Jacob Julien’s second-period goal held up as the game winner as the London Knights held on to defeat the Kitchener Rangers 3-2 on Dec. 15 at Canada Life Place.
The win allowed London to hold onto first place in the Ontario Hockey League overall standings.
The Knights now lead Kitchener by three points and London has hit 25 victories on the year.
Playing their third game in three days, the Knights managed to jump out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Sam O’Reilly and Blake Montgomery.
O’Reilly’s goal came just one minute and 16 seconds after the opening faceoff as he tipped a Noah Jenken slap shot past Rangers goaltender Jackson Parsons.
London went ahead by two as Blake Montgomery zoomed into Kitchener territory on the left-wing side of the ice, went behind the net and then came out front and wristed a shot high and in for his second goal in as many days and his seventh of the year.
The Rangers got one of those goals back before the end of the opening 20 minutes as Adrian Miseljevic kept the puck on a two-on-one and scored; the Knights took a one-goal lead to the dressing room.
The Knights restored their two-goal lead at 16:19 of the second period when Jesse Nurmi intercepted a pass on the right side of the ice in the Kitchener zone and slipped a quick pass to Julien in front who then beat Parsons to make it 3-1.
Julien had two goals and nine points in four games against Kitchener in a second-round playoff series last spring.
Jack Pridham scored the lone goal of the third period to tighten the gap but London held on from there to finish out three games in three days with two wins.
The Rangers outshot the Knights 29-28 as Austin Elliott improved to a perfect 13-0 in net for London.
Alec Regula joins Oilers organization
Former Knights defender Alec Regula is headed north to continue his professional career. The West Bloomfield, Mich., native was originally drafted by Detroit (his father was the Red Wings dentist growing up) and later traded to Chicago where he appeared in 22 NHL games for the Blackhawks over three seasons.
Regula was moved to Boston in the Taylor Hall trade prior to the 2023-24 season and was claimed on waivers by the Edmonton Oilers on Dec. 11.
Regula played three years in London from 2017-20. In his final season, he had 27 goals and 60 points in 56 games.
Up next
The Knights have one road game and one home game remaining before the Ontario Hockey League’s holiday break.
London will visit the Erie Otters on Wednesday, Dec. 18 in the first meeting in the OHL between the Fimis brothers. Andoni joined the Knights ahead of their win over the Windsor Spitfires on Dec. 13 and his older brother Pano has played the past four seasons in the OHL. Pano has been with the Otters for the past three of those years after being selected second overall by Niagara in the 2020 OHL Priority Selection.
London has split their first two meetings of the year with the Otters.
Following that game London will host the Sarnia Sting on Friday, Dec. 20 at 7 p.m., at Canada Life Place.
The Knights are 2-0 against Sarnia in 2024-25.
Coverage of both games will begin at 6:30 p.m., on 980 CFPL, at http://www.980cfpl.ca and on the iHeart Radio and Radioplayer Canada apps.