The London Knights found three goals in just over eight minutes in the second period and never looked back.
Jaxon Cover, Logan Hawery and Braiden Clark found the net as part of a three-goal second for the Knights, who went on to beat the Owen Sound Attack 5-2 in Ontario Hockey League action Friday evening at Canada Life Place.
Evan Van Gorp and Sam O’Reilly also scored for London (12-5-3).
Tristan Delisle and Easton Mikus had the goals for the Attack (13-7-0-2), which had a 2-1 lead after the first period.
Delisle opened the scoring 3:55 after the opening faceoff, sliding a shot under Aleksei Medvedev just after an Attack power play expired to make it 1-0.
The Knights would tie the game around five minutes later. Van Gorp broke up ice and made his way around Cole Zurawski, shorthanded, then managed to slip it past Carter George on the breakaway in tight.
Less than a minute later the Attack were back in front. Landon Jackman put a puck towards the net, and Easton Mikus picked up the rebound and fired a backhand shot under Medvedev for his first of the season. 2-1 Attack.
But the Knights would take control in the second. Cover scored a power play just over a minute into the period. He had a puck bounce to him in the slot, and turned and flung a shot past George to tie the game 2-2.
Just over two minutes later London took its first lead. Hawery was sprung on a breakaway and slipped the puck fivehole past George to put the Knights in front, 3-2.
And Clark would cap the Knights’ three-goal second period at 8:25, with another breakaway goal. He streaked and fired a hard shot blocker-side past George to make it 4-2.
The Attack had plenty of chances on the power play in the second period – including a four-minute chance on the man advantage after a major scrum broke out. Harry Nansi threw a hit at centre ice on Ben Wilmott – which resulted in mayhem. Nansi was jumped immediately by Jared Woolley – and as those two dropped the gloves, Attack defenceman Noah Roberts jumped in.
Away from the main event, Pierce Mbuyi was wrestled down to the ice by Sam O’Reilly, and Wilmott piled on top and threw punches towards the Attack forward.
The end result? Roberts was given a roughing minor and a game misconduct for being the third man in a fight. Woolley received an instigator penalty, and Wilmott a pair of roughing minors.
All this came just prior to the midway mark of the second period, with London ahead 4-2. The Attack couldn’t capitalize on the four-minute power play.
Medvedev made his most impressive stop late in the third, when the Attack had the net empty for an extra attacker. Lenny Greenberg got a point shot through and Delisle pounced on the rebound at the far side of the net, but Medvedev denied him. Moments later O’Reilly scored an empty-netter to seal the win for London.
Medvedev made 28 saves in the win, while George stopped 20 taking the loss. The Attack outshot the Knights 30-25 while going 0 for 8 on the power play; London finished 1 for 3.
Next up for Owen Sound is a trip over the border to face the Flint Firebirds (13-6-1) Saturday night. It’s a 7 p.m start, 6:30 p.m for the pregame show on Terry’s Trailer Service-Dutton Automotive and Power Sports Bear Radio on 89.3 CFOS FM.
TAYLOR MAKES DEBUT
New Attack addition Caden Taylor made his debut Friday night in London, wearing No. 29 for the Bears. He had a few opportunities to score but couldn’t break through. The closest call was late in the game when the Attack had their net empty, and he rung a shot off the crossbar from the right-side of the offensive zone. He finished the game with three shots, and a minus-2 rating.
BUMPS AND BRUISES
The Attack were without Jacob Therrien (upper-body), Masen Wray (upper-body) and Jake Crawford (lower-body) in Friday’s game. Therrien remains out of the Attack lineup indefinitely, while Wray isn’t expected to return until after Christmas. Crawford’s injury was initially given a timeline of six-to-eight weeks, but it sounds like it’s possible he works his way back quicker. Crawford is expected to resume skating as early as next week.
