward and will be worn multiple times this year.
The game will mark the first meeting between London and Guelph this year. The Storm have reeled off four consecutive wins since starting the year 4-12-1-2.
Guelph has allowed more goals against in 2022-23 than any other team. They have been sparked by the addition of Max Namestnikov who they acquired in a trade with the Sarnia Sting on Nov. 17. Namestnikov had nine points in four games with Guelph. He is the younger brother of former Knight Vladislav Namestnikov.
Coverage will begin at 6:30 on 980 CFPL, at http://www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.