Two early third-period goals by the Guelph Storm made the difference in a 6-3 win over the London Knights on Friday night at Budweiser Gardens.
Jake Murray and Hunter McKenzie scored inside the first four minutes of the final period to turn a 3-2 London lead into a 4-3 Storm advantage.
Guelph added a pair of empty-netters by Max Namestnikov and Cooper Walker to finish a four-goal final period.
The Storm have started 2023 by going unbeaten in regulation in five straight games. Their only loss came in overtime against the Knights on Jan. 3.
London was held without a win in back-to-back games for the first time since Oct. 8.
The Knights started off well as Oliver Bonk opened the scoring just 4:37 into the game with a shot from the right side boards in the Storm end that banked past Patrick Leaver to make it 1-0 for London.
After a pair of goals from Braeden Bowman of the Storm Ryan Humphrey got Budweiser Gardens buzzing again as he stole a puck in centre and got deep into Guelph territory. Humphrey turned to absorb contact from a Storm defender and lifted a backhand in the air and onto the stick of Ruslan Gazizov who scored his 13th goal of the year to tie the game 2-2.
George Diaco set up Jacob Julien for the only goal of the second period as Julien took a pass and split the defence and then went to his backhand to make it 3-2 for the Knights.
London outshot the Storm 33-31.
Brett Brochu made 25 saves in goal for the Knights. Patrick Leaver stopped 30 shots for Guelph.
There were only three power plays in the entire game.
The Storm went 1-for-2. London was 0-for-1.
London remains in first place in the Western Conference which sets up a Sunday showdown with the Windsor Spitfires who are a single point behind the Knights with the same number of games played.
Three new Knights Hall of Famers
The Don Brankley London Knights Hall of Fame will welcome three new members on Feb. 8 when the Knights host the Kitchener Rangers. Rick Green, Dennis Wideman and the late Dan Maloney will be enshrined.
All three starred in junior and went on to very successful careers in the National Hockey League. Maloney was a force between 1968 and 1970. He had 31 goals and 232 penalty minutes in his final year before being selected 14th overall by the Chicago Blackhawks.
Green spent four seasons in London and won the Max Kaminsky Trophy as the league’s top defenceman in 1976 before going first overall by Washington in the NHL Draft.
Wideman logged big minutes from 2000-2004 and led the OHL in goals by a defenceman in his final year. He was an NHL All-Star and played 12 seasons.
Three area prospects headed to MacPherson Challenge
The tournament takes place in Aurora, Ont., from Jan. 27-29 and Knights prospects Sam O’Reilly and Will Nicholl will represent the GOJHL as will London Nationals defenceman Tanner Winegard.
O’Reilly was a second-round pick of the Knights in 2022. Nicholl was selected in the third round. Winegard is from Bright’s Grove, Ont., and is property of the Windsor Spitfires. The MacPherson Challenge brings together some of the top Under-18 players in North America.
Up next
London will meet the WIndsor Spitfires and newly acquired Brett Harrison and Shane Wright on Sunday, Jan. 15 at 2 p.m. at Budweiser Gardens.
Harrison is from London, Ont., and he and Wright have been playing on a line with Matt Maggio that promises to be one of the most dangerous trios in the OHL.
The Knights and Spitfires have only met once this season. London won that game 6-1 in Windsor, Ont, on Nov. 12.
Coverage will begin at 1:30 on 980 CFPL, at www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.
Comments