The London Knights wrapped up 2024 with a commanding 9-3 victory over the Sarnia Sting on December 31 at Canada Life Place. London captain Denver Barkey spearheaded the team’s offensive efforts with five assists, while Landon Sim delighted the crowd by scoring a hat trick. Edmonton Oilers prospect Sam O’Reilly made significant contributions with one goal and three assists, and Evan Van Gorp assisted three times for the second consecutive game.
The Knights ignited the sellout audience with an impressive display of skill, notching four goals in each of the first two periods. Sim opened the scoring with two quick goals, propelling London to a 2-0 lead early in the first period. Despite a Sarnia power play goal from Ruslan Karimov, Van Gorp quickly countered with a pass to Rene Van Bommel, restoring London’s two-goal advantage.
Montgomery joined the scoreboard with a goal at 12:40 of the first period, sending the Knights into the second period with a 4-1 lead and prompting the replacement of Sarnia’s goalie, Nick Surzycia, with rookie Evan Maillet.
Sarnia’s Tyson Doucette briefly narrowed the deficit with a short-handed goal, but London responded forcefully, extending their lead to 8-3 by the end of the second period. Cam Allen, continuing his impressive scoring streak, added his ninth goal of the season, while Sim secured his hat trick on a power play with O’Reilly providing a perfect setup.
Noah Aboflan and Montgomery contributed further goals, showing their offensive prowess as the Knights maintained their grip on the game. Although Sarnia managed a late second-period goal by Alessandro Di Iorio, London topped off their performance with a final goal in the third period from Barkey to O’Reilly, marking O’Reilly’s 14th goal of the year.
Despite being outshot by Sarnia 36-34, London was proficient on the power play, scoring three times in five attempts. The game provided a notable conclusion to the year, and both teams will meet again on January 1, 2025, in Sarnia for their season rematch.
