Windsor Spitfires put Stranglehold on London Knights

Graham Knott scored twice, including the the overtime winner, as the Windsor Spitfires defeated the London Knights 3-2 at the WFCU Centre Thursday night. With the victory, the Spitfires now lead the Knights three games to one in their Ontario Hockey League quarter final play-off series.

For the second straight contest the Spitfires (3-1) opened the scoring in the game with a first period powerplay marker. This time it was Knott’s first goal of the play-offs.

After having just four shots in the first period, the Knights (1-3) struck for goals by Evan Bouchard and Janne Kuokkanen in two minutes to take a 2-1 lead midway through the second frame. Gabe Vilardi then scored Windsor’s second powerplay marker just under eight minutes later to knot the game at 2-2 after two periods and set the stage for Knott’s heroics.

Jeremy Bracco chipped in with a pair of assists, including one on the game-winning goal, for the Spitfires.

Michael DiPietro made 31 saves, including a couple of game-savers in overtime, to pick up the win goal for the Spitfires while Tyler Parsons made 30 stops at the other end.

Game five of the series schedule goes Friday night at the Budweiser Gardens in London.

Check out Tim Jarrold’s game photos HERE.