Rookie London Knights goalie helps deliver team’s first win of season

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Alexei Medvedev’s glove broke, so he’s using a black blocker and white replacement glove right now. The mismatched gear is working well.

The 17-year-old Knights rookie made 33 saves in his first OHL start and London bounced back from its opening-game horror with a tidy 5-2 win over Flint before 3,824 at the Dort Financial Center.

“It felt good,” London assistant coach Rick Steadman said. “The guys put in a great effort. The battle level was harder (than Friday). They showed out there and were rewarded for it.”

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Medvedev had some luck. A quick whistle in the second period saved a goal, but he was full measure for backstopping his club to victory.

“We needed some saves early,” Steadman said, “and he stepped up and gave us a chance to get our feet under us. It helped us get that win.”

The biggest factor was the Knights’ performance on the penalty kill. They killed nine of Flint’s 10 chances with the man advantage.

“They did a good job sorting it out,” Steadman said. “They blocked shots and worked for each other. It was nice to battle through it. That game could’ve gone south really quickly if we weren’t penalty killing very well.”

The Knights split the home-and-home with the Firebirds, who are expected to be a strong team this year. That’s a good sign and so was two goals by the blue line from Jared Woolley and Alec Leonard.

“They were breaking out quick and we spent a lot less time in our D zone,” Steadman said, “and the quicker they learn, the better it will be for us.”

Blake Arrowsmith returned from injury to score his first OHL goal. The Knights didn’t get any more of their stars back from NHL training camp, but they were excited to see Sam O’Reilly centre Corey Perry in the Edmonton Oilers’ preseason game Saturday.

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“That’s pretty cool,” Steadman said. “An 18-year-old and a 40-year-old that used to play for us. I don’t think there’s any better guy to learn from than Perry. He’s been a top goal scorer and now he’s a net-front guy who grinds it out. It’s a great guy for ‘Peanut’ to learn off of and hopefully, he comes back with some tricks.”

rpyette@postmedia.com

OHL HOCKEY

Knights 5, Firebirds 2
London goals: Blake Arrowsmith, Rene Van Bommel, Alec Leonard, Jared Woolley, Evan Van Gorp
Flint goals: Connor Clattenburg, Rylan Fellinger
Next: The Knights are home to Erie Friday, 7 p.m. at Budweiser Gardens.

Saturday at Dort Financial Center

Knights 5, Firebirds 2

First period
1., Flint, Clattenburg 1 (Collins, Thibodeau) 8:17 (pp)
2. London, Arrowsmith 1 (Van Bommel, Woolley) 9:34
Penalties – Boulton, Ldn (boarding) 3:21, Brzustewicz, Ldn (slashing) 7:13, Woolley, Ldn, Clattenburg, Fl (roughing) 10:25, Boulton, Ldn (roughing double minor, 10-minute misconduct), Clattenburg, Fl (10-minute misconduct) 14:15, Brzustewicz, Ldn (10-minute misconduct), Konyen, Fl (boarding) 15:48, Smith, Fl (roughing) 18:29.

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Second period
3. London, Van Bommel 1 (Read, Jenken) 14:44
4. London, Leonard 1 (Nurmi) 15:15
Penalties – Arrowsmith, Ldn (unsportsmanlike conduct) 2:32, Bidgood, Ldn (holding) 7:24, Spencer, Ldn (roughing) 16:43, Woolley, Ldn (delay of game) 19:52.

Third period
5. Flint, Fellinger 1 (Thibodeau, Lombardi) 11:29
6. London, Woolley 1 (Read, Van Gorp) 16:19
7. London, Van Gorp 2 (unassisted) 19:24 (en)
Penalties – Bidgood, Ldn (goalie interference), Van Bommel, Ldn, D’Arcy, Fl (roughing) 4:42, Medvedev, Ldn (slashing) 6:35, Smith, Fl (roughing, 10-minute misconduct) 11:53, Frolov, Fl (butt ending double minor) 13:26.

Shots on goal by
London 6 9 9–24
Flint 9 15 11–35

Power plays: Ldn 1-5. Fl 1-10.

Goalies: Medvedev, Ldn (W, 1-0). Day, Fl (L, 1-1).

Referees – Blake Beer, Ryan Harrison. Linesmen – Joe Kielbowich, Brendan Barletta.

Attendance – 3,824.

Three stars: 1. Alexei Medvedev, Knights; 2. Rene Van Bommel, Knights; 3. Jared Woolley, Knights

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