Jaden Cholette made 26 saves in the Knights‘ net as London defeated the Erie Otters 2-0 on Saturday at Western Fair Sports Centre to complete a perfect 4-0 pre-season.
It also marked the second game in a row that a Knights goalie was named first star after Seb Gatto’s 29 stops gave him the honour in a 2-1 London victory a night earlier at Canada Life Place.
Evan Van Gorp and Logan Hawery scored the only goals of the game and both came in the first period.
Knights forwards Cohen Bidgood and Brody Cook combined to find Van Gorp in front of the Otters’ net, where the third-year forward was able to reach the puck around Erie goalie Charlie Burns and tap it across the goal line at 12:21 to make it 1-0.
London’s Jaxon Cover did the work later in the period to push the puck through some traffic and into the slot, where Hawery nabbed and slid it into the net for his third goal and seventh point in four pre-season games.
The game sailed scoreless through the second period thanks to a few outstanding stops from Cholette. The 19-year-old from Gloucester, Ont., was called on to make four saves on an Erie power play and then back-to-back point-blank stops after a steal below the goal line in the Knights’ zone.
London limited the Otters to just seven shots over the final 20 minutes and a Cholette save in tight late preserved the shutout.
The Knights outshot Erie 30-26.
London was 0-for-2 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
Up next
The Knights will raise their 2025 Memorial Cup championship banner and begin the regular season on Friday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m., against the Owen Sound Attack.
Coverage will begin at 6:30 p.m. on 980 CFPL, on CFPL online or on the iHeart Radio or Radioplayer Canada apps.