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Knight Watch: London won both their games last weekend (in overtime) to give them their first two victories of the season; Five of six games decided by one goal so far; Defense and goaltending has been strong suit.
The London Knights finally found themselves on the celebratory side of an overtime decision — twice! — last weekend, as they recorded their first two victories of the season.
Having already lost two overtime contests in the early going of the 2025-26 season, the Knights got a different result with wins over Flint and Guelph. Sam O’Reilly capped off a two-goal effort Friday with an overtime winner at Canada Life Place, while Ben Wilmot’s first OHL goal was the difference in Guelph Saturday.
Jared Wooley had another three-point weekend. He leads the Knights with four goals and six points through four games since returning from training camp with the Los Angeles Kings.
“It was a great learning experience, playing with guys who have played a lot of NHL games and learning how to be a pro,” Woolley told Gameday London.
Five out of London’s six games so far have been decided by one goal — with four of those games needing overtime. Woolley says that’s valuable experience early in the season.
“As the year gets going, it seems the games tend to get tighter,” the defenseman said. “It’s good for the guys to get used to it now, playing in these tight games and learning how to close them out.”
The Knights, who played much more disciplined last weekend, were short handed just three times, killing off all three penalties successfully. Despite losing the first four games of the season, Woolley says there was no sign of panic among his teammates.
“We just take it game by game and try to win the next one,” he said. “Every win is important. You don’t want to look back in March and wish we had picked up some more wins earlier in the season. They can make all the difference.”
A pair of home games are on tap this weekend, including a rematch with the Erie Otters Friday, and then the first meeting of the regular season with the Sarnia Sting Saturday. For that game, the first 1,000 fans in the building will receive commemorative Memorial Cup banners matching the new addition to the rafters at Canada Life Place. Saturday’s game will also be the first time this season that London dons its black ‘Spider Knight’ alternate jersey.
UPCOMING GAMEDAYS
Friday (Oct. 10, 7:00pm) vs. Erie Otters (2-5-0-0, 9th in Western Conference)
The Otters came from behind to beat London in overtime a couple weeks back, but they’ve lost two straight since. Gabriel Frasca had two goals in that win over London — including the overtime winner. He leads the Otters with seven points. The next highest scorer has three. Goaltender Noah Erliden has been busy, making 97 saves over his last two starts. Both of Erie’s wins this season needed extra time. They also earned a shootout victory over Peterborough.
Saturday (Oct. 11, 7:00pm) vs. Sarnia Sting (3-3-0-0, 7th in Western Conference)
The Sting have won three of their last four games, scoring 20 goals during that stretch. Jack Van Volsen, who was acquired in an offseason trade with Brampton, has five goals through six games. Komoka’s Beckham Edwards leads this team in scoring with eight points (he has points in five straight games). Parkhill’s Jordan Bax made the Sting as an overage free agent, and he has two goals so far.
KNIGHTS BY THE NUMBERS
26 – More than two dozen Knights alumni are on NHL rosters to start the 2025-26 season: Nikita Zadorov (Boston), Nazem Kadri (Calgary), Patrick Kane (Detroit), Matthew Tkachuk (Florida), Corey Perry (Los Angeles), Josh Anderson (Montreal), Luke Evangelista (Nashville), Michael McCarron (Nashville), Paul Cotter (New Jersey), Adam Boqvist (NYI), Bo Horvat (NYI), Jesse Nurmi (NYI), Oliver Bonk (Philadelphia), Christian Dvorak (Philadelphia), Sam Dickinson (San Jose), Ryan Winterton (Seattle), Logan Mailloux (St. Louis), Robert Thomas (St. Louis), Max Domi (Toronto), Anthony Stolarz (Toronto), John Tavares (Toronto), Olli Maatta (Utah), Mitch Marner (Vegas), John Carlson (Washington), Connor McMichael (Washington), and Vladislav Namestnikov (Winnipeg)
5 – Five of London’s six games this season have been decided by one goal, with four of those games needing overtime.
25 – Sebastian Gatto made 25 saves on Saturday to record his first OHL win.
A LOOK AT THE LOCALS
– Beckham Edwards now has points in five straight games for the Sarnia Sting. He’s only been held off the scoresheet once this season.
– Harrison Franssen had a goal and assist during a busy three-game weekend for the Oshawa Generals.
– Noah Nelson had his first multi-point effort with his new team, picking up a pair of assists to help Owen Sound deal Windsor their first loss of the season on Sunday.
– For the second consecutive season, former London Junior Knight Jett Luchanko has made the Philadelphia Flyers opening night roster.
