The Ottawa 67’s have some company at the top.
They have been out in front of everyone in the Ontario Hockey League for the entire season, but a 7-3 victory by the Knights in Windsor on Thursday moved London right alongside Ottawa with 68 points.
The 67’s will say that one more win still gives them the edge — they have 32 and the Knights have 31 — but London will remind them that they still have a game in hand.
The stats show both teams still have weeks left in their respective seasons to sort things out entirely.
London built a 4-0 lead through two periods and then kept ahead of a push from the Spitfires through the final 20 minutes.
“I thought we started off really well,” said London associate general manager Rob Simpson.
“We got in our forecheck and we didn’t turn any pucks over in the neutral zone and when we got down below the top of the circles, I thought we cycled [the puck] well.”
London made the game read like a textbook, giving up just 13 shots on goal heading into the third period. Will Cuylle of Windsor changed the complexion of the game with two goals just 14 seconds apart by the 1:35 mark, but as Knights assistant coach Dylan Hunter pointed out, the team didn’t panic.
“We let off the pedal a little bit and they came back, but it was good adversity for our guys and they came through it.”
The Knights were playing their fifth consecutive road game and wound up going 3-1-1 over that span. They will now return home to finish both their home-and-home series with Windsor and their season series with the Spitfires on Friday night at Budweiser Gardens.
Joseph Raaymakers made 23 saves and earned his 100th career victory in the OHL. He has split his wins between London and Sault Ste. Marie, where the Chatham native started his career. Raaymakers has 50 wins for both teams.
Six London players recorded multiple point nights. Billy Moskal scored twice, including the last goal of the game into an empty net. Cole Tymkin had a goal and two assists. Kevin Hancock had a goal and one assist to move back into third place in league scoring. Evan Bouchard, Adam Boqvist and Alec Regula each had two assists. Regula is now has 31 points on the year.
Tymkin says he’s looking forward to playing a home game on Friday night.
“It’s going to be good to see the fans and hopefully play well to lead into a big game [in Oshawa] on Sunday,” he said.
The Knights own the OHL’s best road winning percentage. They are 19-3-1-1 at home.
The London Knights congratulate goaltender Joseph Raaymakers on his 100th career win in the OHL.
How the goals were scored
Tonio Stranges was rewarded for following his shot. He took one in the Windsor end that hit a defender’s skate. Stranges won a race to it and beat Colton Incze in the Spitfires net to make it 1-0 London.
Tymkin got a piece of a Bouchard shot from the right point, and it deflected into the Windsor goal at 12:31 of the first period, and the score sat 2-0 London after 20 minutes.
A Bouchard shot led to the Knights’ third goal of the game just 36 seconds into the second period. It was tipped by Hancock and then the puck hit off a Windsor skate before finding its way across the goal line to give London a three-goal advantage.
The Knights went ahead 4-0 at the 12:48 mark of period two. Tymkin and Hancock played a little give-and-go as the Knights got into Windsor territory, and then Tymkin rifled a pass in front of the Spitfires net to a hard-charging Liam Foudy and the Blue Jackets’ prospect scored his 22nd goal of the year to make it 4-0 for London going into the third period.
Windsor rookie Cuylle scored two goals just 14 seconds apart just over one minute into period three to cut the Knights’ lead in half.
The score stayed that way until Paul Cotter zoomed down the right side and cut to the net with just over five minutes left. He beat Colton Incze for his seventh goal of the season and a 5-3 London lead.
Connor Corcoran closed the gap yet again for the Spitfires one minute and eight seconds later, but Billy Moskal scored on a deflection and then into an empty net to finish the scoring.
Connor McMichael scores game winner at Top Prospects
The man who has become synonymous with scoring Mac Attack goals at Budweiser Gardens got a big one on a stage surrounded by the eyes of National Hockey League scouts and general managers. Connor McMichael completed an improbable comeback for Team Orr on Wednesday night in Red Deer, Alta., as his side scored three times in a span of one minute and 12 seconds to erase a 4-2 deficit and defeat Team Cherry 5-4 at the annual Top Prospects game. The contest brings together the top 40 draft eligible prospects for the NHL Entry Draft that are currently playing in the Canadian Hockey League. Knights forward Matvey Guskov and Londoner Ryan Suzuki were also a part of Team Orr’s victory.
Raaymakers is a rock
Raaymakers’ start on Thursday in Windsor was his seventh straight start. With Jordan Kooy still sidelined day-to-day with a minor injury he sustained before warmup on Jan. 12, the 20-year old from Chatham has been carrying the load. He has played all but 54 seconds in net for London in those starts. He was forced to go to the bench in Sudbury with an equipment issue, but other than that, Raaymakers has been the guy. He and Kooy have been sharing the Knights crease until now. The longest either of them had gone was four consecutive starts. Those came as London was on a 15-game winning streak.
Katelyn Gosling and Brittany Howard to represent Canada
The Canada-U.S.A. women’s hockey Rivalry Series will start on Feb. 12 at Budweiser Gardens, and two players will get to play for their country on their home turf. Gosling, a Londoner, grew up playing with the London Devilettes and then starred at Western, eventually becoming captain of the Western Mustangs. She is currently a member of the CWHL’s Calgary Inferno.
Howard is from St. Thomas and also grew up playing Devilettes. She played NCAA at Robert Morris and is the school’s all-time leading scorer. She was selected 10th overall by the Buffalo Beauts of the NWHL.
Up next
London will finish their home-and-home with the Windsor Spitfires on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Budweiser Gardens and then jump right back onto the road. The Knights visit Oshawa on Sunday at 6:05 p.m. Oshawa made a significant number of moves leading up to the trade deadline that had fans guessing exactly what they were trying to do. Were they trying to contend this year? Were they building toward the future?
In a way, they were trying to do both. They had players like Jack Studnicka and Matt Brassard who brought them a big return in a deal with Niagara, but they also added key parts of last year’s OHL champions, getting Brandon Saigeon and former Knight Nic Mattinen from the Hamilton Bulldogs. They have been on a recent tear, going 5-0-0-0. They will visit the Ottawa 67’s before their game with London so this weekend will be a big test for the Generals.
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