KNIGHTS SWEEP SERIES BUT LOSE ZACH BELL

The clinching game of a series is always the toughest to win.

The London Knights felt that and then some in Windsor on Thursday as they earned a 4-3 victory over the Spitfires and a 4-0 series sweep.

The win was costly at the same time as overage defenseman Zach Bell left the game on a stretcher 1:02 into the second period after he was tripped up by Josh Ho-Sang and went into the boards with his right leg underneath him.  Bell was instantly in obvious pain and was taken to hospital.  He suffered a broken right fibula, but returned on crutches in time to see the end of the game.

Windsor battled back on three separate occasions, once to tie and twice to get within a goal, but London held on thanks to some strong goaltending from Jake Patterson.

The Knights started the scoring off a face-off in the Windsor zone just over seven minutes into the first period as Chris Tierney won a draw back to Brady Austin and he wristed the puck through a screen into the top corner of the Windsor net behind Alex Fotinos.

Windsor held tight and actually outshot the Knights in the first period and then got rewarded early in the second.  Ben Johnson’s shot hit a stick and deflected behind Patterson.

The goal marked the first time in the series that Windsor had been tied in a game after a goal had been scored.

Then came the injury to Bell.  Ho-Sang was given a holding penalty on the play.  Bell was taken off and taken to hospital.  He returned before the end of the game on crutches and made the trip home with the team

London came close on the ensuing power play with Ho-Sang in the box, but almost seemed to be gripping the sticks too hard.

Then Gemel Smith scored the epitome of an unassisted goal.  He will the puck through a couple of Windsor defenders, crossed the blue line, toe-dragged the puck into the slot and snapped it into the Windsor net for a 2-1 lead.

Once again Windsor held in and the period ended with the Knights up by one.

In the third, another play that was willed to happen produced the London Knights’ third goal as Chris Tierney and Brady Austin would not give up on a play.  Tierney got the puck to Austin and he battled it into the slot and got it to the right side of the net to Max Domi who buried it over Fotinos for a 3-2 lead.

Windsor would get that goal back as Sam Povorozniouk sped in across the London line and caught a break as Patterson caught an edge and fell coming across the net.  Patterson was shaken up, but stayed in the game with the score 3-2.

Windsor got chances to tie, however Patterson stayed strong and that opened the door for Ryan Rupert to find Bo Horvat at the Spitfires’ blue line.  He split between the defencemen and roofed a backhand for a 4-2 lead.

Windsor pulled the goalie and managed to make it 4-3 on a deflection with 37.1 seconds to go in regulation.

The Knights held on from there and now move to round two.

Jake Patterson made 34 saves for the win.

Two series are still going in the West.  Two are now over as Erie beat Saginaw 3-2 in overtime to win in five games.

 

Tickets for round two go on sale on Friday morning at 10 AM.