New-look London Knights power play off to solid start

Article content

What were the defining images of the London Knights’ historic power play last season?

It was a Kasper Halttunen one-timer or an Oliver (Bumper) Bonk dart from near the slot. Those signature finishes led to a 32.6 per cent success rate with the man advantage and four players with double-digit power-play goals – Halttunen (16), Bonk (15), Sam Dickinson (11) and Ruslan Gazizov (10).

Article content

The blueprint has definitely changed.

Halttunen has started the fall with the American league’s San Jose Barracuda. The 19-year-old scored twice on the power play in his North American pro debut but suffered an injury in a recent game. Junior graduate Gazizov has three goals and seven points in five games with Anaheim’s ECHL affiliate Tulsa Oilers and Bonk is back working the London blue line with the man advantage.

“It’s just different,” Knights head coach Dale Hunter said. “We have (Dickinson), Cowboy (Easton Cowan) and (Denver Barkey) moving it around and passing the puck. You’ve got to move it. Even with Kasper last year, the defenders would sit on him sometimes, too. You have to take the other shots.

“Every kill does it differently so it’s what they give you more than anything.”

NEW APPROACH: The Knights only scored once in 10 tries in three wins last weekend. But they still sit second in the league (28.8 per cent with 15 goals so far) in power-play production.

Dickinson already has five of his seven goals this season with the man advantage. The six-foot-three, 210-pound defenceman can put weight and strength into a shot similar to Halttunen.

Article content

Article content

“You can’t really replace a shot like Kasper’s and the talent he was,” the Sharks first-rounder said, “but for us, it’s working around that and finding new ways to create offence. I think we’ve done a pretty good job of that. If the shots are coming from me or Oliver, Denver, Easton or whoever is out there, we know we’re going to get high-quality chances from it.

“It became a little bit of that (feeding Halttunen) last year. Getting different looks has been big for us and something that has helped us have a good power play so far this year.”

Bonk had 24 goals last season. Current Edmonton Oiler Evan Bouchard had 25 as a Knight in 2017-18 and so did Montreal Canadiens blue-liner Logan Mailloux in 2022-23.

Can Dickinson get there, too, after this hot start?

“He’s on pace,” Bonk said. “He’s a really good shooter and he can surpass that number, for sure.”

SWITCH IT UP: Bonk doesn’t pine for the bumper role on the power play. He fit perfectly into it last year as a right-handed shot who was tough to move from the front of the net.

Article content

“I’m not really playing there anymore and it doesn’t really matter to me,” the Flyers first-rounder said. “I’ll help our power play in whatever way we need.”

Oilers first-rounder Sam O’Reilly has been worked into the old Bonk role as another right-hander who stands his ground.

“We needed an offensive guy (at the blue line) and Oliver is an offensive d-man,” Dale Hunter said. “A lot of teams give us point shots, but it’s hard to say game-to-game what you’ll get from each kill.”

It comes down, as always, to adjustments.

“We work on moving it around,” Bonk said. “Without (Halttunen) taking the big ‘one-timer’, it’s just got to go around a bit quicker.”

AROUND THE RINK: The Knights are 4-3 on home ice and 4-1 on the road so far this season . . . New over-age goaltender Austin Elliott has won his first three starts as a Knight and is now a combined 6-0 after starting the season with the Western league’s Saskatoon Blades. His numbers have been better in London, too . . . The Greyhounds are rolling despite operating with a 9.1 per cent power play to date . . . London plays 13 games in November with eight of them on the road . . . Easton Cowan has scored in four straight games, not to mention his on-going 44-game regular-season point streak dating back 11 months now . . . London over-ager Jacob Julien (Jets) and captain Denver Barkey (Flyers) have been quiet offensively to start, though Barkey missed training camp with mononucleosis. Dale Hunter is trusting their track record as point producers. “We have opportunities,” he said. “We just have to bury them. It takes some time. They’re getting their looks.” . . . The struggling Guelph Storm will want to see if they can turn it around with Londoner Jett Luchanko back in their lineup now. If not, the wise move is to deal him later. Even though he’s 18, there is a strong chance the Londoner sticks with the Flyers next season. The Knights moved Robert Thomas to Hamilton in 2017-18 for that same reason . . . Can the Knights afford to make a big trade splash this year. Yes, and they should do everything possible to get to Rimouski for another Memorial Cup shot.

rpyette@postmedia.com

KNIGHTSWATCH

Friday: vs. Sault Ste. Marie, 7 p.m. at Canada Life Place. Red-hot Hounds have won five straight.

Sunday: at Owen Sound, 2 p.m. Sam O’Reilly scored overtime winner in last Bayshore visit Oct. 9.

Article content