London Knights win wild pre-season opener thanks to Jacob Julien’s counter-attacking goal – London
Jacob Julien of the Knights of London scored the game-winning goal on a short-handed breakaway with 13.2 seconds remaining in the game. London opened the preseason with a 5-4 home victory over the Erie Otters.
London found itself down 3-0 early and battled back to take a 4-3 lead in the third before having to withstand two 5-on-3 power plays by the Otters in the final minutes that allowed Erie to tie the game with just 2:03 left on the clock.
The Knights were able to hold the Otters shorthanded long enough for Landon Sim to come out of the penalty box, strip the puck from an Erie player and send Julien alone where he beats Otters goaltender Noah Erliden under his blocker.
It was London’s first preseason game, and Erie’s fourth.
The Otters played the Saginaw Spirit, Brantford Bulldogs and Kitchener Rangers as all four teams met at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium from Aug. 30 to Sept. 1.
Sim finished the night with two goals and two assists and was named the game’s first star.
Get the latest national news
For news that impacts Canada and the world, sign up to receive breaking news alerts directly when it happens.
He scored twice for the Knights in the second period on a power play.
The first goal came from a high shot from the slot to conclude a four-man passing action.
The second came on a low shot after a solid set-up from Sam O’Reilly who took advantage of some space coming out of the right corner of the Erie end before finding Sim heading towards the left post.
That brought London back into the game after the Otters had taken a 3-0 lead early in the second period thanks to goals from Pano Fimis, Ondrej Molnar and Gabe Frasca.
Kaeden Johnston scored twice in a span of two minutes and four seconds to give the Knights a 4-3 lead at 9:46 of the third period.
Alexis Daviault tied the score with a one-timer on the power play to set the stage for the finale between Sim and Julien.
Bonk made three assists for London.
O’Reilly had two assists and Julien finished the game with a goal and an assist.
Owen Willmore and Alexei Medvedev share goalkeeping duties for London.
The Knights outshot the Otters 36-33.
Noah Read Officially Joins the Knights
After an impressive training camp, the London Knights announced the signing of 17-year-old Noah Read of St. Catharines to an OHL scholarship and development agreement. Read was a 10th-round pick of the Knights in 2023 but had a breakout season with his hometown St. Catharines Falcons as a 16-year-old. Read scored 12 goals and recorded 26 assists in 48 games. He made his pre-season debut against the Erie Otters on Sept. 6.
To be continued
The Knights and Otters will meet on Saturday, September 7 in St. Thomas, Ontario for a second pre-season game to be played at the Joe Thornton Community Centre.
Coverage will begin at 3:30 p.m. http://www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.
London will then play back-to-back games against the Sarnia Sting to wrap up the pre-season on September 20 in London, Ontario, and then September 21 in Sarnia.
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
