It was not the ending you were looking for on a Friday night. The London Knights had to fight for a win, and unfortunately they came up short 4-3 in the opening minute of overtime.
The Knights were coming off a huge 6-1 win over the Guelph Storm on Wednesday February 13th, and they were brought back down to earth after this overtime loss. The Knights did what the Knights usually do… they came out strong and quick. Antonio Stranges was a puck magnet in this game, creating early chances for himself, and would eventually draw first blood. That didn’t last very long, the Otters would score immediately after the following faceoff, and before you knew it the Knights would find themselves with their backs against the wall. The Knights would head into the first intermission trailing 3-1.
Photo taken by: Matt Hiscox
Knowing the London Knights, you expected them to respond in the second period. Matvey Guskov has been on a hot streak as of late and he kept it going. Connor McMichael is known to score the “Mac Attack” goals, but tonight Guskov threw his name into the hat as he went on to score the “Mac Attack” goal. The Otters then found themselves in a tough situation… the momentum now belonged to the Knights, and it would stay that way for the remainder of the second period. The Knights hit plenty of posts, had plenty of quality chances, but couldn’t put it in the net.
Photo taken by: Matt Hiscox
You could tell the Otters did not expect to be up by one after 40 minutes of play, because in the third period it was all London. The Otters were overwhelmed, and running out of gas… when you run out of gas, and spend a lot of time in the defensive zone you tend to take dumb penalties. You guessed it, with under 10 minutes to go in the third, the Knights draw a penalty and head to the power play. Right off of the faceoff Alex Formenton rips it past the Otters goalie and we are tied three goals a piece.
The Knights have 6 overtime losses this season, and all of those losses happened within the first minutes of the extra frame. It came back to haunt them, after winning the opening faceoff, Fromenton attempts to go in 1 on 3. He didn’t succeed, lost the puck, and Evan Bouchard who is known to have a great hockey sense and defensive discipline, decides to pinch at the blue line, but the puck gets by him along with the puck carrier… before you knew it that play would put the nail in the coffin for the Knights. Erie walks away with 2 points and an overtime upset over the London Knights.
“I wouldn’t say they are an easy team to play, I just think we could have stuck to our systems a bit better, and we didn’t that’s why they won and we didn’t.” -Evan Bouchard
It was clear during the post game interview that Bouchard was not happy with the turn out, and after coming so close to winning on home ice and having the game end that way, was a tough pill to swallow for anyone.
“I think what killed us was our slow start, we didn’t execute very well, and it came back to haunt us.” -Alex Formenton
Formenton wasn’t to happy with the loss either, but he took it pretty well.
“I think we just have to clear our minds, shake it off and get ready for the next one.”
The London Knights never like to lose, and losing to Erie definitely sparked something, and the Otters should be aware of that. This coming Sunday the Knights take on the Otters once again, but this time they’re on the road. The Otters should enjoy this win, because London is going to walk into their rink in a bad mood, and the Otters are going to be in for a tough one. One thing any OHL fan knows is that, the London Knights know how to bounce back after a tough loss or an upset. The Otters should expect a much tougher contest this upcoming Sunday, as the Knights will do what ever it takes to come out of Erie with a win, since they are still trying to catch the Ottawa 67’s for first overall in the league standings.
