Carson Andrew’s goal 2:13 into double overtime gave the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds a 3-2 victory over the London Knights on Tuesday at the GFL Memorial Gardens.
The win gives Sault Ste. Marie a 3-0 series lead with Game 4 less than 24 hours away on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Goaltenders Seb Gatto of the Knights and Carter George of the Greyhounds were big reasons why London and Sault Ste. Marie needed more than 82 minutes to decide a winner.
Gatto made 42 saves and George made 28.
Jaxon Cover connected on a power play from the top of the left circle to begin the scoring 13:24 into the game and give the Knights a 1-0 lead.
The London forward now has two goals in the series.
Greyhounds defenceman Callum Croskery tied the game with 58.8 seconds remaining in the opening period as he took advantage of a collision in the London zone and found a clear lane to the net for his first goal of the playoffs. The teams headed to their dressing rooms tied 1-1.
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Evan Van Gorp put the Knights in front on a penalty shot at 5:22 of the second after he was knocked down on a breakaway attempt.
Van Gorp came flying into the Sault Ste. Marie end on his penalty shot attempt and zoomed to the net, where he put a shot over the blocker of George and made it 2-1.
The Knights thought they had a third goal when Kaeden Hawkins lifted a rebound over George but the play was ruled offside and it opened the door for Jordan Charron to tip in a Croskery shot to tie the game with 3:59 to go in regulation time.
The first overtime solved nothing as the Greyhounds outshot the Knights 15-8.
Andrew got a pass in front early in the second overtime and swung the puck around Gatto for the game-winner.
Sault Ste. Marie outshot London 45-30.
The Knights were 1-for-4 on the power play and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.
Piccinich and the Giants the favourites in the U.K.
J.J. Piccinich stood as a giant with the Knights when he helped London to win the Memorial Cup in 2016.
Now Piccinich plays for the Belfast Giants as they look to close out a regular-season title in the Elite Ice Hockey League this week.
Piccinich is second in scoring on the Giants and seventh overall in league scoring.
Since leaving London, Piccinich has won championships in the ECHL, in Norway and last year in the EIHL.
Up next
Game 4 takes place on Wednesday at GFL Memorial Gardens.
Coverage will start at 6:30 p.m., on 980 CFPL, at www.980cfpl.ca and on the iHeart Radio and Radioplayer Canada apps.
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