Shane Wright had two goals and an assist and Joey Costanzo made 40 saves as the Windsor Spitfires defeated the London Knights 4-1 on Sunday afternoon.
Costanzo stymied the Knights until the final five minutes of the game, when Ryan Winterton scored off a faceoff with the London net empty. Costanzo has now won nine games in a row. The Spitfires have won four straight and seven of their last eight, and increased their lead over the Knights atop the Western Conference to three points. Windsor has played one more game than London.
The Knights have dropped three straight for just the second time in 2022-23 and will look for a spark in Kitchener, Ont., on Tuesday, Jan. 17.
Londoner Brett Harrison opened the scoring on a Windsor power play at 2:58 of the first period. The goal gave Harrison his fifth goal and ninth point in six games with the Spitfires.
Windsor cashed in again on a man advantage after the Knights took two minor penalties on the same play. Seven seconds into the power play, Roddy Dionicio got the puck to Shane Wright, who scored his third goal in three games as a Spitfire.
London came out in the second period and fired six shots at Costanzo in the first five minutes, but Windsor added to their lead shortly after when Matt Maggio found a loose puck in centre ice. He went in alone to score his 30th goal of the season and the Spitfires took a 3-0 lead into the final 20 minutes.
After Winterton’s goal got the Knights on the scoreboard, George Diaco rung a shot off the goal post that nearly tightened the gap to one before Wright finished the scoring with just under 41 seconds to go.
London outshot the Spitfires 41-23.
McCann helps Kraken set brand new NHL record
Imagine what a seven-game road trip must be like in the National Hockey League. With travel, it takes roughly two weeks to complete. It’s a grind. Going .500 would feel like a moral victory.
The Seattle Kraken may not have seen it that way. The second-year National Hockey League franchise just finished up seven straight road games with a perfect 7-0 record. No team in NHL history has ever done that. That’s 105 years of road trips.
The Kraken began their trek on Jan. 3 in Edmonton, Alta., with a 5-2 win over the Oilers, and finished it on Jan. 14 by thrashing the Chicago Blackhawks 8-5. Seattle scored on six of their first seven shots and Stratford, Ont., native Jared McCann recorded his first NHL hat trick. McCann played minor hockey with both Elgin-Middlesex and the London Jr. Knights.
In between the Oilers and the ‘Hawks, the Kraken beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Ottawa Senators, the Montreal Canadiens and the Buffalo Sabres. They were the first (and still only) club to knock off the Boston Bruins in regulation on their home ice.
Canada wins gold at the Women’s Under-18 World Hockey Championship
Canada earned their second consecutive gold medal at the Under-18 Women’s World Hockey Championship with a 10-0 victory over Sweden on Sunday afternoon. Londoner Keira Hurry had two assists in the game. Emma Pais of London, Ont., had one assist. Caitlin Kraemer had four more goals for Canada to end the tournament with 10 total goals in six games. In all, five area players were part of the Canadian roster. Hurry and Pais of London, Ont., along with Jocelyn Amos of Ailsa Craig, Ont., Shelby Laidlaw of St. Thomas, Ont., and Abby Stonehouse of Blenheim, Ont.
Up next
The Knights head for Kitchener, Ont., and a game against the Rangers.
Kitchener headed into the holiday break on a six-game winning streak. They came out of the break and proceeded to lose seven straight games.
The teams have only played once so far this year. Brett Brochu made 28 saves on Nov. 25 in a 4-0 London win.
Coverage will begin at 6:30 on 980 CFPL, at http://www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.
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