Will Nicholl’s goal 22 seconds into overtime completed the comeback as the London Knights defeated the Niagara IceDogs 5-4 at Canada Life Place on Friday.
London trailed 3-0 and 4-1 in those matches but two goals and an assist from Jesse Nurmi and two goals and an assist from Ryan Brown made up for the heavy lifting in attack. That helped the Knights earn two crucial points to within one point of the Soo Greyhounds for fourth place in the OHL Western Conference standings. The Greyhounds lost 5-1 to Flint at home.
The first meeting between the Knights and IceDogs, in December, saw Niagara take a three-goal lead over London and hold on for a 4-3 win.
The IceDogs followed a similar script to start the second matchup.
Left winger Ryan Roobroeck, a native of London, opened the scoring at 8:04 of the first period when he scored his 29th goal of the year.
Less than two minutes later, he scored his 30th goal when former Oshawa Generals defenseman Haoxi Wang took the puck off his front foot and fired a shot into the net. Roobroeck provided the tip to put the IceDogs up 2-0.
Get the latest national news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up to get breaking news alerts delivered right to you as it happens.
Before the opening 20 minutes had elapsed, former Knights draft pick Jacob Monks recorded his first OHL goal — and first OHL point — with a wrist shot from the high slot, and Niagara went to the locker room with a 3-0 lead.
The start of the second half saw three goals in less than three minutes as London came out to change the flow. Nurmi worked hard to score and scored his 10th goal of the year to get the Knights on the scoreboard.
The IceDogs quickly got it back when rookie Ryerson Edgar scored 58 seconds later. That made the score 4-1 for Niagara.
Brown made it 4-2 less than a minute later, extending his points streak to eight games. His second of the game at 19:34 tied the score at 4-3 heading into the final 20 minutes.
Nurmi’s second goal of the night tied the game on a power play at 2:47 of the third period when Henry Brzustewicz found the New York Islanders prospect on the IceDogs’ side of the net. The assist extended Brzustewicz’s points streak to nine games.
Niagara outscored London 15-3 early but the Knights pressed on and outscored the IceDogs late 42-32.
London went 1-for-2 on the power play.
Niagara had no chance on the man advantage.
Pete James was the first to know that the Knights became Knights
Longtime sportscaster Pete James died on February 4 at the age of 89.
Along with many reporting and broadcasting milestones, James was the first to know that the London Knights were being elevated to a Major Junior A franchise.
It was in the mid-1960s, when James was standing outside a hotel conference room, James put his ear to the keyhole, heard the words and ran to the nearest pay telephone and alerted London.
Next
London will meet the Saginaw Spirit for the final time of the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 7, at the Dow Event Center in Michigan.
The Knights have won two of their previous three meetings, including a wild 8-5 finale in Saginaw in late November.
Coverage begins at 6:30 p.m., on 980 CFPL, at www.980cfpl.ca and on the iHeart Radio and Radioplayer Canada apps.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.