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Knight Watch: London explodes for 10 goals vs. Petes; Jaxon Cover notches season’s first hat trick; Knights have won five of last six — but remain in 5th place. Next up: North Bay at home, Erie on the road.
The London Knights have won five of their last six games — but, unfortunately, they haven’t gained any ground in the standings.
The problem? The teams they’re chasing have been winning as well.
The Soo Greyhounds have won eight straight, including a win over London, and the Kitchener Rangers just had their own eight-game win streak snapped on Wednesday night. The Rangers have points in 11 straight.
Coming into this weekend, the fifth-place Knights remain three points back of the Soo, and 10 points behind Kitchener. However, their recent success has helped London put a nice 15-point cushion ahead of sixth-place Owen Sound.
The Knights’ latest win, a 10-2 thumping of Peterborough on Sunday, in which they took advantage of an injury-riddled Petes’ team, was one of those games where everything seemed to go right. Eight players had multi-point efforts, and only three Knights finished the game without a point.
Jaxon Cover recorded his first career hat trick — the first hat trick by a Knight this season. Ryan Brown found the back of the net again. He has goals in four straight games, scoring six times over that stretch.
It was a much closer game against Sarnia Friday night, as London scored twice in the third period to force overtime before Henry Brzustewicz scored the game winner. With that win, the Knights improved to an impressive 13-4-3-0 in one-goal games this season.
London will go for a third straight win Friday night when they host North Bay. The Battalion won the only meeting this season between the two teams, a 5-2 victory back in October. The Knights will then travel to Erie on Saturday, a team they play three more times this season. The Otters have really struggled lately, and they’re still winless in 2026, losing nine straight — although they were able to force overtime in their last two.
Next Wednesday, the Knights will see some familiar faces when they host the Kitchener Rangers. Both Sam O’Reilly and Jared Woolley have had a major impact with their new club. O’Reilly has been playing on the top line in Kitchener with Jack Pridham and Christian Humphreys. He has 12 points and five goals, three of which have been game winners.
UPCOMING GAMEDAYS
Friday (Jan. 30, 7:00pm) vs. North Bay Battalion (24-20-2-0, 5th in Eastern Conference)
This is a battle between two fifth-place teams in their respective conferences. North Bay has lost four of its last five games, but the team had won five straight prior to that. St. Thomas native Parker Vaughan has 10 goals and 24 points in his sophomore season. The Battalion have a couple of NHL draft picks up front in captain Ethan Procyszyn and leading scorer Lirim Amidovski. North Bay has really struggled on special teams. They have the league’s least efficient penalty kill, while their powerplay is fourth worst in the OHL. In net, a pair of 19-year-olds have split duties, but Jack Lisson has handled the bulk of the workload as Mike McIvor recovers from a lower-body injury. Both have appeared in 23 games this season, and Lisson played in Windsor Thursday night.
Sunday (Jan. 31, 2:00pm) @ Erie Otters (14-27-2-2, 9th in Western Conference)
On the final day of the month, the Otters are still searching for their first win of 2026. Oddly enough, their most recent win on Dec. 30 came over Brantford, one of the OHL’s top teams. That’s junior hockey for you. The Knights will benefit from a strong start, as Erie has just one win when trailing after the first period — and have lost all 23 times they’ve trailed going into the third. There will be a little bit of extra fun in this one, as the Otters host Star Wars Night at Erie Insurance Arena. Michael Dec and Andrew Kuzma have been bright spots this month since joining the Otters via trade. Dec leads the team with 46 points, 31 of which have come since being traded from Owen Sound. Scoring has been an issue. During their nine-game losing streak, the Otters were held to a single goal on five occasions.
Wednesday (Feb. 4, 6:30pm) vs. Kitchener Rangers (31-11-4-1, 2nd in Western Conference)
The Rangers are looking to secure their first Midwest Division crown since 2018. They come into the weekend with points in 11 straight games and just one regulation loss in their last 16 contests. They’ve certainly been one of the best teams in the OHL this year. This will be a homecoming game for Sam O’Reilly and Jared Woolley, who have both had a solid month since joining the Rangers at the trade deadline. O’Reilly is centreing Kitchener’s top line with Jack Pridham and Christian Humphreys on his wings. Humphreys leads the OHL with 42 assists, while Pridham’s 31 goals are second most. Kitchener’s powerplay is fifth best in the OHL, and it should be a good matchup for London’s penalty killers, who have been fourth best. The Rangers are also very dangerous on the kill, with a league-leading 13 shorthanded goals. Pridham has four of those, one of which came against London.
KNIGHTS BY THE NUMBERS
10 – The Knights exploded for 10 goals against Peterborough on Sunday, marking the third straight season they’ve hit double digits in a game. They did so once last year and twice during the 2023-24 season.
3 – Jaxon Cover recorded his first OHL hat trick in Sunday’s lopsided win. He’s the first Knight to score three in a game this season.
12 – London’s overtime win Friday night was the 12th time the Knights have gone to overtime this season. They’ve won seven in OT, and twice in a shootout.
A LOOK AT THE LOCALS
– Myles Dunn registered his first OHL point. The former Elgin Middlesex Canuck was called up by the Sarnia Sting this week. He has 48 points through 37 games with the GOHL’s St. Thomas Stars this season.
– Brennan Faulkner, who has 26 points in his overage season with the Peterborough Petes, has committed to NCAA’s Robert Morris for next season.
– Playing in his first game in more than two months, Ilderton native and former Knight Noah Jenken picked up an assist for the Guelph Storm on Friday.
