London Knights centre Mitchell Marner speaks with the media outside the visitors' dressing room at the WFCU Centre in Windsor on Nov. 29.  (PHOTO/Mark Brown)London Knights centre Mitchell Marner speaks with the media outside the visitors' dressing room at the WFCU Centre in Windsor on Nov. 29. (PHOTO/Mark Brown)
London

Knights Get Past Spitfires 5-3

Christian Dvorak scored two goals and got two assists and Mitchell Marner added a goal and two assists of his own as the London Knights beat the Windsor Spitfires 5-3 Sunday afternoon at the WFCU Centre.

Mikhail Sergachev provided two of Windsor's three goals in the contest, which was the second straight loss for the Spits.

Windsor winger Bradley Latour says it is not a situation the team is used to being in.

"It's frustrating but it's our own fault, obviously," says Latour. "We prepared all week and we just laid an egg tonight."

Dvorak, who also had a plus-one on the afternoon and had the first star of the game, says it was ideal to get two points on the road against a rival like the Spitfires.

"(Windsor) play us well," says Dvorak. "I'm happy about the two points and it's a good way to finish the weekend."

Windsor had control of the scoring through the beginning of the third period.  Sergachev's first goal came just over four minutes into the first stanza, but London's Kole Sherwood had the unassisted equalizer just 13 seconds later.  At 6:55 in the first, Windsor captain Patrick Sanvido picked up his first goal in a season that has been marred by injuries.  The score was 2-1 Windsor at the first intermission.

The Spitfires killed off the first three London power plays of the game, but Knights winger J.J. Piccinich broke the streak at 13:04 in the second period to tie it at two apiece.  Just 36 seconds after that, Sergachev lit the lamp again to put the Spitfires ahead once more.

Sanvido went to the box at the end of the second period, and Marner got his 15th goal of the season on the power play that carried into the third.

Marner says he was pleased with his own performance, but the third period made the difference.

"In the first two periods nothing was really going our way, and in the third we kind of picked ourselves up," says Marner, the number one draft pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in this year's NHL Entry Draft. "We came out and played hard."

Dvorak would score London's remaining two goals in the third, including an empty-netter late in that period after Spits goalie Garret Hughson was pulled for the extra attacker.  Hughson stopped 20 out of the 24 London shots.

Six Windsor players got assists on those three goals -- Sanvido, Logan Brown, Christian Fischer, Hayden McCool, Aaron Luchuk and Markus Soberg.

Despite the back-to-back losses on the weekend, Windsor maintains a comfortable lead over the Sarnia Sting in the OHL West Division standings.  The Knights are third in the Midwest Division, just seven points behind the leading Erie Otters.

The Spitfires next host the Flint Firebirds Thursday night, then travel to London Friday night to face the Knights once more.

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