Saturday victory over Saginaw lifts the London Knights back into first place in the Midwest Division

Braiden Clark and Jaxon Cover each scored once and set up two others as the London Knights defeated the Saginaw Spirit 8-5 on Nov. 29 at the Dow Event Center in Saginaw, Mich.

The eight goals by the Knights marked a season-high.

The London win coupled with losses by the Kitchener Rangers and the Owen Sound Attack allowed the Knights to leapfrog both teams and jump back into top spot in the Midwest Divison.

Just like the first game of the home-and-home between the teams London opened the scoring.

Unlike that first game the goal did not come with 0.9 seconds remaining in the opening period.

It came with 3:54 to go  when Knights forward Rene Van Bommel of Strathroy, Ont., deflected an Andoni Fimis point shot past Stepan Shurygin for his fourth goal of the year and a 1-0 lead through 20 minutes.

After not going to the power play a single time the night before London got all kinds of opportunities at the Dow Event Centre and made good three times in the second period.

Henry Brzustewicz wristed a shot inside the left post to give the Knights a 2-0 lead.

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London went up 3-0 on a goal that came 4-on-4 as Ben Wilmott fed Jared Woolley on a two-on-one at 9:16 of the second period.

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Just 1:18 later Jacob Cloutier of the Spirit found Xander Velliaris going to the net and he scored to get Saginaw on the scoreboard at 3-1.

Wilmott hammered home a one-timer six seconds into a power play just 36 seconds after the Spirit goal and the Knights had their three-goal advantage back.

Cover found Evan Van Gorp at the side of the Spirit net with 3:39 remaining in the second on yet another Knights power play and it was 5-1.

Saginaw cut into that lead before the end of the period as Egor Barabanov got to a loose puck and scored his 11th of the season at 17:49 and London found themselves ahead 5-2 going into the final 20 minutes.

Spirit forward Sebastien Gervais cut the Knights advantage a little more as he put a sharp-angled shot past Aleksei Medvedev at the 3:32 mark of the third period.

London got that back when Clark found Cover in the slot and Cover lasered a shot over Shurygin and it was 6-3 for the Knights with just under 15 minutes remaining.

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Barabanov’s second of the game for the Spirit made it 6-4 at 10:37 and then Cover returned the earlier favour setting up Clark one minute and five seconds later and London led 7-4.

Gervais of Saginaw made it 8-5 at 14:32 but Sam O’Reilly finished the scoring with an empty-netter with just under three minutes left in the game.

Cohen Bidgood made his return to the London Knights lineup against Saginaw after a 15-game absence with a lower body injury.

London was 3-for-7 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.

Shots were 36-36.

Teddy Bear Toss up next for Knights

On Dec. 3 the London Knights will host the Kitchener Rangers for London’s annual Teddy Bear Toss in support of the Salvation Army.

One year ago the Knights broke their own Ontario Hockey League record when London fans tossed 15, 926 stuffed toys ionto the ice after Landon Sim scored on Carter George of the Owen Sound Attack.

Fans are asked to please place their bears and other plush toys into plastic bags before throwing them onto the ice and to avoid toys with and hard components inside them.

Game time is 6:30 p.m.

Coverage will start at 6 p.m. on 980 CFPL, at http://www.980cfpl.ca and on the iHeart Radio and Radioplayer Canada apps.