Knights' Night: Goals turning into wins for streaking Knights

Header image for Interrobang article CREDIT: ANDREW STEPHENSON OF SHAKE MEDIA AND THE LONDON KNIGHTS
After winning two more of their late November games, the London Knights are still pushing through and ready to make it to the top.

You need to score goals to win hockey games, and the London Knights have been doing a lot of both lately.

The Knights have won seven of their last nine games, including two of three last week, scoring an incredible 41 goals in that span.

Yet, there are still 11 teams that have scored more goals than them.

That's the thing about the Ontario Hockey League (OHL); it's a tough league, but the Knights are slowly, but surely making up ground.

They now sit 14th in league standings and just three points out of seventh.

After winning back-to-back games against Guelph and Saginaw on Nov. 16 and Nov. 17, they dropped one in Sarnia before defeating Owen Sound and Guelph last week.

Despite outshooting the Sarnia Sting on Nov. 22, they fell 4-1 at the Progressive Auto Sales Arena.

Cliff Pu scored the only goal for London; Sam Miletic and Robert Thomas picked up the helpers. But Nov. 24 was a much different story.

With the talented Owen Sound Attack in town, Pu, Evan Bouchard and Alex Formenton each picked up a goal and an assist, as the Knights edged the Attack 5-3.

Tyler Rollo's fifth goal of the year, and third since being traded from Peterborough on Oct. 4, turned out to be the winner.

The Burlington, ON native has been solid this season, scoring 12 points in 19 games for the Knights.

Robert Thomas and Sam Miletic picked up two assists each for London, while Joseph Raaymakers made 27 saves.

Two nights later, London continued their string of high scoring games, crushing the Guelph Storm 5-1 on the road. Max Jones scored two goals, including the game winner, while Bouchard and Pu each had threepoint nights.

Thomas chipped in with an assist of his own.

After a slow start for the Knights top brass, things are all coming up sunny for the veterans.

Thomas and Pu have been tearing it up as of late, landing themselves in sixth and ninth place in OHL scoring.

Thomas has amassed 35 points in just 22 games, while Pu has earned 33 in 24.

Sam Miletic has scored seven goals and 21 assists in 20 contests.

And, not to be outdone, Bouchard is up to 30 points in 25 matches, good enough for third in league scoring amongst defensemen.

The Knights are won their Nov. 26 game against the Guelph Storm, 5-1.

The play of these veterans has been the primary reason for the Knights turnaround, and the main factor behind all of their goal scoring.

It's also gotten a few of them noticed for Team Canada's World Junior Hockey Championship roster.

In advance of the 2018 World Juniors in Buffalo, N.Y., Canada's preliminary roster will be announced in early December.

It's difficult to tell if any of those three will actually make the team, or even the preliminary cut; there's a lot of high-end talent to choose from in the Canadian Hockey League.

That being said, they are playing some of the best hockey of their junior careers, and have driven the Knights hot play as of late.

It would be nice to see a few familiar faces on Canada's roster come World Junior time, but all of that is a bonus.

For now, Knights fans will just be happy to see the team, and its best players, back on track.