Pair of hat tricks helps London Knights topple Erie Otters to begin weekend series – London
Braiden Clark and Cohen Bidgood each recorded hat tricks as the London Knights defeated the Erie Otters 10-2 on March 6 at Canada Life Place in the first of back-to-back games between the teams.
Henry Brzustewicz had four assists for the Knights and Braidy Wassilyn had three.
London had two goals before the Erie Otters had recorded their first shot of the game.
Cohen Bidgood and Braiden Clark scored 27 seconds apart at 13:55 and 14:22 of the opening period.
Knights goaltender Seb Gatto was not called on to make his first save until the 15:10 mark and that was the only save Gatto had to make in the first 20 minutes.
Ryan Brown scored his second goal in two games and 21st of the year with 1:03 remaining on the clock and London took a 3-0 lead to the dressing room.
Bidgood’s second of the game came on a power play at 1:30 of the second period and was followed by Evan Van Gorp’s third goal in three games at the 8:00 mark, extending the Knights lead to 5-0.
Tyler Cooper of the Otters managed to steal a puck deep in the London end and scored for the Otters at 11:26. However, that goal seemed to spark London as Jaxon Cover fed Bidgood to complete his hat trick and Braiden Clark wired in his 19th goal of the season.
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The Knights led 7-1 through two periods and had held Erie to only seven shots to that point in the game.
London added three more goals in the third period as Clark completed his hat trick on a breakaway and Brody Cook scored short-handed on another breakaway.
Evan Headrick of the Otters scored a power play goal at 9:07 of the third period and Max Crete finished the scoring and brought the Knights to double-digits for the second time in 2025-26.
Alex Campeau and Cooper McAslan each earned their first OHL points with assists in the game.
The pair was taken in the first and second rounds respectively in the 2025 OHL Priority Selection.
Sixteen of the 18 London skaters recorded at least one point.
The Knights were 1-for-3 on the power play.
Erie was 1-for-1 on the man advantage.
London outshot the Otters 37-18.
Movement at the NHL trade deadline
Several former London Knights changed teams at this year’s NHL trade deadline.
After Michael McCarron went from Nashville to Minnesota and Olli Maatta ended up in Calgary after a deal between the Flames and the Utah Mammoth on March 4 and 5, respectively, more ex-Knights were given new addresses.
In a stunner, John Carlson went to bed as a member of the Washington Capitals and woke up on the Anaheim Ducks.
Jackson Edward was traded from Boston to the Philadelphia Flyers. Londoner Brett Harrison also went to Philadelphia in that deal.
Corey Perry also went back to the Tampa Bay Lightning from the L.A. Kings. Perry went to the Stanley Cup final with the Lightning in 2022.
Nazem Kadri won the Stanley Cup with Colorado that year and Kadri was traded back to the Avalanche right before the deadline arrived.
Up next
The Knights and Otters will meet again on March 7 in the second of their home-and-home series in a game that will complete their season series against one another.
Coverage will start at 6:30 on 980 CFPL, at www.980cfpl.ca and on the iHeart Radio and Radioplayer Canada apps.
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