London Knights finish off northern road trip wth 4-3 win over the Soo Greyhounds

Evan Van Gorp and Ben Wilmott each scored once and added an assist as the London Knights held on to defeat the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 4-3 on Nov. 22 at the GFL Memorial Gardens.

The Greyhounds honoured Londoner Jeff Carter prior to the game as they retired his number 7 and raised a banner into the rafters of the GFL Memorial Gardens that joined past Sault Ste. Marie honourees Craig Hartsburg, Adam Foote, Ron Francis and Wayne Gretzky.

The game got going the Greyhounds way following the ceremony.

Jeremy Martin scored his seventh goal of the year for Sault Ste. Marie to give them a 1-0 lead 7:15 into the opening period but the Knights came right back.

Ben Wilmott knocked down a Greyhound clearing attempt at the blue line and cut to the net where he backhanded a shot over the shoulder of Landon Miller to tie the game at 14:16 and then Evan Van Gorp threaded a pass to Braiden Clark in the slot and Clark connected for his fourth goal of the year less than four minutes later and London took a 2-1 lead to the dressing room.

The Knights added to their lead with a power play goal from Braidy Wassilyn that was set up by Sam O’Reilly and Jaxon Cover at 12:44 of the second period.

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Wassilyn now has a goal in each of his last four games.

London has also outscored their opponent in the second period in 17 of 24 games this season.

Wilmott and Van Gorp worked a two-on-one early in the third period to put the Knights ahead 4-1 as Van Gorp finished on the play for his fourth goal of the season.

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Sault Ste. Marie cut into that lead on goals by Marco Mignosa and Chase Reid to get to within a goal but a whole lot of blocked shots and two major Aleksei Medvedev saves helped London to hang on and win.

The Greyhounds outshot the Knights 24-19.

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London was 1-for-3 on the power play and 1-for-1 on the penalty kill.

Teddy Bear toss season

As the November days dwindle and December gets ready to arrive fans of the OHL will be getting ready to toss Teddy Bears in rinks all around the league. The annual Teddy Bear Tosses are set to begin even before the calendar flips as the Windsor Spitfires host theirs on Sunday, Nov. 23 against Guelph.

The Knights will have their annual Teddy Bear Toss on Wednesday, Dec. 3 against the Kitchener Rangers.

London holds the Ontario Hockey League record for most stuffed toys set last season when the Knights collected 15 926 for the Salvation Army after a goal by Landon Sim.

Up next

The Knights will return home to meet the Saginaw Spirit on Nov. 28 at 7 p.m., at Canada Life Place.

The game will mark the first meeting of the season between London and Saginaw and will also be the first of a home-and-home between the clubs that will conclude Nov. 29 in Saginaw, Mich.

Coverage will begin at 6:30 p.m., on 980 CFPL, at http://www.980cfpl.ca and on the iHeart Radio and Radioplayer Canada apps.