There were over eight-thousand teddy bears thrown on the ice at Budweiser Gardens
The Owen Sound Attack scored five unanswered goals, picking up their second win at Budweiser Gardens of the season, 6-3.
The OHL schedule-makers didn’t do the Knights any favours. London had to travel to Peterborough on Thursday, then turn around and play a nationally-televised game for one of the biggest traditions of the year.
“I think we prepared pretty well for it. We know what it’s like coming home after one of those trips,” said Assistant Coach, Rick Steadman after the game. “The guys were prepared before the game, they got themselves ready – they just didn’t have the pop we’re used to having.”
The first period was tense. The sold-out crowd eagerly clutched their stuffed animals awaiting London’s first goal. There was a sense of nervousness on behalf of the Knights as well. They trailed the Attack 1-0 after the first period, directing only six shots on net in the process.
Early in the second period, Alec Regula finally broke through.
BRING ON THE TEDDIES!!
Alec Regula wires one on the powerplay for the @GoLondonKnights to tie the game 1-1 pic.twitter.com/vQKtKWg4Qu
— XFM Sports (@SportsXFM) December 7, 2019
“It’s pretty great. There’s a lot of fans here and a lot of bears so it was a good feeling to get the goal and to tie the game up and give us a little bit of energy,” said Regula on his special goal.
The game was halted for nearly 20 minutes while the bundles of teddy bears were corralled. Once play resumed, the Knights struck again. Ben Roger had a blue line shot find its way through traffic, beating Mack Guzda. It was Roger’s first-career OHL goal.
8,624 teddy bears were thrown on the ice at @BudGardens for the Teddy Bear Toss
— XFM Sports (@SportsXFM) December 7, 2019
“[Liam Foudy] dropped it and the first thing that came to my mind was ‘shoot it, get the puck on net, go for a rebound or something.’ I shot it, hit the inside of his arm and I saw the mesh pop,” explained Roger (with great detail) on his first goal. “I didn’t even know how to celebrate, I just stuck both arms up.”
Back came the Attack. Brady Lyle tied the game just over a minute later to silence the electrified crowd. Deni Goure restored Owen Sound’s lead with a powerplay goal, followed by Lyle scoring his second of the night on another powerplay.
A seeing-eye shot from Igor Chibrikov beat Brett Brochu to make it 5-2, ending the 17-year-old’s night. It was the second time this season that Brochu was chased from the game by the Attack.
Antonio Stranges picked up an assist in the game. He had seven goals in his past five games entering the contest. Stranges started the game on the top line alongside Connor McMichael and Liam Foudy.
“[We were] just trying to get some chemistry together. The guys have been playing pretty well – [Stranges] has been hot the past couple of games. We wanted to try and get him there, see if the guys can get a little bit of chemistry right away and see what happens,” explained Steadman. Stranges played on the second line in the third period.
The loss was London’s second in as many days. It’s the first time they’ve lost two consecutive games since October. Things won’t get easier for them, as they will be playing in Guelph for the Storm’s Teddy Bear Toss on Sunday. It will be Ryan Merkley’s first game back in Guelph since he was traded late last season.
