Can Knights shake funk to claim Conference?

Knight Watch: London has lost 5 of its last 7, missing an opportunity to stake claim on the Western Conference; They enter new week tied with Windsor, who they’ll face twice more … Columnist Jake Jeffrey has all the latest Knights news & notes …

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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After securing just two of a possible six points last weekend, the Knights have lost their slight edge over Windsor in the Western Conference standings.

The Spits picked up victories over Guelph and Kitchener to pull even with London for top spot, with both teams sitting at 86 points with six games left. Two of those games will feature London and Windsor head-to-head — both games coming during the final weekend of the regular season.

Looking at London’s losses last weekend in Barrie and North Bay, Knights fans can take solace in the fact that those are two of the league’s hottest teams right now. The Battalion have won six straight, allowing just three goals against during that stretch, while the Colts have won eight of their last nine games. 

London was able to escape Sudbury with two points thanks in large part to Ruslan Gazizov and Easton Cowan, who both had multi-point efforts. Cowan had a goal and two assists, while Gazizov had three goals and a helper. His hat-trick marker came with just over two minutes left in the game, giving London its first regular season win in a month.

For the first time since Feb. 24, the Knights will finally return to home ice this weekend. Despite being one of the league’s top road teams this season, they certainly didn’t show it during their recent stretch of seven road games, winning just twice. London is in Guelph Wednesday for the final game in that extended road swing, before returning to Budweiser Gardens Friday night against Kingston.

London will be without high-scoring defenseman Logan Mailloux Wednesday night. The Montreal Canadiens prospect will be serving his one-game suspension for instigating a fight in the final minutes of Sunday’s 4-0 loss in North Bay.

Denver Barkey should be considered questionable for that contest. The forward had a goal and an assist in Barrie last week before suffering an injury. He missed the next two games of the road trip in Sudbury and North Bay. 

London’s leaders have been relatively quiet as of late. Sean McGurn hasn’t scored in 13 games, while George Diaco has gone five games without a goal.

The Knights stumbled into the postseason last year, winning just two of their final nine games. They will look to avoid a similar stretch this season, but they’ve won just twice in their last seven games and have six games left on the schedule.

We know which eight teams will make the postseason, but the Western Conference standings still have some shaking out to do in the final few weeks of the season.

Owen Sound, Guelph and Kitchener are all jostling for sixth, seventh and eighth place, while all three still have an outside chance at catching Flint for fifth. That said, the Firebirds have won seven straight and are edging closer to catching Saginaw for fourth place.

Sarnia sits six points back of Windsor for the West Division lead, so there is still a chance the red-hot Sting can catch their division rivals. Worth noting is that London holds the tiebreaker over Sarnia, but Windsor has the edge over London if the two teams finish with the same amount of points. There’s certainly plenty to keep an eye on through the final two weekends of the season.

Ruslan Gazizov had a hat-trick in London’s 5-4 win over Sudbury last Friday. He’s tied with Logan Mailloux for third on the team in goals (23), trailing only George Diaco (25) and Sean McGurn (24). (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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UPCOMING GAMEDAYS

Wednesday (March 15, 7:00pm) @ Guelph Storm (30-27-4-1, 7th in Western Conference)

The Storm has played London quite well this year — and they could even up the season series at three wins apiece with a good showing Wednesday night. Their most recent meeting was an overtime win for Guelph. Braeden Bowman has four goals in four games against London this season, while goaltender Patrick Leaver is 3-1 against the Knights, with his only loss coming while he was a member of the Oshawa Generals. Former London Junior Knight Jett Luchanko is back and healthy for the Storm. He’s coming off a two-point night last weekend. Boston Bruins prospect Matthew Poitras has 23 points in his last 15 games, 20 of which have been assists. Max Namestnikov has four goals in his last three games, and he’s tallied 27 goals since joining Guelph via trade earlier this season.

Friday (March 17, 7:00pm) vs. Kingston Frontenacs (25-34-1-2, 9th in Eastern Conference)

In London’s first home game since Feb. 24, the Knights will host a team that has really struggled lately. The Fronts were able to snap their lengthy losing streak last weekend, but otherwise there have been few bright spots for a team that has just that single victory in their last 13 games. Ethan Miedema leads the team in points, although the majority of those came while he was playing in Windsor (he’s scored just twice since joining Kingston). The Fronts’ captain will be one to watch. Paul Ludwinski is a second-round draft pick of the Chicago Blackhawks. Friday will mark a homecoming of sorts for Maddux Callens, who grew up in Langton.

Saturday (March 18, 7:00pm) @ Flint Firebirds (32-26-4-1, 5th in Western Conference)

With seven straight wins, the Firebirds have quietly been one of the OHL’s hottest teams in March. Gavin Hayes, who is closing in on 40 goals this season, has eight in his last five games. Detroit Red Wings prospect Amadues Lombardi has 23 points in his last dozen games. Goaltender Will Cranley recently returned from injury to post back-to-back wins where he stopped 46 of 47 shots. London scored a season-high nine goals the last time they played Flint. Ilderton’s Matthew Jenken, a former Elgin-Middlesex Canuck, has played 37 games for the Firebirds this season.

A LOOK AT THE LOCALS

Another shutout for North Bay Battalion netminder Charlie Robertson, who made 28 saves in a win over Oshawa, his second straight shutout and third of the season.

Jett Luchanko, who is back and healthy with the Guelph Storm, had a goal and an assist in their loss to Windsor on Friday.

London Junior Knights U16 captain Ethan Weir was featured in the OHL Central Scouting’s players to watch ahead of the OHL draft. The Junior Knights are currently the 8th-ranked team in the OHL Cup Top Ten Rankings.

KNIGHTS BY THE NUMBERS

12 - London has allowed at least three goals against in 12 straight games.

2.7 - Scoring, or lack thereof, has hurt London lately. They’re averaging just 2.7 goals over their last seven games, winning just twice during that span. For the season, they’ve averaged 3.9 goals per contest.

23 - Logan Mailloux’s 23 goals are the most by a Knights defenseman since Evan Bouchard scored 25 in 2017-18.

9 - Before being held off the scoresheet Sunday, Easton Cowan had nine points in his previous six games.

33% - Max McCue has been very dangerous while shorthanded this season. Of his 12 goals, four have come while a man down.

AROUND THE OHL

Every playoff team in the Western Conference has a winning record. The last time that happened was during the 2016-17 season.

A big loss for the league-leading Ottawa 67’s, as forward Ty Boucher will need shoulder surgery and will miss the remainder of the season. Ottawa is three points shy of the century mark, which would be the third time they’ve hit the 100-point mark in the last four seasons.

North Bay’s impressive stretch of six straight wins, where they allowed just three goals against, has propelled them into the CHL’s Top Ten Standings. The Battalion are ranked 10th, one of three OHL teams in the top 10. Ottawa (7th) and Sarnia (9th) are the others. Barrie is an honourable mention, as they’ve won eight of their last nine games.