Statement win in Windsor; Knights dominating close games

Knight Watch: London’s 4-3 shootout win over Windsor Thursday has them tops in the Western Conference; It’s Sarnia on Friday, as Knights continue winning the close games. Columnist Jake Jeffrey has all the latest news & notes …

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

* * *

Another narrow win over the Windsor Spitfires Thursday has the London Knights out in front of the Western Conference standings.

The Knights now hold a two-point advantage after taking Thursday night’s game 4-3 in a shootout in Windsor. Both teams have 10 games left in their regular season schedules, and they’ll face off two more times in the final weekend before the OHL playoffs begin.

A statement game for London, Thursday’s game marked the first time this season Windsor has lost when leading after two periods. A comeback is very in character for the Knights, though, who have won seven of the 18 games in which they have trailed after 40 minutes.

There’s been plenty of close hockey lately for London. Each of their last four wins have either come in a shootout or overtime. They’ve won 13 of their last 16, with seven of those wins needing extra time. London has been tremendous in one-goal games this season — a big reason they now lead the Western Conference and have a stranglehold on the Midwest Division.

That division lead is now up to 21 points over Guelph, who is fifth place in the conference. Owen Sound is 23 points back and has 13 games left on the schedule. The Storm can’t mathematically catch London, and Owen Sound would need a lot to go right in their favour to do so. The Knights, in other words, are well on their way to a third straight division title — and 15th in franchise history.

Brett Brochu picked up the win Thursday, his 86th in a Knights uniform. He’s now seven wins back of Michael Houser for the franchise record — with 10 games remaining. With the loss in Owen Sound last weekend, backup Zach Bowen saw his consecutive win streak come to an end at an impressive 15 games. It was his first loss since late in October.

London is set to play their next five games on the road as the Brier curling event takes place at Budweiser Gardens through March 12. The Knights are in Sarnia Friday night, and then they’ll play in Barrie, Sudbury, and North Bay next weekend.

Isaiah George returned to the London lineup in Windsor after missing the previous four games. He caught a high hit Thursday night that resulted in a five-minute major for Windsor’s Rodwin Dionicio.

Former Knights captain Luke Evangelista, who topped the 50-goal mark last season, made his NHL debut with the Nashville Predators on Feb. 28. Last night (March 2), he picked up his first point in his second game, an assist against the Florida Panthers.

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

* * *

UPCOMING GAMEDAYS

Friday (March 3, 7:05pm) @ Sarnia Sting (32-17-5-3, 3rd in Western Conference)

Plenty of familiarity here, as the Knights face off against the Sting for the third straight weekend. And they have been exciting games, with all three of their recent meetings being decided by one goal. Sarnia has just two losses in their last eight games — both coming against London. Nolan Burke scored a pair of goals against London last weekend, giving him six in the season series so far. He’s currently riding an eight-game point streak with nine goals and 15 points over that span.

Sasha Pastujov has just one goal against London this season, but he’s tallied three goals and six points in his last three games. Ty Voit has yet to find the back of the net against the Knights this year, but he’s also hot lately, with two goals and seven assists over his last five games. Voit leads the OHL with 70 assists, 10 more than the next-highest mark. Goaltender Benjamin Gaudreau hasn’t had a regulation loss in six straight starts, four of which have been wins. This will be the final meeting between the Knights and Sting this season. Though they’ve played London tough, Sarnia has just won win in the season series heading into Friday’s contest.

A LOOK AT THE LOCALS

Former Elgin-Middlesex Canucks grad Brady Stonehouse is up to 30 goals, leading the Ottawa 67’s in that category. 

Dylan Roobroeck scored the OT winner for the Oshawa Generals as they topped the league-leading Ottawa 67’s. The former London Junior Knight has two goals and seven points in his last five games.

Dylan’s younger brother, Ryan Roobroeck, won a gold medal with Team Ontario at the Canada Winter Games. Ethan Weir, Ryan’s teammate with the London Junior Knights, was also on that gold medal-winning team.

Strathroy’s Hunter Haight has signed an entry level contract with the Minnesota Wild. Haight was a second round pick of the Wild in the 2022 NHL Draft.

After missing a month and a half with an injury, Guelph’s first round pick Jett Luchanko returned to the lineup this past weekend.

KNIGHTS BY THE NUMBERS

5 - Easton Cowan has five points — a goal and four assists — over his last three games.

20 - Denver Barkey and Ruslan Gazizov both hit the 20-goal mark recently, giving London five 20-goal scorers on their roster.

13 - Of the 15 games that have required overtime this season, the Knights have won 13 of them — with six overtime wins and seven shootout victories. They’ve lost just twice in OT, most recently against Guelph last weekend.

18 - The Knights have an impressive edge in one-goal hockey games, winning 18 times by a single goal while losing on just five occasions.

40 - London reached the 40-win mark Thursday, something they’ve accomplished three seasons in a row. 

AROUND THE OHL

The Sarnia Sting dominated North Bay Sunday to the tune of an 8-2 victory — a very impressive showing against one of the league’s top defensive teams. It was made even more impressive by the fact the Sting were delayed getting back into town the night before. Travelling back from a 6-1 win in Saginaw, their bus broke down and the team didn’t arrive back home until the early morning hours Sunday.

Fresh off signing a contract with the New York Islanders, overage goaltender Tristan Lennox made 59 saves as Saginaw shut out Peterborough 2-0 Thursday night.

North Bay forward Josh Bloom was caught up in the NHL Trade deadline, as the former Buffalo Sabres prospect was traded to the Vancouver Canucks.

Barrie’s Brandt Clarke has been named OHL Defenceman of the Month for the second straight month. He had 19 points in 13 February games. Windsor’s Matthew Maggio was named Player of the Month, Ottawa’s Collin MacKenzie was the top goaltender, and Sudbury netminder Nate Krawchuk was the Rookie of the Month.