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Knight Watch: London gets three games in four days, including two more on road; Knights tied for fifth in West with Wednesday opponent, Owen Sound; Gatto gets more action; Is it too early to worry about Midwest title streak?
It’s a quick turnaround — and a busy one — for the London Knights this week, as they get an early start and will play their final three games before the holiday break.
It’ll be three games in four nights for the green and gold, starting Wednesday night in Owen Sound, before the team gets an eight day layoff.
Against a shorthanded Brantford team last Sunday, the Knights ran into a hot goalie, David Egoroc, who turned aside all 39 shots London fired his way, helping the Bulldogs blank the Knights 2-0. It was the first time the Knights have been shut out since March 12, 2023, a stretch of 173 regular season games.
It was an odd weekend overall for the Knights, who were without their captain and head coach for two of the three games, as Sam O’Reilly and Dale Hunter were at Canada’s World Junior Camp. The Knights were outshot against Saginaw on Friday but came away with the win, but they lost to both Niagara and Brantford despite holding a solid shot advantage.
Jake Ritson made his OHL debut in Brantford on Sunday. The Thunder Bay native was London’s fifth round pick in the most recent draft. Playing this season with the Strathroy Rockets, Ritson leads all GOHL rookies with 41 points in 28 games.
Sebastian Gatto stopped 49 of 54 shots while starting in back-to-back contests for the first time since the first two games of the season. It had been nearly a month since his last start, as Aleksei Medvedev had started the seven previous games.
The Knights come into a new week having lost seven of their last 11 games — and haven’t won two straight games in over a month. As a result, they’ve slipped to fifth (tied with Owen Sound) in the conference, and they’re currently four points back of Kitchener for the Midwest Division lead. That puts their streak of six straight division titles at risk. The last time London did not finish atop the Midwest was the 2018 season.
While the Knights are in Barrie Saturday, Canada Life Place will host a World Junior pre-tournament game between Canada and Sweden.
UPCOMING GAMEDAYS
Wednesday (Dec. 17, 7:00pm) @ Owen Sound Attack (17-14-0-3, 5th in the Western Conference)
This is a good midweek matchup between a pair of Midwest Division foes. The Knights and Attack head into the contest tied with 37 points. Owen Sound has lost four straight and has won only two of its last nine games. That’s a far cry from the team that lost just twice in their first nine games of the season. The Attack are a different looking team without Carter George in net, although George is winless against the Knights in his career despite some show stopping efforts. Komoka’s Matthew Koprowski has started the last two games. Trenton Bennett was in net when the Attack beat London in overtime earlier this season. Pierce Mbuyi is tied for the league lead with 11 powerplay goals and is tied for sixth in OHL scoring with 41 points. Tristan Delisle has already set career highs in goals and points this season. He’s also been a wizard in the faceoff circle, winning 463 draws — 120 more than the next highest guy.
Friday (Dec. 19, 7:00pm) vs. Oshawa Generals (9-22-0-0, 10th in Eastern Conference)
This is a very different matchup from what we saw in the OHL Final last season. Both teams are in a bit of a rebuild mode, especially Oshawa, who sit last in the OHL and have scored the fewest goals in the league. Beckett Sennecke is in the NHL, and captain Ben Danford was traded to Brantford, so not much remains from the two powerhouse teams that made it to the OHL Finals in back-to-back years. Londoner Harrison Franssen has had a solid season, producing 10 goals and six assists in 29 games. Usually a forward, Franssen has also spent some time on the blueline for the Generals, as recently as last weekend. Owen Griffin leads the team in scoring with 14 goals and 29 points. He’s the only Gen at a point per game pace.
Saturday (Dec. 20, 7:30pm) @ Barrie Colts (18-8-1-4, 2nd in Eastern Conference)
The Colts are one of the hottest teams in the OHL, winners of nine of their last 10. The Knights are catching them at a good time, though, with their top two scorers, Cole Beaudoin and Kashawn Aitcheson, at Canada’s World Junior Camp. Aitcheson leads all OHL defencemen with 19 goals, five of which have been game winners. Ben Hrebik is one of league’s elite goaltenders, leading his peers with a .930 save percentage. He’s had a string of four straight starts where he allowed just a single goal and has won 11 of his last 13 games. The Colts are the third most penalized team in the OHL and their penalty kill is around the middle of the pack. Gabriel Eliasson leads all players with 58 penalty minutes through 25 games.
KNIGHTS BY THE NUMBERS
173 – The Knights were shut out last Sunday for the first time in 173 regular season games. They were last blanked March 12, 2023 in a 4-0 loss to North Bay.
885 – Former Knights captain and Londoner Justin Taylor set the ECHL record for games played with 885. He played 231 games as a Knight, totaling 102 goals and 202 points.
26 – Jaxon Cover is up to 26 points this season, fourth most among OHL rookies.
A LOOK AT THE LOCALS
– It was the breakout game Ryan Roobroeck desperately needed, and it came against the Knights last Thursday. He scored two goals and added two assists against the team he cheered for growing up. He finished the three-game weekend with seven points.
– Parker Vaughan of St. Thomas is starting to find his groove with North Bay. The draft-eligible forward has three goals and an assist in his last three games.
– Eric Frossard scored his first OHL goal in Guelph’s loss to Sarnia on Friday night.
