ORONTO – Defenceman Alex Pineau’s third tally of the game, 1:50 into overtime, was the difference as the Thunder Bay Kings sMARLed back from an early three-goal deficit to defeat the London Jr. Knights 4-3 Thursday at the OHL Cup minor midget tournament in Toronto.
London gained the upper hand early as Brett Harrison’s splendid backhand was lifted high over the glove of Kings starter Gage Stewart 25 seconds into the contest.
Harrison added another five minutes later before Cole Watson put the Knights up by three at 10:48 during a two-man advantage.
Thunder Bay began their comeback 84 seconds into the middle stanza when Alex Atwill snapped a rising shot that eluded London netminder Joshua Kirton.
The Kings then clicked late in the frame, via the power play, with Pineau firing home his first of the day from left side.
Up a skater in third, Pineau buried one high to knot the affair at 3-3.
Despite putting multiple attempts off the goal post throughout regulation, Thunder Bay could not end it before time expired, thus sending the match-up to extra time to try and decide a winner.
At the end of a lengthy shift in OT, with the two sides going three skaters aside, a shot block helped the Kings break out of their own zone where Pineau darted in past a London defender and whipped a shot that Kirton could only get a piece of as it bounced off his catching glove and trickled across the goal line to complete a natural hat trick with the game-winner.
Thunder Bay goaltender Gage Stewart made 26 saves while keeping his club in it and allowing his team to rally and pull out the come from behind win.
Atwill and Jacob Sargent chipped in with two assists apiece to aid in the triumph.
The win was the first for the Kings at the OHL Cup since 2016.
Thunder Bay wraps up round robin play in this year’s event Friday as they take on the Waterloo Wolves at 11:30 a.m.
