The London Knights became the first Canadian team to win a game at the 2024 Memorial Cup in Saginaw, Michigan on Saturday. In the second game of the tournament, the Knights defeated the Drummondville Voltigeurs 4-0 thanks to a shutout by Michael Simpson of London, Ontario.
Simpson made 31 saves overall. He made nine saves in the first period, 12 saves in the second period, and 10 saves in the third period. The Knights posted the four-goal victory via a shutout despite the fact that they had nine fewer shots than the Voltigeurs, as London only had 22 shots.
This is the second straight year that Simpson has played in the Memorial Cup. Last year the represented the Peterborough Petes, but struggled as he had a record of two wins and three losses, with a goals against average of 4.19 and save percentage of .894.
Three Knights players had multi-point games on Saturday. Defenseman Oliver Bonk of Ottawa, Ontario, son of former Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens centre Radek Bonk, had one goal and one assist for two points. The other Knights players with a multi-point game were Ruslan Gazizov, who had two goals, and centre Jacob Julien of London, who had two assists. The other Knights goal scorer was Kasper Halttunen.
