Wheat Kings Dropped By Knights

It was a battle between League champions as the WHL Champion Brandon Wheat Kings clashed with the OHL Champion London Knights in Game 4 of the 2016 MasterCard Memorial Cup on Monday night.

The London Knights used special teams to their advantage as they scored four power play goals en route to a dominating 9-1 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings in front of a sellout crowd at the ENMAX Centrium in Red Deer, AB.

Christian Dvorak and Aaron Berisha each registered a power play goal in the first period as the London Knights opened a 4-0 lead, outshooting Brandon 14-9 along the way.

JJ Piccinich buried his first goal of the tournament at the 4:30 mark of the second period to give London a big 5-0 lead. Brandon would get on the board as Stelio Mattheos netted his first goal of the Memorial Cup on a Wheat Kings’ power play to cut the deficit to 5-1.

However, the Knights responded with another goal on the man advantage from Christian Dvorak which was then followed up by a goal from Max Jones on a two-on-one break that gave the Knights a commanding 7-1 lead through two periods.

Wheat Kings backup goaltender Jordan Thompson started the third period in relief of netminder Jordan Papirny and stopped three shots.

Former Calgary Hitmen and Portland Winterhawk Brendan Burke saw some time in the Knights’ goal midway through the third period in relief of starting goaltender Tyler Parsons. The Knights tacked on two more goals in the third period as they skated to a 9-1 win to move to 2-0 at the 2016 MasterCard Memorial Cup.

London finished 4/7 on the power play while Brandon went 1/5 on the night. The shots on goal favoured Brandon 35-31.

The 2016 MasterCard Memorial Cup resumes on Tuesday night as the London Knights go against the QMJHL Champion Rouyn-Niranda Huskies.