Jared Woolley scored the game-winning goal on a short-handed two-on-one in the second period as the London Knights downed the Peterborough Petes 3-1 on Friday at Canada Life Place.
The victory gave the Knights their 40th win of the season. London has hit 40 victories in 17 of the past 24 seasons.
The next closest team on that list is the Kitchener Rangers with 10.
The Petes became the first team to hold Easton Cowan off the scoresheet in a regular season game since the Sudbury Wolves did it on Nov. 24, 2023
Cowan’s streak will go down as the longest regular season streak ever stretching between two seasons at 65 games.
Sam O’Reilly found Kasper Halttunen coming across the Peterborough blue line to open the scoring as the San Jose Sharks prospect ripped home his fourth goal in six games for the Knights to give them a 1-0 lead.
Colin Fitzgerald of the Petes tied the game at 4:04 of the second period as he went to the net and tipped in a pass from Braydon McCallum.
The game stayed that way late into the middle period when London defenceman Jared Woolley carried through centre ice short-handed with Jesse Nurmi on a two-on-one. Woolley kept the puck and fired it past Easton Rye into the Petes net for his second goal in two games and the Knights led 2-1 going into the final 20 minutes.
Evan Van Gorp scored the only goal in the third period set up by Will Nicholl and Sam Dickinson.
Cowan rifled a shot off the goal post late in the third but that is as close as either team would come to scoring in the final three minutes.
London outshot Peterborough 38-25.
The Knights were 0-for-2 on the power play.
The Petes were 0-for-5.
Ververgaert and Hutchison inducted into Don Brankley Hall of Fame
Two former London Knights teammates entered the Don Brankley London Knights Hall of Fame side by side on Feb. 7 as Dennis Ververgaert and Dave Hutchison were honoured as the latest inductees. Over three seasons in London, Ververgaert recorded 351 points in 187 games before being selected third overall by the Vancouver Canucks in the NHL Amateur Draft. Ververgaert also played for the Washington Capitals and the Philadelphia Flyers. He was a member of the Flyers team that went unbeaten in 35 conseuctive games in 1979-80.
Hutchison joined the Knights just before the playoffs in 1970 and helped them win their first-ever playoff series as a franchise in defeating the Peterborough Petes in the first round. Hutchison would go on to a professional career that began in the WHA and then carried to the NHL with the L.A. Kings, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Chicago Blackhawks and the New Jersey Devils.
Up next
The Knights will be off until they head for the Sadlon Arena on Thursday, Feb. 13 to face the Barrie Colts.
London has not seen Barrie since their sixth game of the season when the Knights scored three third period goals in a two-minute, seven-second span to turn a 4-2 deficit into a 5-4 win.
Both teams have only made themselves better since then and currently represent the top teams in reach of the Eastern and Western Conferences.
London will return home on Valentine’s Day to host the Soo Greyhounds at 7 p.m. at Canada Life Place.
Coverage of both games can be heard starting at 6:30 p.m., on 980 CFPL, at www.980cfpl.ca and on the iHeart Radio and Radioplayer Canada apps.