Two goals and an assist from William Nicholl’s were not enough for the London Knights as they fell 7-4 to the Flint Firebirds on Sept. 27 at Budweiser Gardens.
Henry Brzustewicz also had three points in the game as he assisted on three of the four London goals.
Evan Van Gorp had a goal and an assist on the night.
The Firebirds jumped out to a 3-0 lead thanks to two goals from former Sudbury Wolves forward Evan Konyen and a wrap-around by big Nathan Aspinall.
Evan Van Gorp scored London’s first goal of 2024-25 before the end of the opening period on a heads-up play by Edmonton Oilers prospect William Nicholl who got the puck on the left side of the Flint end and sizzled a pass to Van Gorp at the right post and the Watford, Ont., native put it home.
The Firebirds took a two-goal lead into the second period and added to it on goals by Artem Frolov and Nolan Collins whose point shot deflected off a leg and into the Knight net.
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A London two-man advantage produced the Knights second goal of the game. Henry Brzustewicz fed a pass to Nicholl and he one-timed a shot past Nathan Day and the teams entered the final period with the Firebirds leading 5-2.
Nicholl’s second of the game on a 5-on-5 power play at 2:50 of the third brought the Knights back to within a pair but Nolan Collins wristed in his second of the game and it was 6-3 Flint.
After the Firebirds killed off a double-minor Kaden Pitre scored on a hard shot from the slot at the 14:29 mark of the third period to give Flint a four-goal edge.
London’s power play was very effective on the night as it went 4-for-7.
It hit the scoresheet one final time as Nicholl got a puck to Jesse Nurmi behind the Firebirds net and Nurmi recorded his first OHL point when he found Jacob Julien in front for Julien’s first goal of the year.
Flint was 2-for-3 on the man advantage.
Gazizov will be a Gull
Ruslan Gazizov left London, Ont., in early September not knowing what his future would hold. After three years with the London Knights Gazizov finally got a shot at a National Hockey League training camp with the Anaheim Ducks. As an undrafted free agent he arrived in Anaheim with no guarantees but played his way into his first professional contract when the Ducks signed Gazizov to a one-year deal to play in the American Hockey League with the San Diego Gulls.
Up next
London and Flint will play the second of a home-and-home to start the season on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m., at the Dort Financial Center in mid-Michigan.
Coverage will begin at 6:30 p.m., on 980 CFPL, at http://www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada and iHeart Radio apps.