RED DEER, AB – As the London Knights continue to roll at the 2016 MasterCard Memorial Cup, the Knights second line came through with a strong night to compliment the team’s top line.
As the line of Mitchell Marner, Matthew Tkachuk and Christian Dvorak combined for 10 points, the Knights second line of Max Jones and Aaron Berisha centred by Cliff Pu added seven points in a 9-1 win over the Western Hockey League’s Brandon Wheat Kings Monday night at the Enmax Centrium in Red Deer.
The line of Jones, Berisha and Pu struggled to find the net in the Knights opener against the host Red Deer Rebels before coming up big against Brandon.
“We just loosened up the stick there,” Berisha said. “Definitely last game I had a few chances to score and I just couldn’t find the net. Now I just have to make sure I don’t tighten up on the stick and just make sure I’m having fun out there and be relaxed.”
“(Against Red Deer) we were getting the chances but weren’t burying them and today we were getting a little luckier and the pucks were going in,” Pu added.
Pu would say that the line was rewarded offensively on Monday night because “we used our speed and played on the cycle.”
Knights Coach Dale Hunter said the three have begun to get their chemistry back as Jones returned from a 12-game suspension in the OHL final.
“I was happy to see that they’ve moved the puck around and passed the puck well,” Hunter said of the trio. “They went to the net hard and got rewarded for it.”
Jones added that after battling rust personally due to the suspension, the trio is coming back together.
“We’ve been playing with each other for a while,” Jones said. “At the start of the OHL playoffs we were doing great and then I had the suspension and that put it off a bit. I’m just kicking off the rust now and we’re producing chances”
Dvorak had three goals and an assist for London while Marner assisted on four goals. Tkachuk added a goal and an assist for London. J.J. Piccinich and Daniel Bernhardt also scored for London. Defenceman Olli Juolevi assisted on three goals.
“Every team needs depth and you can’t rely on one line, even though their point production is ridiculous,” Jones said. “In close games it will come down to all four lines and tonight we happened to chip in. Against Red Deer we had the same amount of chances but we just didn’t bury them.”
Goaltender Tyler Parsons stopped 24 shots while Brendan Burke came in for the final 12 minutes and stopped all 11 shots he faced for the Knights.
Stelio Mattheos had the lone goal for Brandon, who entered the tournament as the Western League champions.
Wheat Kings goaltender Jordan Papirny stopped 19 shots in two periods of work before making way for Logan Thompson, who stopped three of five shots in the third period.
“It was embarrassing,” said Brandon captain Macoy Erkamps. “We just weren’t ready to go.”
“London played extremely well and they were just better in all aspects of the game that you need to be good in at this time of the year,” said Brandon General Manager/Coach Kelly McCrimmon. “They backed us right off in terms of their offensive play and then our team never really played the way that we can. The combination led to a very one-sided game.”
London wraps up its round robin schedule on Tuesday night against the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. A win would clinch a spot in Sunday’s tournament championship and give the Knights a 3-0 round robin record. A Huskies win would mean the Quebec League champions earn the championship berth and the Knights would play in Friday’s semifinal.
Brandon has an off-day on Tuesday before wrapping up the round robin on Wednesday against the Red Deer Rebels. The Wheat Kings need a win to get into a tiebreaker game on Thursday night.