Knights Top Majors in Heavyweight Battle

Published on October 19, 2011 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Mississauga St. Michael's Majors News Release


The London Knights certainly lived up to their No. 1 billing on Wednesday night at the Hershey Centre.

Matt Rupert scored twice and added an assist as the visiting Knights beat the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors 6-3 in a battle between the Canadian Hockey League's top two ranked teams.

London and Mississauga were ranked one-two in the weekly CHL poll released just hours before the game, but it was the Knights that certainly lived up to the top billing after breaking open a tight game with two goals late in the second period.

Ryan Rupert added a goal and an assist while Dane Fox, Andreas Athanasiou and Jared Knight scored the other goals for the Knights, who out-shot the Majors 43-26, including 33-16 over the first two periods of play.

Mississauga General Manager/Coach James Boyd felt his club didn't play the kind of game it has to play if they are going to beat the London Knights, or any other high-powered team.

"I thought we took far too many penalties, and many of them were undisciplined penalties," Boyd said. "We got away from playing our game and tried to run and gun with them and they took advantage of it.

Anytime you give a London Knights team nine power plays they are going to hurt you. We just gave them far too many opportunities and when you do that to a team like London, the puck is going to be in the back of your net."

Derek Schoenmakers scored a pair of goals for the Majors, while Mika Partanen added the other Mississauga tally, leaving the Majors still in first place in the Eastern Conference with an 8-2-0-1 record.

Michael Houser made 23 saves in goal for the winners, while JP Anderson recorded 37 saves for the Majors.

London improved to 9-2-0-0 with the win and took over the Ontario Hockey League's points lead with 18, one more than the Majors, the Sarnia Sting and the Windsor Spitfires.

Penalties were once again a factor in the game, as the Knights scored three times in their nine power play chances, while Mississauga had just four extra man chances and managed to score once.

"It was a good measuring stick for us tonight, that's the way we have to look at it," Boyd added. "When you come up against a team like that and face a little adversity, it gives you an idea of where you are and what you still have to work on in order to be successful."

Matt Rupert opened the scoring with a power play goal at 13:19 of the opening period before Partanen answered back on a Majors power play less than four minutes later. Fox then scored on a backhand shot over Anderson with just 3.4 seconds left in the opening period to make it 2-1 London after 20 minutes.

Mississauga started strong in the second when Schoenmakers scored at 2:05 of the second period, but a power play goal by Ryan Rupert and another goal by Knight just 53 seconds later late in the second period put London up by two goals after two periods.

Schoenmakers again gave the Majors a quick start in the third period with his second goal of the night and fourth of the season just 1:09 in, but London responded with goals by Athanasiou and Matt Rupert later in the period to complete the scoring.

The Majors travel to Sudbury to face the Wolves Friday at 7:35 p.m. and face the Plymouth Whalers Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Hershey Centre. You can get your tickets at www.ticketmaster.ca or at the Hershey Centre box office during regular business hours.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from October 19, 2011


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