London Knights knock out Hamilton Bulldogs – London to record eight straight wins Globalnews.ca

Five different London Knights goal scorers scored in London’s 5-1 win over the Hamilton Bulldogs at Budweiser Gardens on Friday night.

The win pushed the Knights’ winning streak to eight games.

London has now won 20 of its last 22 games and remains in first place in the Western Conference.

Sean McGurn tipped Matteo Droback on Jackson Edward’s point shot at 16:58 to open the scoring.

Jacob Julian showed his speed in the second period when he took a pass from Ben Bujold, raced into the Bulldogs zone and lifted a shot into the net for his second OHL goal and a 2–0 London lead.

Hamilton cut that lead in half by the midway point of the period as Logan Morrison worked a puck in front and Patrick Thomas rebounded as he was being fouled and the Knights held a 2–1 advantage three periods into the second. raised.

Former Bulldogs Ryan Humphrey and George Diako combined to put London 3–1 up as Diako scored for the third game in a row. The London man now has five goals in his last seven.

Easton Cowan, Denver Barki and Ruslan Gazizov made some good passing plays in the first half of the game that didn’t find the back of the net. The three converted as Gazizov scored his 12th of the year at 13:13 of the final period to make it 4–1 for the Knights.

Barkey volleyed the puck into an empty net to complete the scoring with just over two and a half minutes remaining.

Diakko and Barki each had a goal and an assist in the game.

Brett Brochu made 23 saves for his 18th win of the year. Brochu is now 15 wins away from the Knights’ record for career wins by a goalkeeper.

London defeated the Bulldogs 41–24.

Shane Wright back in the OHL

The Ontario Hockey League trade deadline is days away (Monday, January 9 for overage players and Tuesday, January 10 for all other players) and the biggest name available has rejoined the junior hockey ranks.

Following Canada’s gold medal win at the 2023 World Junior Hockey Championships, the Seattle Kraken traded Wright to the Kingston Frontenacs. That leaves one huge question that will be answered before January 10: Where is Shane Wright going next?

For a long time it was expected that if Wright returned to the Frontenacs dressing room they would transfer him to another team. Kingston is one of four OHL clubs bidding for the 2024 Memorial Cup, so with all eyes on next year, Wright would bring in the biggest return in league history in a trade. Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek tells fans to watch the Ottawa 67s, Peterborough Petes, Barrie Colts and London Knights.

Marek also indicated that prospects and perhaps three second round picks and three third round picks were expected out of the gate.

beast against the east

The Knights are through 13 of 20 games against teams from the East in 2022-23 and so far London has an overall record of 10-2-1. The Mississauga Steelheads defeated London 5–4 in overtime at Budweiser Gardens, and the only Eastern teams to find success against the Knights thereafter were the North Bay Battalion and the Oshawa Generals.

London has gone 15-6 against Western Conference teams.

next

London heads west and then north for the weekend.

The Knights will meet the Saginaw Spirit on Saturday, January 7 at Mid-Michigan, which will feature the top two teams in the Western Conference.

London began a home-and-home series with the Spirit in October.

Knights will then zip down to Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., for a 2 p.m. game against the Greyhounds the next day.

Coverage can be heard on 980 CFPL www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.

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