Knights special teams are decisive
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media)
Two early power-play goals by the London Knights proved an omen on Friday.
On a night when Ruslan Gazizov scored four times, including three with the man advantage, the Knights won the special teams battle in a 6-3 victory over the Soo Greyhounds in front of 9,036 at Budweiser Gardens.
“Special teams need to sharpen up in a game like tonight’s,” said Hounds head coach John Dean, whose club had beaten the Knights in the first three head-to-head clashes this season. “They open with two (power-play goals) and we can’t find a way to score one on a five-minute major, which could have been a turning point in the game for us.”
“We knew special teams would win the game,” added winger Marco Mignosa, who blamed “execution” for his club’s problems on special teams. “Things didn’t go as planned.”
Not only did the loss snap a Hounds streak of nine straight without a loss in regulation (7-0-1-1), it also cost them an opportunity to keep pace with the Saginaw Spirit.
Saginaw (47-15-1-1) rallied from a 4-2 third period deficit on Friday to beat Guelph 5-4 in overtime. The Spirit has all but wrapped up top spot in the West Division, leading the Greyhounds (42-17-3-2) by seven points with both clubs having four regular season games remaining. Saginaw also holds the tie-breaker (regulation and overtime wins combined).
While the Knights converted 3-of-4 power-play opportunities, the Soo was just 1-for-4.
Trailing 3-1 in the second period, the Greyhounds went on a five-minute power play when London’s Sawyer Boulton was whistled off at 4:08 and handed a match penalty for slew-footing.
However, the visitors failed to cut into their deficit.
“That was definitely a penalty we needed to score on to get back into the game,” said Dean. “I thought we had lots of opportunities over the first two-and-a-half minutes. But when we didn’t score, we got a little discouraged.”
“It gave them momentum, obviously,” added Hounds winger Gavin Hayes, who assisted on all three of his team’s goals. “We were moving the puck around well, but we just couldn’t find the back of the net.”
With Kirill Kudryavtsev off for boarding just 50 seconds into the game, Gazizov fired from the left circle and beat Charlie Schenkel high to the stick side for a power-play goal at 1:33.
Julian Fantino was whistled for slashing at 6:37 and, after Schenkel had made two impressive saves in front, the Knights made it 2-0.
Off a face-off, Gazizov fired from the high slot and beat Schenkel high to the glove side at 8:23.
“It’s difficult to post a team a 2-0 start – especially a team like that,” said Dean, whose club held a 36-31 edge in shots. “You don’t want to fall behind early.”
“Not ideal,” Mignosa said of the early deficit. “You don’t want to start the game on the PK and (see) them convert. But we have to push through that.”
Dean also spoke of how he “didn’t love” the call against Fantino, saying it’s a “tough one to call, back-to-back in eight minutes. The game happens fast and officials have a difficult job, but it’s an interesting call.”
With the visitors down 2-0, a nice feed by Hayes found a driving Brodie McConnell-Barker. The defenceman tucked the puck through the five-hole on Michael Simpson to make it 2-1 at 17:30.
Gazizov got his third goal three minutes into the second frame when he pushed the puck past Spencer Evans at the point and skated in on a break. The veteran winger went high blocker side and the home team had a 3-1 lead.
The Hounds cut it to 3-2 on a power-play when a shot by Hayes deflected in off the skate of Jacob Frasca at 11:22 of the middle stanza.
But Gazizov wasn’t done. He notched his fourth goal – and third with the man advantage – at 14:04. The Hounds failed to clear the zone and Denver Barkey fed Gazizov for a one-timer from the right dot.
The Knights made it 5-2 on a Jacob Julien marker early in the third before Bryce McConnell-Barker, on a slick individual effort, and London’s Kaleb Lawrence, with an empty-netter, capped the scoring.
“Not the performance we wanted,” said Dean, whose club plays its final road game on Saturday in Owen Sound (7 p.m.). “But I liked some of our pushback in the third and that we played to the final whistle.”
The coach also talked about how he “saw a lot from different guys and I know when push comes to shove, they’re going to show up.”
The win for the Knights (47-14-1-3) keeps them two points up on Saginaw in the battle for top spot in the Western Conference. But the Knights have just three games remaining.
Meantime, Kitchener (41-21-2-0) ripped Owen Sound 9-2 on Friday to move to within five points of the Greyhounds, who hold third place in the conference.
