London Knights, Sarnia Sting split home-and-home series to end pre-season – London
The London Knights finished their 2024 pre-season schedule with a 5-3 road loss at Sarnia on Saturday.
The Sting set the tone with a goal just 47 seconds into the game, as Easton Wainwright was sent on a breakaway by James Barr and put a backhander into the Knights’ net for a 1-0 lead.
Sarnia followed with two more first-period goals from Alessandro Di Iorio and Tyson Doucette and took a 3-0 lead into the second period where the clubs traded goals late in the period.
Sting defenceman Mitch Young beat a pass from Tyson Doucette at 15:57 of the second period to make it 4-0 Sarnia, then London got its first goal at 19:24 when Henry Brzustewicz fired a wrist shot from the top of the left circle for his first goal of the pre-season and his first in a game since a double-overtime winner in Game 3 of the 2024 OHL Championship Series.
Rene Van Bommel brought the Knights within one point with two goals in the third period.
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His first goal came on a solo effort that saw Van Bommel dart down the middle of the ice where he split the Sarnia defence, then drove to the Sting net where he lifted a puck past Nick Surzycia at 1:27 of the third to cut Sarnia’s lead in half.
Van Bommel’s second goal made it 4-3 at 12:26 when he and Cohen Bidgood went to center ice on a shorthanded two-on-one and Van Bommel deflected a puck through the air and into the Sting net.
Sarnia held off a couple of late chances from London, then sealed the game with an empty-net goal from Ruslan Karimov, making his Sting debut. The goal came on a power play.
Sarnia outshot the Knights 26-19.
Harrington, Keane, Gagner and Houser receive training camp invites
Four former Knights players are getting a chance to show what they can do after receiving an invite to training camp. 2013 OHL championship captain Scott Harrington is in camp with the St. Louis Blues. Sam Gagner is in Carolina with the Hurricanes, defenseman Joey Keane is with Detroit and Michael Houser is in camp with the Sabres. Of the four, only Gagner played in the NHL last season. He played 28 games with the Edmonton Oilers. Keane played the last two seasons in the KHL.
To be continued
The 2024 Ontario Hockey League championship banner will be raised to the rafters in London as the Knights begin their 2024-25 regular season on Friday, September 27 at 7 p.m.
London will host the Flint Firebirds in the first game of a home-and-away series.
The two teams met in the first round of the 2024 playoffs in a series that may have only lasted four games, but it featured a paltry seven-goal differential and a Game 3 that went to overtime.
The Firebirds are ready to take the next step this year and should challenge for a top spot in the Western Conference.
Coverage will begin at 6:30 p.m. on 980 CFPL, on 980CFPL.ca and on the Radioplayer and iHeart Radio apps.
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