By the skin of your teeth. By the eyelash of a mosquito. By the skate of a referee.
The third of those three sayings may not be as well known as the other two, but a few more winning goals come in like the one from Guelph, Ontario. Friday night, it could gain popularity.
The Storm outscored the London Knights 3-2 and got a big rebound in the third period to make this happen.
A puck that the Knights fired into the boards hit an umpire’s skateboard and bounced straight into the forward of Guelph Ben MacFarlane, who was already having an excellent game. MacFarlane landed a shot that Brett Brochu plummeted to stop only for the rebound to go straight to Cooper Walker to the right of the London net. Walker tossed the puck across the goal line to put the Storm in front and stay.
Two goals from Luke Evangelista and more than 30 saves from Brochu have been a recipe for the Knights’ success in 2021-22.
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London checked both boxes against the Storm when they came back to tie Guelph twice during the game, but they couldn’t get the tug-of-war flag to move next to them.
It was only London’s fourth regulation loss in 19 games and it takes their record in one-goal games to six wins and three losses.
Brochu made 17 saves in the first period of the first period and then dazzled with two and three saves at a time during the opening minutes of the second to keep the Knights close.
The only shot that happened to him in the first 20 minutes was a single shot from Danny Zhilkin at 2:11 p.m.
Brochu also received the only penalty of the opening period when he ran out of his net and collided with Storm forward Braeden Bowman.
Luke Evangelista tied the game in the second period seconds after he left the penalty area and received a shot from Sean McGurns. The pass sent Evangelista just off the hash marks and he swerved off his backhand to his right before sliding the puck under Guelph goalkeeper Owen Bennett to make it 1-1.
London went on a power play less than two minutes later with a chance to take the lead, but it was the Storm who snatched the idea from him. Guelph defender Daniil Chayka dragged a puck across the ice and cut into the net with a shot that was stopped by Brochu. Ben MacFarlane followed behind the play and threw the rebound over Brochu for a 2-1 Guelph lead in the final period.
The 18th Evangelista of the year tied the game on a power play at the 4:50 mark. The goal tied the Oakville, Ontario native for OHL’s lead in goals with Sasha Pastujov of the Storm. Evangelista has his 18 in only 17 games played.
Walker’s goal at 9:30 AM turned out to be the winner, as Guelph earned their second win over the Knights in the two games between the teams this season.
They will face each other eight more times.
The storm edged out London 37-27.
Evangelista now leads the Canadian Hockey League in goals
On paper, the Knights’ Luke Evangelista and Guelph Storm’s Sasha Pastujov are tied for OHL’s lead in goals scored at 18. Evangelista’s pairing against the Storm has the London captain two out of 20, with just 17 games in. his credit this year. .
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He is also just five goals away from his career best of 23 in 2019-20. In the QMJHL, William Dufour of Memorial Cup host Saint John Sea Dogs is tied for the league lead with Xavier Bourgault of the Shawinigan Cataractes, but both players have already reached the 20-game mark in their seasons. Winnipeg Ice’s Connor McClennon leads the Western Hockey League in goals with 17.
He has played in 21 games for Ice, who have won 20 of them. That leaves Evangelista as the top scorer right now in all of Major Junior Hockey.
Barkey and Bonk defeat Cowan
The Capital City Challenge kicked off on Friday afternoon with the White Team defeating the Canadian Women’s National team 7-3. Game 2 of the day featured the top three picks from the 2021 Knights draft as Denver Barkey and Oliver Bonk of Team Red faced Easton Cowan of Team Black. Barkey and Bonk recorded assists in a 7-2 win for Team Black.
With no U-17 World Hockey Challenge for the second year in a row, the Capital City Challenge provides an opportunity for 16-year-old players and prospects from OHL, WHL and QMJHL to go head-to-head and gives the Canadian women’s team a competition of tournament style ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China.
Just over a week to go until the launch of the teddy bear
The 20th Teddy Bear Toss in the history of the London Knights will occur at 4pm on Saturday December 4 at Budweiser Gardens when the Knights take on the Sarnia Sting. All collected plush toys will be given to the Salvation Army for distribution throughout the community. London’s bear record is 10,671, set in 2012 when Seth Griffith scored the Teddy Bear Toss goal.
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The Calgary hitmen of the Western Hockey League have the highest youth record of 29,935 bears. That was achieved in 2019. The world record belongs to the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League in December 2019, when they collected 45,650 bears and other stuffed animals.
Until next time
The Knights will be in Owen Sound on November 27 to complete four straight road games.
London and the Attack will meet for the sixth time this season and so far the Knights are 5-0 in the first five games. The Knights have outscored Owen Sound 15-8 in those games, but four out of five of them have been decided by a single goal.
Luke Evangelista scored the overtime winner in the last game on November 5.
Coverage will begin at 7 pm on 980 CFPL, at www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.
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