What: London Knights (10-5-2-1) at Erie Otters (7-13-1-0)
When: Saturday, 7 p.m.
Where: Tullio Arena
On the air: WFNN-AM/1330, www.ottershockey.com (live stream)
Players to watch
Erie – C Greg McKegg (11 goals, 16 assists, 27 points), G Ramis Sadikov (7-10-1-0 record, 2.97 goals-against average, .910 save percentage, 1 shutout), RW Shawn Szydlowski (7-11-18), D Tyler Hostetter (4-13-17), RW Anthony Luciani (4-3-7 in 7 games)
London – RW Vladislav Namestnikov (9-15-24), C Daniel Erlich (7-14-21), RW Jared Knight (7-12-19), LW Michael MacDonald (5-11-16), RW Seth Griffith (4-11-15)
Fast facts
Erie – The Otters have split the first eight games of a key nine-game stretch that concludes tonight with the last of eight home games. … They are 4-7-0-0 at home, which ranks near the bottom in the OHL, despite outscoring opponents 37-34. … The Otters and Knights split the first two games of their six-game season series. Erie won 5-2 at home Oct. 2 and lost 5-3 in London Oct. 15. … Varone faces his former team for the first time since being traded to the Otters three weeks ago. … Hostetter and the Knights’ Michael D’Orazio (4-13-17) are tied for second overall in scoring by defensemen. Hostetter has multi-point outings in three of his last four games. … Sadikov has started 11 straight games.
London – The Knights have lost six of their last 10 games. But they enter tonight’s game off an 8-1 home win against Barrie on Friday. … D’Orazio completes a two-game suspension tonight. He earned a game misconduct in Wednesday’s overtime loss at Windsor for being in a second fight during the same stoppage. … The Knights have played 12 of their first 18 games at home. They are 2-3-1-0 on the road. … Their once vaunted power play stands 15th in the league at 17 percent (18-for-106).
Up next: at Peterborough (Thursday, 7 p.m.), at Oshawa (Friday, 7:35 p.m.)
- Victor Fernandes
