Brett Brochu made 38 saves as the London Knights knocked off the Owen Sound Attack 5-2 at Budweiser Gardens on Friday night.
The Knights scored four times in the opening period, on their way to their 15th victory in 17 games dating back to Nov. 5.
Ruslan Gazizov netted two of the five goals for London. Max McCue had two assists and now has five assists in his past two games. George Diaco had pair of assists as well for the Knights, and Sean McGurn had a goal and a helper as well.
McGurn opened things up on a short-handed breakaway with his 12th of the season. Landon Sim spun and scored his ninth of the year just over five minutes later and Ruslan Gazizov ripped in his eighth goal on a power play and then added number nine on the year seconds after a London man advantage had ended.
Oliver Bonk added a fifth goal for London in the second period short-handed, but Brochu was the big story at the other end of the ice with 18 saves.
The Attack finally solved Brochu when they scored two goals in a span of eight seconds in the third period, but the Knights overage goaltender shut the door the rest of the way. That ended Brochu’s shutout streak after 123 minutes and 51 seconds.
Brochu saved his best stop for Owen Sound sniper Colby Barlow as Barlow connected on a one-timer on an Attack power play in the third period. Brochu came across spread-eagle and snatched the puck out of the air with his glove.
The win for Brochu tied him with Tyler Parsons for third all-time in Knights history at 75.
The victory was also London’s 20th of the season. They moved to within a point of the Saginaw Spirit for top spot in the Western Conference. London does own the best winning percentage in the West.
Ryan Del Monte back with Germany
Knights forward Ryan Del Monte has been named to Team Germany’s roster for the 2023 World Junior Hockey Championship in Halifax, N.S.
Del Monte played for Germany in the World Junior tournament this past summer in Edmonton, Alta. Germany finished 2-2 in round robin play but lost 5-2 to Finland in a quarter-final game.
DelMonte and Germany will face Canada on Dec. 28 at 6:30 p.m. Del Monte’s father Daniel played professionally in Germany for 14 seasons after playing in the OHL with the Sarnia Sting and the Peterborough Petes. Ryan was born in Freiburg, Germany, in 2003.
Marner’s streak stopped at 23 games
It goes into the record books tied for the 20th-longest point streak of all-time in the National Hockey League. Former Knight Mitch Marner was finally held off the scoresheet on Dec. 15 by the New York Rangers as New York topped the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 at Madison Square Garden.
Marner had 11 goals and 21 assists and wound up even with Wayne Gretzky and Guy Lafleur at 23 consecutive games with at least one point. Gretzky holds the NHL record at 51 games dating back to 1983-84.
Up next
London will play their final game before the holiday break on Dec. 17 against the Flint Firebirds at 4 p.m. at Budweiser Gardens.
The Knights and Firebirds have split the two games they have played against each other this year, with Flint winning 6-4 in London, Ont., and the Knights returning the favour the next night with a 7-4 victory in Flint, Mich.
Coverage will begin at 3:30 p.m. on 980 CFPL, at http://www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.
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