The London Knights quest for 11 in-a-row was foiled by the Guelph Storm.
The Knights came out strong, out shooting the Storm 12-5 in the first. Jonathan Gruden also scored the first goal of the game, and his 23rd of the season, within the minute of play. They continued to control play in the second, with 18 shots on net compared to Guelph’s 11.
London forward, Jason Willms says it was towards the end of the game, as Guelph began scoring in the third period, when the wheels fell off.
“They got the one there, shorthanded. It kind of seemed like it sucked a bit of the life out of us.”
Defenseman, Hunter Skinner thinks the loss can be taken as a bit of a wake-up call.
“We came into this game, I think, maybe a little lackadaisical. I mean, we started off pretty well, but come the second, third period I think we could have come out harder. Winning 10 games, thinking you can win the rest… Every team is beatable. Even us.”
Skinner tried to continue the momentum for the Knights in the second period, laying a big hit on Storm rookie, Ben McFarlane. The resulting fight between Skinner and Cedric Ralph gave London one of three power plays in the game.
NY Rangers prospect @hunterskinner01 with the big hit, then lands a couple of big shots in the fight right after. 💪 pic.twitter.com/HloNlA6vpd
— ☘️🏒 SPR 🏒☘️ (@TheOilKnight) February 12, 2020
London wouldn’t score on the opportunity.
Skinner says despite the hit being clean he didn’t mind Ralph instigating the fight.
“It’s just another guy sticking up for his teammate. I love to see it.”
Brett Brochu
Photo from London Knights
The loss was the first in a long stretch for London’s rookie goalie, Brett Brochu. The 17 year-old stepped up into the starting goalie position while veteran, Dylan Myskiw faced an eight-game suspension.
Myskiw wasn’t likely to see the net during Brochu’s hot streak. With the loss, assistant coach Rick Steadman says the next games start isn’t as certain.
“Depending on which way we go [Brochu] doesn’t deserve to lose the net and [Myskiw] deserves a chance to get back again… Both of them are doing well in practice, doing well in games. We’ll just go from there.”
Either way they go, the Knights will face a challenge in their next game. They face their division rivals, the Kitchener Rangers.
