67’s stun the powerhouse Knights in an OT thriller
Austen Keating was a 12-year-old playing major peewee in Guelph the last time the Ottawa 67’s beat the London Knights on Ottawa ice. Jack Quinn, on the other hand, was a nine-year-old playing muskrat Rep ‘B’ in his hometown of Cobden way back on Feb. 6, 2011, when Petr Mrazek stoned the Knights 4-0 on then Civic Centre ice. Well, more than seven full seasons later, the 67’s run of futility is finally over against the OHL’s perennial powerhouse. The unlikely pair literally took things into their own hands with the rookie Quinn feeding the veteran Keating for a breakaway and Keating raced both the London defenders and the clock to score with 0.8 seconds remaining in overtime to give the 67’s a thrilling, playofflike 2-1 win over the Knights before a crowd of 3,206 Friday night at TD Place. The 67’s even have expectations to top that crowd total Sunday afternoon when they host the vastlyimproved Sudbury Wolves. Just the same, the win was as much about two points as it was a statement for the 67’s, who now have 11 wins in 15 games in the young season. “I honestly had no idea how much time was left,” said Keating after deking London netminder Joseph Raaymakers, then sliding the puck underneath him and into the net. The goal light flashed briefly before the green lights came and 0.00 showed on the scoreboard, so officials reviewed it briefly before signalling goal and the 67’s celebrated as though they had just won a playoff series. “I was going to try a different move,” added Keating, now with 24 points in 15 games to rank among the league leaders. “Good thing I didn’t.” The rookie, meanwhile, won a battle in the 67’s end and never saw the veteran leader flying behind the London defence. “All I heard was Keats yell and I just threw it up there,” said Quinn, after his best game in a 67’s uniform with a goal and THE assist. “I had no clue what time was left. I just heard him yell.” The 67’s played with standout defenceman Nikita Okhotyuk, who served the first of a three-game suspension for a hit last weekend on the road. Okhotyuk will be out again Sunday before the 67’s head to Windsor, Flint and Saginaw next weekend and they complete most of their longest travel before the New Year. From the puck drop, Friday’s contest had a little bit of a playoff feel to it. “We didn’t talk about (the streak),” said 67’s head coach Andre Tourigny. “We focused on that we were playing the best defensive team in the league.”