London scored four special-teams goals – two apiece on the power play and short-handed – and were 11-for-12 on the penalty kill to snap Otters’ six-game winning streak in front of 3,107 at Tullio Arena on Wednesday night.
The Knights scored on six of 18 shots against Otters goaltender Shane Owen, whose personal six-game winning streak also ended. The Otters’ four-game home streak ended, too.
Daniel Erlich led the Knights (30-8-0-1) with two goals and an assist. Justin Taylor, John Carlson and Zac Rinaldo, making his London debut, each added two points.
Justin Hodgman’s seventh goal in the past seven games handed the Otters (20-18-2-0) a 1-0 lead 48 seconds into the game. But the Knights responded with five unanswered goals, including three in the final 10 minutes of the opening period. Erlich scored the first two to hand the Knights the lead for good.
He scored on the power play with 10:19 left – the first of two goals on six chances for the OHL’s No. 2 power play – and at even strength four minutes later. Jared Knight handed the Knights’ a 3-1 lead with 1:05 left. Vladimir Roth scored for the Knights 2:05 into the second.
Then the Knights scored a back-breaking goal – Justin Taylor’s short-handed breakaway on an Otters’ 5-on-3 opportunity 8:05 into the period.
Erie finally snapped London’s scoring streak, as rookie Greg McKegg scored with 6:14 left in the second to move the Otters with 5-2. Defenseman Tyler Hostetter’s power-play goal sliced London’s lead to 5-3 with 11:28 left in the third. But London’s second short-handed goal regained a three-goal lead.