IceDogs come up short in London
The Niagara IceDogs turned in a solid effort but came up just short, dropping a 2-1 decision to the London Knights to kick off the 2022/23 Ontario Hockey League season.
The IceDogs opened the scoring just over three minutes in when Mathieu Paris scored against his former team. Paris played 45 games with the Knights last season and was acquired along with over-age winger Ryan Humphrey in exchange for Juan Copeland and two draft picks.
The Knights tied the score at 1-1 late in the first when Kasper Halttunen scored with the man advantage.
Sam O’Reilly netted the winner at the 14:21 mark of the second.
Former Knight Owen Flores faced 28 shots in goal while Michael Simpson earned the win, kicking out 34 of 35 shots.
“I thought we were good in a lot of areas,” IceDogs associate coach Ben Boudreau said. “They capitalized on one of the three power plays and we didn’t. That was the difference. It could have gone either way. Both goalies were solid. Both teams played well. I thought we were the better team the majority of thr game. It gives me hope and optimism going forward.
“Everything is a work in progress but we will get it done.”
The teams meet again Saturday in the IceDogs home opener.
Ice cubes: Ryan Vannetten, Chris O’Flaherty, William Stewart and Andrew Vermulen did not dress for Niagara.
STATS PACK
Knights 2 IceDogs 1
Niagara IceDogs: Mathieu Paris (1).
London Knights: Kasper Halttunen (1); Sam O’Reilly (1).
Game stats: Shots on goal: By Niagara on Micheal Simpson (35), by London on Owen Flores (28); Power plays: Niagara 0/2, London 1/3.
Next up: IceDogs face London Saturday at 7 p.m. in their home opener.
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