Sahil Panwar collecting himself after he was taken hard into the net of the Flint Firebirds.
Courtesy: Matt Hiscox
The London Knights failed to pick up a point for the first time in eight games, falling to the Flint Firebirds, 6-1. It was the first time the Firebirds had won in London since the team moved to Flint five years ago.
Missed Opportunities
“I think we got away from our game plan,” said London forward, Liam Foudy after the loss. “[We needed to] keep things simple. Dale [Hunter] has a good game plan going in. It all starts with the defence, really. And we just got away from that. We had too many odd-man rushes against and they capitalized and we just didn’t.”
Foudy had three shots on goal in the game. He failed to find the scoresheet, snapping a nine-game point streak. He and the rest of the Knights put 36 shots on goal, only beating Luke Cavallin once in the Flint cage.
“As long as you’re getting chances. If you’re not getting the chances then you’re not doing anything. It’s just sticking with it…and eventually, they’ll go in if you keep getting the chances,” said Foudy on his team’s missed opportunities.
Flint’s Offence
Flint led 1-0 after the first period off of a Dennis Busby point shot that found its way in. London responded early in the second, with Alec Regula netting his eighth of the season. Connor McMichael picked up an assist on the goal, extending his point streak to 10 games.
The Firebirds responded just over a minute later. Jack Phibbs took a shot that took a deflection in front, beating Dylan Myskiw. Flint scored two more goals in the second, chasing Myskiw after he gave up four goals on 20 shots.
Evgeniy Oksentyuk scored two goals in the third period, finishing with three points on the night. The Belarusian is the Firebirds’ leading scorer with 22 points (10g, 22a).
Reigning in the D
The Knights had a combined 11 shots on goal between Ryan Merkley, Alec Regula and Hunter Skinner. The trio of blueliners are all in the top 15 among defenceman scoring in the OHL. While it’s nice to have offence from the blue line, the Knights expect defence to the priority for their D core.
“We always just try to make sure they’re not leading the rush. A great offensive defenceman is usually one that moves the puck up, follows up later and is always the shooter coming in late in the zone. We don’t want our guys leading, we want them to play D first,” explains Knights Assistant Coach, Rick Steadman.
Knights’ Matvey Guskov attempting to screen Firebirds’ goaltender Luke Cavallin. Courtesy: Matt Hiscox
A Full 180
The Flint Firebirds came into Friday holding the second spot in the Western Conference. They appear to have righted the ship under Eric Wellwood. The former NHLer took over Head Coaching duties early last season. The Firebirds finished 16-46-6-0 in 2018-19.
What a difference a year can make.
“I think they had motivation. They came in here hard. They have an older team, they’ve got a lot to prove this year,” said Steadman. “They’re at the top of the league for a reason. We underestimated them a little. I don’t think we pushed as hard as we could have and they took advantage of us.” Flint is now 13-6-0-0 this season.
Moving Forward
The Knights will have time to regroup before their next game. There’s no travel in the schedule for them this weekend, as they host the Kitchener Rangers on Sunday afternoon. Kitchener edged the Kingston Frontenacs 4-3 in a shootout on Friday.
It will be the first time the Knights and Rangers meet this season. Puck drop is slated for 2 pm.
