Knight Watch: London winless through four games, including two overtime defeats; Defense has done the scoring so far; Rare quiet offense looks to pick it up in Week 3 (vs. Flint and Guelph).
Even with some reinforcements back in the lineup last weekend, the London Knights went winless in two contests and are still searching for their first victory of the young season.
Jared Woolley, one of six players who returned from an NHL camp to make his season debut last weekend, had an immediate impact, scoring three of London’s four goals in their losses to Brampton (2-1) and Erie (4-3 in OT). The other was also scored by a defenceman, Linus Funck, who netted his first career OHL goal.
With just three of London’s goals so far coming from forwards, offense has been the biggest question mark to start the 2025-26 season. It’s not unexpected from a relatively new group that is still trying to settle into the league and learn the team systems that have made the Knights so successful in recent years. That takes time. At the moment, however, their seven goals overall are tied for lowest in the OHL with the Sudbury Wolves, who just happen to be the only other team without a win.
Slow starts aren’t exactly uncommon for London, who usually begins the year with several players away at pro camps. They lost three of their first four games last season, and they lost four straight to begin the 2022-23 campaign. That was the last time a Knights team lost four in a row. That squad, remember, went on to win 45 games and capture the Midwest Division, eventually falling to the Peterborough Petes in the OHL Finals. That, too, was a young team in need of some seasoning.
Aleksei Medvedev made 23 saves in his season debut on Friday, but he didn’t get much help from the offence. The Knights mustered only 16 shots in the loss, nine of which came in the first period. Sebastian Gatto has looked fairly comfortable through his first three starts, although his stats don’t quite reflect it at the moment.
A full week of practice will be very beneficial for the Knights, who need to work on closing out games. Three of their losses have come after surrendering third-period leads.
This weekend offers a good opportunity for London to get their first win. Although both Flint and Guelph have been scoring at a much higher rate than London so far, they each had lopsided losses last weekend.
UPCOMING GAMEDAYS
Friday (Oct. 3, 7:00pm) vs. Flint (1-2-0-0, 8th in Western Conference)
The Firebirds have dropped two straight since their season-opening win. Former London Junior Knight Matthew Wang scored his second of the season in Sunday’s loss to Sarnia. He leads the Firebirds with five points through his first three games. Flint has lost two straight and has given up four or more goals in all three games they’ve played. After three years with Kingston, overage netminder Mason Vaccari has struggled in his first two games with his new team.
Saturday (Oct. 4, 4:07pm) at Guelph (2-2-0-0, 6th in Western Conference)
Jett Luchanko is getting another long look from the Philadelphia Flyers as he remains at training camp with the big club. He played four regular season NHL games last year before eventually rejoining the Storm in late October. London’s Parker Snelgrove and Ilderton’s Noah Jenken both have a goal and an assist through their first handful of games. Eric Frossard is another local prospect on the Storm. He’s committed to the University of Notre Dame for the 2026-27 season.
KNIGHTS BY THE NUMBERS
57 – Four of London’s seven goals thus far have been scored by defencemen; that’s 57% coming from the blue line.
3 – London has played 12 periods of hockey, not including overtime, and they’ve been held to less than five shots in three of them.
0 – The Knights and Sudbury Wolves are the only remaining teams without a win this season.
A LOOK AT THE LOCALS
– Carter Hicks scored his first of the season in Windsor’s victory over Barrie Friday night.
– Charlie Robertson had a 33-save shutout to win his second game in as many nights. It’s Robertson’s fifth career shutout, and first since March 2024.
– After being held off the scoresheet in his season debut, Komoka’s Beckham Edwards has points in three straight games, including a three-point effort in Sunday’s win over Flint.
