Gushue wins fifth Brier; Knights miss opportunity on road

Gameday in 5: A look to the week ahead — and a recap of the week that was (March 6-12) — for London’s teams and athletes.

Skip Brad Gushue (far left) led Team Canada to its second straight Brier curling title Sunday night at Budweiser Gardens. (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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London Knights

The Knights had a rough week, losing two of their three games — and missing out on an opportunity to re-take the lead in the Western Conference. Up first was a 5-2 loss to the Barrie Colts on Thursday, which marked London’s fourth loss in five games.

Down 2-0 to start the second period in that contest, Logan Mailloux brought the Knights within a goal, but the Colts answered back with three straight before the intermission. Denver Barkey scored the only goal in the third period, and the Knights were unable to make a comeback attempt.

London bounced back on Friday, beating the Sudbury Wolves 5-4. The Knights got off to a solid start, building a 3-0 lead after the first period. Easton Cowan scored the icebreaker, while Max McCue and Ruslan Gazizov extended the lead. The Wolves weren’t done, though, and they answered back with three goals of their own in the second to tie the game. The teams then traded goals in the third before Gazizov scored his third of the game, with 2:15 remaining, to give the Knights the win.

After a close win on Friday, the Knights suffered a 4-0 loss to the North Bay Battalion on Sunday. Down 2-0 after the first, the Knights were unable to put anything together offensively and were shut out on 27 shots on goal. With the loss, their fifth in seven games, London failed to pull ahead in the conference standings.

Up next:

The Knights (42-18-2-0), who begin a new week tied with the Windsor Spitfires atop the Western Conference, will play three times this week, including their first home game in nearly a month (due to the Brier event at Bud Gardens).

Wed. Mar. 15 (7:00pm @ Guelph Storm)
Fri. Mar. 17 (7:00pm vs. Kingston Frontenacs)
Sun. Mar. 18 (7:00pm @ Flint Firebirds)

London Nationals

The Nationals punched their ticket to the second round of the Sutherland Cup playoffs after sweeping the St. Thomas Stars last week in their best-of-seven first round matchup.

London clinched things on Tuesday with a convincing 7-4 Game 4 win. The Nationals set the tone once again, building an early 2-0 lead before the Stars got themselves on the board. Lucas Carson scored the icebreaker and Rylan Bowers doubled the lead. Talan Palmer put the Nationals ahead 3-1 before the Stars scored late in the first. London pulled away in the second, outscoring the Stars 3-1 in the period to close the door on the series. Sam O’Reilly, Riley Wood and Brayden Thompson did the honours, clinching things for the Nationals.

London outscored St. Thomas 21-11 in the series, and they got production from all lines. O’Reilly led with 7 points in the series, while Wood and Nolan Milne had 6 apiece. Bowers, Thompson and Lucas Chard matched O’Reilly with three goals each.

Up next:

The Nationals, the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, will look to dispatch the Stars (No. 7) for a first-round playoff sweep on Tuesday in St. Thomas. Ahead 3-0 in the series, London has three chances this week (if necessary) to advance to the second round.

GOJHL Playoffs (2nd Round) - London Nationals (2) vs. St. Marys Lincolns (3) (best-of-7 series)
Game 1: Wed. March 15 (7:30pm vs. St. Marys Lincolns)
Game 2: Fri. March 17 (7:30pm @ St. Marys Lincolns)
Game 3: TBD
Game 4: TBD
Game 5: TBD (if necessary)
Game 6: TBD (if necessary)
Game 7: TBD (if necessary)

London Lightning

The Lightning saw their nine-game win streak come to an end Sunday when they lost 113-111 to the KW Titans at the Auditorium in Kitchener.

After falling behind 24-20 after one quarter of play, London went on a run in the second, building up an 8-point lead after a Cameron Lard layup with 3:32 remaining in the quarter. But the Titans closed that gap to one by halftime, and then they continued to put the pressure on in the third. Their own largest lead, nine points, came three-and-a-half minutes into the fourth quarter.

Though the Lightning made a comeback attempt, and hit some big three-pointers down the stretch, it wasn’t enough to manage a win. It was London’s first loss since Feb. 1. The Titans outshot the Lightning 55.7% to 45.1%, although the visitors did shoot an impressive 15-of-29 (51.7%) from three-point range. Points in the paint were 66-42 in favour of KW.

Terry Thomas tallied 22 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists in a losing effort, while Jordan Burns put up 20 points, 9 assists and a pair of steals. Mike Nuga had 18 points and 4 assists in 33 minutes off the bench.

Up next:

The Lightning (13-3) return to action Wednesday for their first home game in three weeks (due to the Brier curling event at Bud Gardens). It’s a busy week, as they’ll play back-to-back games and then Sunday in Sudbury as well.

Wed. March 15 (7:00pm vs. Sudbury Five)
Thurs. March 16 (7:00pm vs. KW Titans)
Sun. March 19 (2:00pm @ Sudbury Five)

2023 Brier Curling Tournament

A fantastic week-and-a-half of Canadian men’s curling action in London came to an end Sunday night at Budweiser Gardens with an exciting final, during which Team Canada (Gushue) bested Team Manitoba (Dunstone) by a 7-5 margin in the gold medal match.

The big moment came in the eighth end, as Team Canada scored three to break a tie and go up 6-3. Matt Dunstone's crew took two back in the ninth end, but Team Canada, with the hammer in the 10th, outlasted the Manitobans in a hard-fought Final.

The win was Skip Brad Gushue’s record fifth Brier title of his career. The rest of the championship squad: Geoff Walker (Lead), E.J. Harnden (Second), Mark Nichols (Third).

Bronze went to Wild Card #1 (Bottcher), who fell to Team Manitoba in the semi earlier in the day Sunday.