Will Nicholl’s goal 22 seconds into overtime completed the comeback as the London Knights knocked off the Niagara IceDogs 5-4 at Canada Life Place on Friday.

London trailed 3-0 and 4-1 in the game but two goals and an assist by Jesse Nurmi and two goals and an assist from Ryan Brown did the heavy lifting offensively. That helped the Knights earn two key points to get to within a single point of the Soo Greyhounds for fourth place in the OHL’s Western Conference standings. The Greyhounds lost 5-1 to Flint on home ice.

The first meeting between the Knights and IceDogs, in December, saw Niagara build a three-goal lead over London and hang on for a 4-3 victory.

The IceDogs followed a similar script to start in the second matchup.

Left-winger Ryan Roobroeck, a London native, opened the scoring at 8:04 of the first period when he slid home his 29th goal of the year.

Less than two minutes later, he scored his 30th as former Oshawa Generals defenceman Haoxi Wang snagged a puck that hit a leg in front and put a shot at the net. Roobroeck tipped it in to put the IceDogs up 2-0.

Get breaking National news

For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.

Before the opening 20 minutes were up, former Knights draft pick Jacob Monks recorded his first OHL goal — and his first OHL point — with a wrist shot from the high slot, and Niagara went to the dressing room with a 3-0 lead.

The start of the second period saw three goals in under three minutes as London came out to change the flow. Nurmi went hard to the net and poked in his 10th goal of the year to get the Knights on the scoreboard.

The IceDogs quickly got that goal back when rookie Ryerson Edgar scored 58 seconds later. That made it 4-1 for Niagara.

Brown made it 4-2 less than a minute later, extending his point streak to eight games. His second of the game at 19:34 tightened the score to 4-3 heading into the final 20 minutes.

Nurmi’s second on the night tied the game on a power play at 2:47 of the third period as Henry Brzustewicz found the New York Islanders prospect at the side of the IceDogs net. The assist stretched Brzustewicz’s point streak to nine games.

Niagara outshot London 15-3 in the early going but the Knights pushed back and outshot the IceDogs in the end 42-32.

London was 1-for-2 on the power play.

Niagara did not have an opportunity on the man advantage.

Pete James was the first to know the Knights were becoming the Knights

Longtime sportscaster Pete James passed away on Feb. 4 at the age of 89.

Along with his reams of reporting and broadcasting accomplishments, James was the first person to know  that the London Knights were being elevated to a Major Junior A franchise.

It happened in the mid 1960s, as James stood outside of a hotel conference room James literally pressed his ear to the keyhole, heard the words and ran to the nearest payphone and informed London.

Up next

London will meet the Saginaw Spirit for the final time in the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 7, at the Dow Event Centre in Michigan.

The Knights have won two of the three previous meetings, including a wild 8-5 final in Saginaw in late November.

Coverage begins at 6:30 p.m., on 980 CFPL, at www.980cfpl.ca and on the iHeart Radio and Radioplayer Canada apps.

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.