The London Knights got back into the win column on Sunday after a bizarre victory against the Sarnia Sting.
Looking to bounce back from Friday’s tough 4-2 loss to Peterborough, the Knights tallied three goals in the first ten minutes of play and never looked back en route to a 4-1 win over Sarnia.
London got goals from Matt Tkachuk and Christian Dvorak, meanwhile Chad Heffernan and Jacob Graves each tallied their first goals in Knight uniforms as well.
For Graves, it was not only his first as a Knight but also his first in nearly two years.
“Got the bounces today,” Graves joked – referring to the mishap that lead to the eventual game winner against the Petes.
” Yeah, it’s been about two years since I got a goal – so it felt weird but it was a good feeling – big monkey off the back, for sure!”
Graves added that he simply saw his opportunity and took it.
“I don’t know, things just opened up for me and I took the shot.”
Knight’s goalie Tyler Parsons signs autographs for young fans
Goalie Tyler Parsons was a wall for the Knights, stopping 31 of 32 shots he faced.
He talked about the level of confidence he’s gained from his recent strong play.
“It’s just a part of the game, you battle through,” Parsons said. “If I have to make a couple of big saves in that little short period of time, then I will!”
Graves echoed the confidence the squad has in Parsons.
“Parsons played really good today, and it all starts from there. You know, when he makes that big save – everyone gets up on the bench – it wakes everyone up, gives everyone energy.”
Things got ugly with under two minutes to go, as Sting defenseman, Kevin Spinozzi delivered a deliberate late hit to forward Max Jones, igniting a melee between the two teams.
Jones had previously been accused by Sting coach, Derian Hatcher of slew footing Sting players on multiple occasions in the past, and felt the Knights power forward was otherwise responsible for the ignition of the line brawl.
Officials spent roughly 20 minutes cleaning up the mess – having to deal with more altercations involving Knights’ forwards. Matt Tkachuk, Owen MacDonald, and Heffernan were all tossed for fighting majors, and were joined by Mitch Marner, Christian Dvorak, and Aaron Berisha who were involved in similar situations.
With looming suspensions on the horizon for some of the aforementioned players, London will be in tough for their next game on Friday night.
Next, the Knights take on the division leading Erie Otters, in a battle for midwest-division supremacy.
