A strong start helped the London Knights beat the Firebirds 4-2 in Flint Saturday night.
The victory leaves the Knights with a 2-1 record and four points in the OHL Midwest Division on the young season.
The game was scoreless until just after the halfway mark of the first period. Then, Dalton Duhart scored his first of the season to put London on the board first. Just over a minute later, Connor McMichael doubled the Knights' lead by scoring his fourth goal of the year. Jake Durham cut the London lead in half when his goal at 17:53 put Flint up, but the Knights got that back exactly one minute later on a goal by Cole Tymkin. Flint goaltender Emanuel Vella was pulled after that period and replaced with Luke Cavallin.
The Firebirds pulled within one on Ethan Keppen's goal for the only score of the middle frame, and the score was 3-2 London after two periods of play.
Liam Foudy sealed the win for London with an empty-netter at 18:54 in the third period.
Jordan Kooy stopped 21 out of 23 shots in net for the Knights. Vella and Cavallin combined for 27 saves out of 30 shots.
The Knights travel down the 401 Thursday night to take on the rival Windsor Spitfires.