Music: {allcanada} OHL: HOUSER EARNS SHUTOUT AS LONDON BEATS SARNIA

Sunday, January 1, 2012

{allcanada} OHL: HOUSER EARNS SHUTOUT AS LONDON BEATS SARNIA

When the London Knights, have trouble with their offence, the highest scoring team in the Ontario Hockey League can rely on goalie Michael Houser.

Houser made 36 saves on Sunday to lead the London Knights to a 3-0 victory over the host Sarnia Sting.

The shutout was Houser's fourth of the season, tying him for first with Mark Visentin of the Niagara IceDogs and Matej Machovsky of the Brampton Battalion.

The 19-year-old Houser also earned his league-leading 26th win of the season, which is nine more than any other OHL goalie.

Brett Welychka scored twice and added an assist to lead the Knights (27-8-1) offensively while Ryan Rupert scored once and set up both of Welychka's goals.

Brandon Maxwell stopped 16 of 19 shots for the loss, the Sting's fifth straight (19-14-5).

London went 0 for 2 on the power play as Sarnia failed to score on five opportunities with the man advantage.

Elsewhere in the OHL, it was: Brampton 4, Belleville 2; Kitchener 4, Guelph 3; Kingston 5, Ottawa 3; Oshawa 4, Owen Sound 3; Peterborough 4, Sudbury 3 (OT).

At Sarnia, Ont., despite only nine shots in the opening period, the Knights were able to take a 2-0 lead into the second period.

Rupert opened the scoring at 13:15 and Welychka followed that up at 17:53 with a short-handed goal.

A scoreless second period had Houser turning aside 12 shots and three Sting power-play chances.

Welychka scored his second of the game 42 seconds into the third period and House turned aside 18 shots the rest of the way to seal a victory for London.

---

Battalion 4 Bulls 2

At Belleville, Ont., Matt McLeod had two goals, including the game winner, as Brampton (22-10-5) doubled up the Bulls (21-14-1).

---

Rangers 4 Storm 3

At Guelph, Ont., Kithener (25-10-1) defeated the Storm (15-16-5) after Tobias Rieder scored the winning goal with 57 seconds remaining in the third period.

---

Frontenacs 5 67's 2

At Kingston, Ont., the Frontenacs (10-23-4) snapped a three-game losing streak after David Maruzek scores twice to beat Ottawa (22-10-5).

---

Generals 4 Attack 3

At Oshawa, Ont., a third-period goal from Christian Thomas stood up as the winner and Dan Altshuller stopped 39 shots to lift the Generals (16-18-4) over Owen Sound (18-17-4) .

---

Petes 4 Wolves 3 (OT)

At Peterborough, Ont., Alan Quine set up two goals then scored on a penalty shot 1:16 into overtime, lifting the Petes (17-14-6) over Sudbury (19-12-3).