Barkey and Brochu help London Knights blank the Kitchener Rangers 4-0

Brett Brochu made 28 saves for his fifth career shutout as the London Knights defeated the Kitchener Rangers 4-0 on Friday night at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.

Denver Barkey scored once and set up another for the Knights and now has 21 points in 20 games.

Barkey made good on a gorgeous pass from Easton Cowan after Cowan knocked a puck out of the air in centre ice and in one motion whipped it ahead to Barkey, who was already at full speed and raced to the Ranger goal.

Barkey then set up Oliver Bonk late in the second period as Bonk snuck in from the left point for his fifth goal of the year.

Connor Federkow and Ruslan Gazizov also got goals for London.

Federkow’s first of the season came on a deflection in the opening period and Gazizov banked a puck off a skate and past Marco Costantini in the Kitchener net just 24 seconds into the second period.

The Rangers outshot the Knights 28-24.

London is now 8-2 on the road in 2022-23 and will play their fourth consecutive game away from home on Sunday evening in Oshawa, Ont.

Coming Nov. 29th…

The London Knights have been giving fans little teasers on their social media as to what will be unveiled before they host the Guelph Storm on Nov. 29, 2022.

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So far it’s clear that it will be a new jersey but it won’t just be worn one night and then retired. It will become a part of the Knights uniform collection going forward and will be worn multiple times this year.

Read more: London Knights sign first round pick Luca Testa

One New Year’s Day in Kitchener, Ont.

The Kitchener Memorial Auditorium opened in 1951 and has been collecting hockey history ever since. The building has been home to Memorial Cup champions and has hosted Memorial Cup championships.

It also has a very little recognized claim to fame as the only building the 1995-96 London Knights won a game in outside of the London Ice House. That was the team that had a record of 3-60-3 and earned maybe the most improbable victory in team history at The Aud on Jan. 1, 1996. London was in the midst of four games in three in a half days in four different cities.

The OHL doesn’t allow scheduling like that anymore. The Knights had lost 5-3 at home to the Sarnia Sting on a Friday night and immediately headed east to Belleville only to lose 6-1 to the Bulls on the Saturday. London headed further east on the Sunday only to be blown out 10-0 by the Kingston Frontenacs on New Year’s Eve.

The Knights arrived in Kitchener, Ont., to play on New Year’s Day against a Rangers team that challenged for top spot in their division that year. London jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead that day and an early third period goal by Joel Dezainde stood up as the unlikely game winner in a 3-2 Knights victory.

Read more: London Knights: Back in time — May 23

Up next

London will play their fourth consecutive road game on Sunday, Nov. 27 in Oshawa, Ont.

The Knights and Generals have not met since the final game London played before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Matvey Guskov scored into an empty net on March 8, 2020 as the Knights polished off a 3-1 home ice win at Budweiser Gardens. London did not play another game until Friday, Oct. 8, 2021.