London Knights are perfect on the road in preseason with a 6-5 win over Barrie Colts – London | The Canadian News

Brody Crane’s shot dribbled under the Barrie Colts’ Matteo Lalama in the sixth round of the shootout to give the London Knights a 6-5 victory Thursday night in Barrie, Ontario.

London is a perfect 3-0 on the road in exhibition play and heads home to complete its six-game schedule against Hamilton on Friday night.

The in-game scoring began with a great save from Barrie’s goalie, Tanner Wickware, as he stopped Knights forward Liam Gilmartin with short, tight hands and that sent the run the other way, where the Colts’ Jacob Frasca skidded. into the Knights area and broke. a puck beat Matt Onuska to make it 1-0.

London tied the game less than five minutes later when Abakar Kazbekov deflected a puck to Barrie’s end just as Max McCue was hitting full speed on the blue line. McCue hit the puck ahead of everyone else behind the Colts net and centered it on Nick Yearwood, who scored his second goal of the preseason to tie the game.

Goals 16 seconds away from Frasca and Ryan Del Monte sent Barrie ahead 3-1, but Easton Cowan got behind Barrie’s defense and cut the lead to 3-2 before the opening period ended.

The entire second period scoring belonged to the Knights as Stu Rolofs took a beautiful shot from Denver Barkey and scored his third preseason goal to tie the game at just 2:31 inches.

Kazbekov sent Ty Anselmini just to the 8:52 mark to put London ahead 4-3 and then to the right of a head-to-head on a power play by the Knights Kazbekov smashed a puck over Wickware’s shoulder to give the Knights a two-goal lead. heading to the third.

As they did in the first period, Barrie scored twice in a row with goals that came within 38 seconds of Frasca who completed a hat trick, and Oliver Smith who tied the game 5-5 with just over six and a half minutes remaining in the game. regulation time. .

The teams paired up for the first five rounds of the shootout before Crane finished it.

Matt Onuska got the victory in the London goal, saving 23 of 28 shots.

Early injuries

Ben Roger and Luke Evangelista were injured at the Knights’ training ground this year. Roger was cured in time to participate in his first NHL camp with the Ottawa Senators. Evangelista is close to returning to the action of the game.

Liam Gilmartin was injured at the San Jose Sharks camp, but returned to the London lineup in Hamilton on September 28. But now two new injuries have appeared. Ben Bujold, a 2020 Knights first-round draft pick, has a charley horse after Londoner Liam Van Loon brought him to his knees in the third period of the game against the Bulldogs. Goalkeeper Owen Flores was injured playing for the London Nationals and will miss the end of the Knights’ preseason schedule.

One away

Tonio Stranges is the latest Knights player not yet in NHL training camp.

Stranges is a Dallas Stars fourth-round pick dating back to the 2020 NHL Inning Draft. He suffered what has been called a shoulder injury while playing for the Stars at the Traverse City Rookie Tournament. He returned to the ice in Dallas on September 30. Stranges played nine games last year for the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League.

Gerard Keane has been released from his trial with the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets. Keane was invited as a free agent to Columbus rookie camp and his game there earned him a spot in main camp. Keane is 19 years old and one of the most experienced players on the Knights roster, having appeared in 84 games between 2018 and 2020.

Keane was a Knights third-round pick in the 2018 OHL Priority Pick.

Until next time

The Knights will complete their preseason schedule on Friday, October 1 against the Hamilton Bulldogs. London defeated Hamilton 7-2 on September 28 in a game in which Easton Cowan scored twice and Sean McGurn scored one goal and two assists. 4,500 fans will be allowed inside Budweiser Gardens for the game. Puck’s drop is just after 7:30. Coverage in http://www.980cfpl.ca It will start at 7pm.

The regular season begins a week later for the Knights, as they will host the Owen Sound Attack on October 8.