William Nicholl scored once and assisted on another as the London Knights defeated the Erie Otters 4-1 at Canada Life Place on Saturday.
Nicholl was named the game’s first star.
The Knights are now 2-0-1 against Erie this season.
London came out quickly against the Otters and scored three first-period goals to lead 3-0 through 20 minutes.
Max Crete finished a three-way passing play from Brody Cook and Henry Brzustewicz at the 3:06 mark to get the scoring started.
Another pair of passes found Knights forward Ryan Brown at the side of the Erie net at 9:20 and London led by two. Nicholl and Jesse Nurmi picked up assists.
Evan Van Gorp got to a puck in behind the Otters’ net and found Nicholl in front for a short-handed goal before the period had ended.
Braidy Wassilyn’s 13th goal of the year made it 4-0 for London 6:19 into the second as Caleb Mitchell skated the puck in from the left point and found Wassilyn in the slot for a one-timer.
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Tyler Cooper got Erie on the scoreboard with a wrist shot from the left side of the ice at 11:34 of the middle period.
Linus Funck nearly restored London’s four-goal advantage with a shot right at the horn to end the period but the play was reviewed and it was ruled that the puck entered the Otters’ net after time had expired.
The teams skated through a scoreless third period.
Brzustewicz had two assists for the Knights.
Seb Gatto made 23 saves in net for London. Gatto has allowed two goals or fewer in five of his past six games. He has two shutouts in that span as well.
London outshot Erie 25-24.
The Knights were o-for-1 on the power play and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.
London vs. Sault Ste. Marie in Round 1 of the playoffs?
The Knights and the Soo Greyhounds are sitting on a bit of an island in the OHL’s Western Conference standings.
Following the trade deadline, London was seven points clear of the nearest team chasing them in the Owen Sound Attack, and Sault Ste. Marie finds itself 10 points behind the team above it.
Anything is possible, but mathematically, it would be a challenge for the Attack or the teams below them to be seven or more points better than the Knights, just like it would be difficult for the Greyhounds to reel in the teams above them.
Up next
London will be on the road for its next three games, beginning on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Progressive Auto Sales Arena against the Sarnia Sting.
Following that game, the Knights have a 4 p.m. matchup in Owen Sound against the Attack on Jan. 17 and then a trip to Sault Ste. Marie on Jan. 21.
All games can be heard on 980 CFPL, at www.980cfpl.ca and on the iHeart Radio and Radioplayer Canada apps.
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