It's not clear what Parker Snelgrove will remember most about Sunday's game at the Sleeman Centre: scoring his first OHL goal or being robbed of a second goal that would have tied things up late in the game.
The Storm's second round pick in last year's draft finally put one in the net in his 36th OHL game, a pretty finish in close on goaltender Michael Simpson after Leo Serlin found him all alone in the slot.
"That goal was a big moment in my hockey career and I'll always remember that ... it was a bit of everything, a bit of relief, but i was super excited to get that first one," said Snelgrove, a London native.
"Leo had the puck down low as I entered their zone and I yelled his name and he gave it to me, then it was just me and the goalie and I went to the backhand," Snelgrove said. "When I first got it I looked to see what the goalie was doing and he was out pretty far, so I tried to make a move and he bit.
But there was just as much talk about the one that got away, a jaw-dropping glove save by Simpson on what looked like a sure goal for Snelgrove when the puck squirted loose and he had a – seemingly – wide-open net to fire the puck into. It would have tied the game 4-4 but Simpson flashed the late leather to make a brilliant glove save.
"I can't believe he saved that," Snelgrove said.
That was one of several chances Guelph had with goaltender Brayden Gillespie on the bench for the extra attacker. But the first place Knights held fast, winding up with a 4-3 victory in front of a crowd of 4,800.
It was Guelph's fourth loss in a row.
It was also the second game in a row an unlucky puck off a skate played a key role in their demise.
Last Friday in Kitchener a pass hit a defenceman's skate and went to a Rangers player at the side of the Storm net to help set up the tying goal.
Sunday it was an Oliver Bonk pass that hit the skate of a backchecking Storm forward Braeden Bowman and deflected past a helpless Gillespie, who was reacting to the pass.
"You make your own luck," said Storm coach Chad Wiseman about the two unlucky bounces.
Still, he saw plenty of positives.
"I like the way we've pushed back our last two games and kind of found out identity, where we might have lost it for a few games. Even games we won I thought we weren't playing the kind of hockey games we were playing earlier in the year.
"We're getting offence and we're generating chances, they're just not going in," the Storm coach said. "If we keep doing the right things, if we keep competing and playing the game the right way, eventually the puck's going to find the back of the net."
London led 2-0 early before goals by Snelgrove and ex-Knight Brody Crane tied it up before the end of the first period.
Bonk scored to make it 3-2 in the second then late in the period Sam Dickinson ripped a point shot through a crowd past Gillespie with London on the power play.
Bowman's one timer early in the third just as a Knights penalty expired made it 4-3, with the final 18 minutes creating several chances for the Storm, but no reward.
Guelph hosts Brantford on Friday.
