London Knights Specialize in 6-3 Win Over Plymouth Whalers

Goals by Matt Rupert and Jared Knight 48 seconds apart late in the second period snapped a 1-1 tie and the London Knights went on the defeat the Plymouth Whalers, 6-3, in an Ontario Hockey League game played Saturday night at in Plymouth Township.

London runs its record to 4-0-0-0; Plymouth lost its first game at home at Compuware Arena and now is 2-2-0-0.

Knight scored the hat trick for London (1-2-3 on the season) as the game's second star.  Seth Griffith added a goal (fourth) and three assists as the game's first star.  Matt Rupert (first) and Vladislav Nemestnikov (second) also scored for London.

Plymouth received single goals from Mitchell Heard (fourth in four games), Dario Trutmann (first) and Rickard Rakell (second).

London won the battle of special teams, going 3-for-7 on the power play and scoring a shorthanded goal and empty net goal.  Plymouth with 2-for-10 with the extra man.

Knight scored the only goal of the first period on a power play at 15:04, scoring from the severe angle at the left goal line with a shot that Plymouth goaltender Scott Wedgewood got most of, but the puck trickled over the line.

Trutmann tied the game at 1-1 for Plymouth in the second period on a power play at 8:20,cutting in from the right point and one-timing Rakell's pass by London goaltender Michael Houser with a shot from the lower rim of the right circle.

London took the lead for good late in the second period on power play goals when Rupert scored on a rebound at 18:28 and Knight scored from the left wing at 19:16.  London led, 3-1, after forty minutes.

Heard cut the London lead to 3-2 at 5:24 when he batted home a rebound at the side of the London goal.  But the Knights struck twice in a span of 1:48 on goals by Namestnikov at 7:49 and a shorthanded goal by Griffith at 9:37.

The teams finished the scoring by trading a goal aside on Rakell's power play marker at 12:18 and Knight's hat trick on the empty net at 19:21.

Plymouth outshot London, 44-26.

The Whalers hit the road all of next week, playing in Peterborough on Thursday (6:45 p.m., 88.1-FM WSDP), Kingston on Friday (7:15 p.m., www.plymouthwhalers.com) and Ottawa on Oct. 9 (1:45 p.m., www.plymouthwhalers.com).

Plymouth's next home games are Oct. 14 against Niagara and Oct. 15 against Sarnia in the Whalers' annual .  Tickets for all Whalers games can be purchased by calling Compuware Arena at (734) 453-8400.