LIVE: Memorial Cup – London Knights vs. Drummondville Voltigeurs

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The 2005 Memorial Cup final is the greatest game in Knights history.

If you forget what that looked like, were too young to watch it or weren’t even born yet, the current London team just showed a reasonable facsimile in their Saginaw opener.

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The Knights dismantled Drummondville 4-0 before 4,936 Saturday at the Dow Event Center in much the same way Corey Perry and Co. beat Sidney Crosby’s Rimouski Oceanic by the same score 19 years ago at what is now Budweiser Gardens.

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The OHL champs buried a couple early and late, kept the Quebec league stars at bay, hit everything that moved and received outstanding goaltending. Michael Simpson matched Adam Dennis from that ‘05 final with the second shutout in London’s Cup history.

“We know we’re getting his best every single time,” defenceman Oliver Bonk said of Simpson. “We’re really happy to have him in our crease. We gave them a little more chances than we would’ve liked. Mike played great and we shut them down when we needed to.

“We didn’t really let them get going.”

Simpson, in a busy second period, stoned Alexis Gendron on a breakaway and stretched out to deny Mikael Huchette on a 2-on-1. Drummondville’s best chance, with under three minutes left in the third, leaked through the Knights goaltender but over-age forward Max McCue was strong on his stick to keep the puck from crossing the line.

“I think I gave him a pretty big hug after,” the 21-year-old goalie said. “(McCue) has been a great player for us all year and he has come up at big times so it doesn’t really shock me he was the guy pulling it off the goal line.

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“Can’t give him enough credit for saving the shutout there, I guess. Any time you get a shutout as a goalie, it feels good. The win is more important.”

The Knights acquired him last fall for these moments. The 2023 OHL playoff MVP lost his first two games with Peterborough at the Cup a year ago, so he is in better shape.

Drummondville stopper Riley Mercer came in on a heater, but Simpson simply outplayed him.

“They poured it on (in the second),” London coach Dale Hunter said, “and made a big push. He stood tall for us.”

CLUTCH GAZ: When the Knights won the league title in Oshawa, Ruslan Gazizov was asked to react to it.
He said simply, “I waited three years for this.”

You know the 20-year-old Russian’s hockey journey. He spent a couple of summers in London because of pandemic restrictions, visa complications and Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. In 2022, he spoke at his late teammate and friend Abakar Kazbekov’s funeral.

He hammered home the Knights’ first goal to prove that Mercer wasn’t some invincible wall, then beat him again 20 seconds into the third.

Gazizov is a dynamic winger who scores in bunches. If this is what is to come, London is in great shape.

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“He’s been a big player for us,” Michael Simpson said. “It’s nice to see him capitalize on that first one.”

The forward and goalie go at it pretty good in practice to see who can one-up the other.

“He’s got a good shot and he likes to score so when you save him, you kind of like to let him hear it a bit,” Simpson joked. “When he scores, he definitely likes to give it to me.”

Gazizov’s violin celebration was in fine form. Plus, when you can win with quiet offensive games from Easton Cowan and Denver Barkey, it’s another positive sign.

Mercer had only surrendered five goals in the four-game Quebec league championship sweep of Baie-Comeau. He hadn’t given up more than three in his previous 10 playoff tilts until the Knights touched him for four.

“They were better than us,” Gendron said of London. “We weren’t playing our 100 per cent game. They were. We need to capitalize at the right time. We need to regroup.”

AROUND THE RINK: The Knights went 0-for-4 on the power play, including a 5-on-3, but they killed off five Volts chances with the man advantage. So special teams was a wash. “We’ve (all teams) been off for a long time,” Dale Hunter said. “Execution wasn’t as good as we all wanted. It was a battle.” . . . Michael Simpson had 31 saves for his shutout while Adam Dennis, now the North Bay Battalion’s GM, had 27 for his clean sheet in 2005 . . . Kasper Halttunen led the OHL with 17 playoff goals. He scored on a double deflection after a Landon Sim tip hit the Finn in the jersey before changing direction again . . . What makes the Knights so good defensively? They have Simpson, a stout blue line and willing forwards who don’t float. “We try to backcheck hard,” Dale Hunter said. “One of the biggest things is you can limit odd-man rushes by your forwards coming back.” . . . The Knights improved to 5-3 against Quebec-based teams at the Cup. They’re 1-1 against the Maritimes (a win over Saint John in 2012 and a loss to Halifax the following year) . . . London d-man Jackson Edward blasted a second-period one-timer that just missed the net – but nailed Easton Cowan. The Maple Leafs first-rounder got up gingerly and couldn’t get off the ice quickly enough before the Knights were called for too many men. It snuffed out a Jacob Julien breakaway chance, but most importantly, Cowan was fine . . . Mercer stopped Gazizov and Sim on back-to-back breakaways in the second . . . The Knights won their fifth Cup opener in six tries. They lost the 2014 opener to Val d’Or 1-0 at home. That was the only time London has been shut out in 21 all-time games at the event.

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rpyette@postmedia.com

MEMORIAL CUP

Knights 4, Voltigeurs 0
London goals: Ruslan Gazizov (2), Oliver Bonk, Kasper Halttunen
Shutout by Michael Simpson (31 saves)
Next: The Knights (1-0) face Moose Jaw (0-1) Monday at 7:30 p.m. Drummondville (0-1) tangles with Saginaw (1-0) Sunday at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday at Dow Event Center

Knights 4, Voltigeurs 0

First period
1., London, Gazizov 1 (Dickinson, Edward) 8:04
2. London, Bonk 1 (Julien, McCue) 13:53
Penalties – O’Reilly, Ldn, Gendron, Dru (unsportsmanlike conduct) 0:55, Diotte, Dru (cross-checking) 5:59, Lawrence, Ldn, Gendron, Dru, Brunet, Dru (roughing) 14:13, Gaudet, Dru (boarding) 15:14, Edward, Ldn (cross-checking) 18:04.

Second period
No scoring.
Penalties – London, bench (too many men, served by Gazizov) 3:20, Beaudry, Dru (slashing) 9:58, O’Reilly, Ldn (roughing) 12:58.

Third period
3. London, Gazizov 2 (Julien)  0:20
4. London, Halttunen 1 (Sim, Bonk) 2:27
Penalties – Edward, Ldn (tripping) 6:28, Barkey, Ldn (goalie interference) 15:36.

Shots on goal by
London 10 7 5–22
Drummondville 9 12 10–31

Power plays: Ldn 0-4. Dru 0-5.

Goalies: Simpson, Ldn (W, 1-0). Mercer, Dru (L, 0-1).

Referees – Adam Bloski, Jason Faist. Linesmen – Jay Doiron, Ryan Card.

Attendance – 4,936.

Three stars: 1. Oliver Bonk, Knights; 2. Ruslan Gazizov, Knights; 3. Michael Simpson, Knights

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