More strong goaltending leads London Knights to fourth straight win

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The London Knights have allowed just 10 goals in six games since losing three of their biggest stars to the Canadian world junior team. That’s incredible.

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Aleksei Medvedev, the rookie half of the Ontario Hockey League’s most consistent goaltending tandem, stopped 37 shots in the team’s fourth straight win, 4-1 over Flint before 3,554 Sunday at the Dort Financial Center.

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The first-place Knights ended the Firebirds’ five-game heater and their young stopper came within 1:47 of his second shutout of the season before surrendering an unfortunate Connor Clattenburg tally.

That goal came after the 17-year-old Russian helped kill off a long Flint two-man advantage in the third period and turned himself into a pretzel to stop a wraparound attempt that needed video review to confirm.

“We watched the replay on the bench a bunch of times,” London assistant coach Dylan Hunter said. “We didn’t see the puck roll through to his leg. When he fell down, he let go of his blocker and grabbed (the puck) with his elbow, which is crazy.

“My back hurt just looking at that. We all wanted him to get the shutout. Overall, he kept us in it the first couple of periods until we could get it going.”

Medvedev, whose NHL draft stock is climbing, improved to 13-4 with a 2.62 goals against average and .918 save percentage. Over-ager Austin Elliott, likely to get the New Year’s Eve start against Sarnia, is 14-0 with a 2.11 GAA and .920 save percentage.

“When you have two guys you can put in any situation, it’s good for the team,” Dylan Hunter said. “It’s a comfortable feeling. If a guy has an off day, you have another one coming right in. I think it’s the way the league is going. You want tandem goaltending now and us having (a good one) is a huge confidence boost.”

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SPECIAL TEAM: The Knights held Flint to 0-for-5 on the power play and have now killed 20 straight penalties. Windsor was the last to score with the man advantage against London in the first period of the Knights’ 4-2 home victory Dec. 13.

“They’ve been dialing it in,” Dylan Hunter said. “It’s momentum-based, just like the power play. Guys are blocking shots and we’re winning more draws. You can go over the systems as much as you want, but it takes good goaltending and doing the little things. It’s on the upswing now.”

Rick Steadman returned to the bench Sunday for the first time since his mother Carol’s passing. He took back his penalty kill co-ordination duties from his cousin.

“The pressure is off,” said Dylan Hunter, who normally looks after the power play. “The boys were laughing at me the last couple of games on the bench because I’ve been yelling and I don’t usually yell. The penalty kill is stressful.”

The Knights had the best PK in the league last year on the way to the OHL championship at 85 per cent. It’s hovering around the 84 per cent mark at the moment.

AROUND THE RINK: The Knights weren’t only missing their five world junior players – Easton Cowan, Oliver Bonk, Sam Dickinson, Kasper Halttunen, Jesse Nurmi. Rookie first-rounder Logan Hawery sat out with an illness and so did high-scoring centre Will Nicholl. Both are day-to-day right now. The Knights said Nicholl, who left early after a cross-check Dec. 20 against Sarnia, has fully healed from his injury. “He wanted to play, but just was not feeling well,” Dylan Hunter said. “You want them to get healthy and you don’t want them on the bus (in that situation), either.” . . . The unsung heroes stepped up offensively for London. Noah Aboflan scored the only goal of the first two periods, then defencemen Andoni Fimis, with his first OHL marker, Henry Brzustewicz and PJ Fagan II put the game away in the third for the Knights . . . London won both visits to Flint this season. Medvedev recorded his first OHL victory in this same rink back in late September . . . Evan Van Gorp assisted on the Knights’ first three goals . . . London improved to an impressive 15-2 on the road this season . . . Cam Allen had another assist and has six points in his first three games with the Knights. He is plus-5 since arriving from Guelph.

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rpyette@postmedia.com

OHL HOCKEY

Knights 4, Firebirds 1

London goals: Noah Aboflan, Andoni Fimis, Henry Brzustewicz, PJ Fagan II

Flint goal: Connor Clattenburg

Next: The Knights face Sarnia Tuesday, 4 p.m. at Canada Life Place.

Sunday at Dort Financial Center

Knights 4, Firebirds 1

First period
No scoring.
Penalty – Clattenburg, Fl (hooking) 7:08.

Second period
1., London, Aboflan 3 (Allen, Van Gorp) 4:16
Penalties – Brzustewicz, Ldn (tripping) 8:45, Fallinger, Fl (holding) 11:43, Montgomery, Ldn (kneeing) 17:34

Third period
2. London, Fimis 1 (Julien, Van Gorp) 4:07
3. London, Brzustewicz 6 (Van Gorp, Aboflan) 11:52
4. London, Fagan II 2 (Montgomery, O’Reilly) 12:05
5. Flint, Clattenburg 11 (Fallinger, Kostov) 18:13
Penalties – Lombardi, Fl (faceoff violation) 1:07, Fagan II, Ldn (tripping) 4:44, Aboflan, Ldn (holding) 14:03, Allen, Ldn (delay of game) 14:38.

Shots on goal by
Ldn  9 8 11–28
Fl 12 14 12–38

Power plays: Ldn 0-3. Fl 0-5.

Goalies: Medvedev, Ldn (W, 13-4). Day, Fl (L, 15-15).

Referees – Blake Beer, Aaron Neely. Linesmen – Scott Lawson, Dave Pfohl.

Attendance – 3,554.

Three stars: 1., Aleksei Medvedev, Knights; 2. Evan Van Gorp, Knights; 3. Connor Clattenburg, Firebirds

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