London Knights put in some overtime on the road to bring home five of six points

The London Knights closed out their longest road trip of the season with extra hockey for a third straight game.

Thomas Zocco’s goal 1:53 into overtime gave London a 5-4 win over the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds at GFL Memorial Gardens on Nov. 1.

Zocco took a feed from captain Ryan Brown, who had four points in the game, and sliced a shot inside the left post past Greyhounds goaltender David Vermirovsky.

Brown tied the game with 7:24 left in the third through sheer determination, carrying the puck into the slot and ripping a shot into the Sault Ste. Marie net.

“I was just trying to use the D as a screen,” Brown said. “I was pretty far out, so you need to get a good screen and then shoot it low so that it is hard for the goalie to get it.”

The move worked.

The win sent the Knights home with five of a possible six points, after an overtime win in North Bay on Oct. 29 and an overtime loss the next night in Sudbury.

“We battled through a lot of adversity this weekend with guys out at different times,” Brown said. “We had a lot of time to spend together as a team to bond, and it paid off on the ice.”

London played the Greyhounds without Jaxon Cover, Caleb Mitchell and Mike Zakharov, all out with injuries. None of the injuries are expected to be long-term.

As Knights assistant coach Rick Steadman pointed out after the game, the absences gave other players a chance.

“I think the guys that are usually on the third and fourth line stepped up,” Steadman said. “They got more minutes today. They were put in big situations, hard situations, and they stepped up and did a great job. And then the guys that have been doing it all year, those top six guys, they just kept doing it.”

London had to work through some adversity in the game itself.

Jacob Vandeven’s first goal of the season put the Knights ahead 3-1 in the second period.

Sault Ste. Marie answered with a late second-period goal from Jeremy Martin, then got two more 1:44 apart from Christopher Brown and Colin Fitzgerald to turn a two-goal deficit into a one-goal lead.

Vandeven has two career OHL goals. Both have come in Sault Ste. Marie.

The Knights’ power play had far more success on the three-game trip than it has for much of this season.

After going a combined 3-for-7 against the Battalion and the Wolves, London went 2-for-5 against the ‘Hounds, thanks to first-period goals from Marcus Nordmark and Cohen Bidgood.

Christopher Brown also scored on the power play in the first period and was named the game’s second star. Ryan Brown was named first star for his goal and three assists.

Brian Cooke stopped 27 of 31 shots for his sixth win of the season.
At 6-0-0-0, he’s on an Austin Elliott-like track. Elliott won his first 20 games for the Knights in 2024-25.

Vermirovsky made 22 saves on 27 shots for Sault Ste. Marie.