The London Knights moved to 13 and 3 on the season after picking up a 4 to 3 win in Kitchener last night against the Rangers.
The captain led the team on the ice as JJ Piccinich notched a goal and two assists including one on the game winner.
Sam Miletic scored the game winner and assisted on Piccinich’s goal as well as on the opening salvo of the hockey game courtesy of Janne Kuokkanen
The 2016 Carolina Hurricanes second round draft pick beat Kitchener Rangers goalie Dawson Carty on the powerplay after the puck hit a Rangers defenseman leaving Kuokkanen with an open net for the lone goal in the opening frame. The Knights held the 11-7 Rangers to just four shots in the period.
Just 26 seconds into the second period captain Piccinich finished off a nice feed from the corner and out-waited the outstretched Carty to find the back of the net.
5 minutes later Rangers right winger Joseph Garreffa took a tripping penalty Cliff Pu found the back of the net on their second powerplay goal of the night to take a commanding 3-0 lead.
But less than a minute later the Rangers got it back just 12 seconds into their own power play after Knights left winger Alex Formenton was sent off for interference. Adam Mascherin tallied his 11th goal of the campaign for Kitchener, and that moved him into a tie for third in the OHL for points with 32 alongside Pu and left winger Bobby Macintyre with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
Then just 2:39 into the third the Rangers pulled within one after a bouncing puck in the Knights end found centre Jacob Cascagnette’s back of the stick and he made a slick drop pass to teammate Nick McHugh in the slot who scored his fourth of the season.
Carty held off the Knights in the third period to keep his team in the game, but was beat with 6 minutes left on the clock after Piccinich forced a turnover in the corner and fed it to the open slot where Miletic made no mistake and made it a 4-2 game.
Kitchener’s Dylan Seitz scored a few moments later but it proved to be moot as the final horn sound with the London Knights besting the rival Kitchener Rangers 4-3 on the road.
With the win the Knights moved to 2 and 0 on the season against the Rangers after pulling out a gutsy three goal third period in their last meeting to win 5-4.
Tyler Parsons was solid throughout which is to much relief of Knights fans after coming back from injury and making 24 saves. Carty made 28 saves in the losing effort.
The Knights are now third place in the Western Conference, and face the 11-7 North Bay Battalion Friday night at Budweiser Gardens.
The Kitchener Rangers will host the Oshawa Generals on Friday at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.
