Down three key veterans the London Knights got a fist star performance from overager Austin Elliott as they edged the Ottawa 67’s 2-1 in a shootout Sunday at Canada Life Place, earning their 15th consecutive victory.
Elliott stopped 29 shots in the game and then turned aside four of five shooters in the shootout to improve to 9-0 in the London crease.
The win moved the Knights two points ahead of the Windsor Spitfires for the top spot in the Ontario Hockey League standings.
London was missing a total of four players following their game against the Saginaw Spirit on Nov. 23.
Kasper Halttunen and Ryder Boulton were both assessed five-minute major penalties and game misconducts – those plays will be reviewed by the league to assess further punishment, but each player missed the game against Ottawa as did Denver Barkey and Easton Cowan.
Cowan and Barkey are dealing with what London assistant coach Dylan Hunter described as, “minor aches and pains” and said the decision was made to hold them out of the lineup to try to minimize the risk that those injuries could be made worse.
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Rene Van Bommel set up Logan Hawery for the first goal of the game as Van Bommel battled through traffic in the right corner of the 67’s end and got the puck to the edge of the Ottawa crease where Hawery banged in his second goal of the weekend.
The game stayed that way into the third period as both teams fought through the rubbery legs and foggy concentration that comes with playing three games in three days.
Will Gerrior tied the game with 6:49 to go in regulation time as he found a bouncing puck in the slot and roofed a shot from in tight.
Overtime solved nothing despite chances both ways including a breakaway opportunity for Knights forward Jacob Julien in the dying seconds.
Julien and Sam O’Reilly both scored in the shootout for London.
Ottawa outshot the Knights 30-29.
The teams came into the game with the top two power plays in the OHL but neither one managed to score.
Marner just keeps making magic
In his final season with the London Knights Mitch Marner had 39 goals and 116 points, won the Red Tilson Trophy winner as the OHL’s Most Outstanding Player and was also named Canadian Hockey League Player of the Year. From there, Marner has yet to slow down and in the absence of fellow Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews, Marner has stepped up even more. Marner has been held off the scoresheet just once in a 12-game span heading into the matchup between Toronto and the Utah Hockey Club on Nov. 24. Marner leads the Maple Leafs in scoring with 26 points in 20 games in 2024-25.
Up next
The Knights head east for games against the Peterborough Petes, Kingston Frontenacs and Ottawa 67’s beginning with a game against the Petes on Nov. 28 at the Peterborough Memorial Centre.
London and Peterborough were the final two teams standing in the OHL in 2023 when they met in the league championship series. This season, they find themselves at opposite ends of the standings. The Petes have just two wins in 23 games played this year.
Coverage will start at 6:30 p.m. on 980 CFPL, at http://www.980cfpl.ca and on the iHeart Radio and Radioplayer Canada apps.