Hounds drop another to the Knights

Oh so close once agan.

But no matter how hard they try, the Soo Greyhounds are unable to collect a win against the London Knights.

On Friday night in London in front of a television audience on Rogers Sportsnet, the Knights defeated the Hounds 4-3 in overtime.

Despite the loss, the Greyhounds do escape with a valuable point in their chase for fourth spot in the western conference.

Andrew Desjardins, David Kuchejda and Brandon MacLean scored for the Hounds.

The Greyhounds started the game with plenty of energy and outworked the Knights along the boards and to loose pucks.

Desjardins roofed a shot over Steve Mason for a 1-0 lead before Kuchejda faught off his man from behind the net to fire a shot short side to make it 2-0.

But the Knights changed the game's momentum with under three seconds to play in the period. Sam Gagner, who was set up in front of the goal for the overtime winner, completed a designed play off the faceoff by wiring a shot past Kyle Gajewski on the power play to cut the score to 2-1 after 20 minutes.

David Meckler tied the game early in the second period with a power play goal before Brandon MacLean knocked the puck out of the air with his stick to restore a Greyhound lead.

Adam Perry would tie the game once again with a goal at the 11:42 mark and the teams would then be held scored less for almost 30 minutes until the overtime winner.

The Hounds will now gear up for a game against the fourth place Saginaw Spirit on Sunday at 2 p.m.

*** GAME SUMMARY:

Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 3 at London Knights 4 (OT) John Labatt Centre

1st Period 1. Sault Ste. Marie, A. Desjardins (14) (B. Biggers) 6:52 2. Sault Ste. Marie, D. Kuchejda (23) (M. Lyall) 14:01 3. London, S. Gagner (31) (S. Kostitsyn, K. Montgomery) 19:58 PP

Penalties - J. Foreman Ldn (charging) 6:33, S. Jones Ssm (interference) 11:26, J. Shine Ldn (checking from behind) 18:45, C. Thornton Ssm (checking from behind) 19:43, T. Cuthbert Ssm (slashing) 19:53

2nd Period 4. London, D. Meckler (33) (S. Gagner, S. Kostitsyn) 1:08 PP 5. Sault Ste. Marie, B. MacLean (16) (A. Desjardins, T. Cuthbert) 4:55 6. London, A. Perry (37) (S. Gagner, S. Aarssen) 11:42

Penalties - C. Thornton Ssm (roughing) 0:26, R. Martinelli Ldn (roughing) 0:26, K. Montgomery Ldn (tripping) 3:02, M. Quesnele Ssm (tripping) 3:44, K. Montgomery Ldn (tripping) 6:10, B. Biggers Ssm (fighting, 10-minute misconduct) 8:49, J. Shine Ldn (fighting) 8:49, C. MacKinnon Ssm (checking from behind) 9:37, T. Cuthbert Ssm (tripping) 13:28, J. Beaulieu Ldn (elbowing, roughing) 18:01

3rd Period No Scoring

Penalties - B. Good Ssm (tripping) 2:19, R. Martinelli Ldn (hooking) 11:15, C. Thornton Ssm (hooking) 12:21

OT Period Scoring - 7. London, S. Gagner (32) (S. Kostitsyn, R. Martinelli) 1:21

Penalties - No Penalties

SSM Shots: 13 11 17 0 TOTAL: 41 LDN Shots: 7 11 12 2 TOTAL: 32

Power Play Conversion

Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 0-7. London Knights 2-8.

Goaltenders

Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds Gajewski 27-17-1-2 Min: 61:21 SV: 28 GA: 4 [L]

London Knights Mason 39-11-1-3 Min: 61:21 SV: 38 GA: 3 [W]

Start : 7:08 PM End : 9:37 PM Attendance : 9090

***