LONDON, Ont. — The London Knights were determined not to see their season end on home ice Friday night.
The Knights have pushed the OHL Championship Series to a Game 6 in Peterborough on Sunday night after a convincing 4-1 win before 9,036 fans at Budweiser Gardens.
Despite giving up the first goal, the Knights were the better team throughout most of the game scoring late in the first period to tie it and twice in the second period to go ahead.
Easton Cowan, Ryan Humphrey, Denver Barkey and Logan Mailloux into an empty net scored for the Knights while Connor Lockhart had the Petes goal on a power play.
The Petes hold a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series and will try to close it out on home ice starting at 7 p.m. Sunday.
Tickets will go on sale at the PMC box office on Sunday at 1 p.m. but could sell out quickly.
Tickets will be available then at the Memorial Centre box office, online at memorialcentre.ca or by calling 705-743-3561.
Season ticket holders who have already pre-authorized their playoff tickets, or who have purchased a playoff round bundle, have already been sent their Game 6 tickets as part of a bundle with tickets for games three and four.
If necessary, Game 7 is Monday in London at 7 p.m.
The Petes may have to try to finish the series without Owen Beck who was assessed a slew footing match penalty with 39 seconds left in the game. A match penalty usually carries a minimum two-game suspension.
The game started with two dramatic developments.
Petes captain Shawn Spearing saw his first shift since breaking his jaw in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final 11 days earlier and just eight days after having surgery. He played a handful of shifts until he appeared to be hurt again by a hit to the head in the second period and didn’t play again..
The Knights also opted to start third string goalie Owen Willmore who led the junior B Stratford Warriors to the Sunderland Cup final. he replaced Zach Bowen in the third period of Game 4 in Peterborough.
Bowen had started six straight games after Knights No. 1 goalie Brett Brochu went down with a lower body injury but had allowed 15 goals over three games after shutting out the Petes in Game 1.
The Petes didn’t test Willmore nearly enough or get traffic in front of him to really test him. Willmore made 32 saves, but many from the outside.
“I just don’t think we were good enough tonight,” said Petes head coach Rob Wilson. “I don’t think we played to the level we need to play at. It was a must-win for London and they played really well.
“The goalie is a good goalie and if they’re going to put him in the game they respect that he can play and he’s a good goaltender. We made some calls on him and we heard he’s a good goalie. You’re not going to beat him by shooting the puck. I didn’t think we had any traffic and I don’t think we were committed offensively at all.”
The Petes avoided giving up an early goal as they had in the two previous games although it required a quality Michael Simpson save on Cowan in the opening two minutes.
The Petes scored their first five-on-four power play goal since Game 6 of the Eastern Conference final to open the scoring 6:08 into the game. Beck took a shot that was blocked and redirected to Lockhart who found the net behind Willmore.
“I definitely think we had the right mindset,” Lockhart said.
“It was a matter of going out there and executing. That’s a completely different animal. You can’t beat a team like London that is that structured with that kind of effort in a game where their season is on the line. We all know that and we have much better in us.”
The Knights came right back on an odd-man rush and George Diaco ripped a shot off the goal post.
The Knights had extended pressure on the Petes and couldn’t buy a break until Cowan on the rush sniped a Jackson Edward pass by Simpson to tie it with 1:28 left in the first period. After an early 7-4 shots advantage for the Petes London ended the period with an 12-1 edge over the final 10 minutes.
“We came out and played hard and really tried to bear down on our chances,” said Knights head coach Dale Hunter. “They have a good goalie so we had to bear down and we got some scoring.”
When asked about starting Willmore, hunter said, “he played well in net tonight. We have been playing Bowe a lot of games and he’s only 17 so he’s a young guy and I thought he needed a good rest.”
London went ahead at 4:31 into the second when Humphrey collected a puck along the boards fought off a check and then sent a long floating shot which eluded Simpson.
Spearing appeared to be shaken up when he received a high hit from Connor Federkow in the second period. He took his helmet off after returning to the Petes bench and received some attention from athletic therapist Tasha Lagace. He didn’t see another shift.
“Shawn wanted to keep playing but we just decided the way the game was going, and Shawn doesn’t play a lot when we’re looking to score and we were down 3-1. We looked at trying to play other guys and get more ice for them but Shawn will be on the bench and probably playing minutes on Sunday,” Wilson said.
The Knights went up by two with 3:05 left in the second when Barkey collected Mailloux’s rebound and stuffed it home. London held a 27-20 shots advantage after 40 minutes.
The Petes had three consecutive power plays midway through the third period but were unable to take advantage.
Mailloux ended the comeback hopes with the empty-net goal and Beck took the late match penalty to round out the game.
“I haven’t even seen it,” said Wilson, of Beck’s penalty. “I’ll look at it and see. I’ll make a call on that later on.”
“They have the video in the penalty box now so (the referees) can see it,” Hunter said.
NOTES: The Petes 4,046 fans for Game 4 on Wednesday is a post-renovation attendance record at the Memorial Centre but not an all-time record. The 1996 Memorial Cup featured sellout crowds of 4,862 which included the 3,866 pre-renovation seats, 240 standing room spots and tiered bench seating brought in specifically for the Memorial Cup placed on the old stage which added another 756 seats… This is the Petes 14th trip to the OHL final. They entered the series with a 9-4 record in final appearances. It included victories in 1959 (Ottawa-Hull Canadiens), 1972 (Ottawa 67’s), 1978 (Hamilton Fincups), 1979 (Niagara Falls Flyers), 1980 (Windsor Spitfires), 1989 (Niagara Falls Thunder), 1993 (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds), 1996 (Guelph Storm) and 2006 (London Knights). Their losses were against the Toronto Marlboros (1973), St. Catharines Blackhawks), 1974 Sault STe. Marie Greyhounds (1985) and Windsor Spitfires (1988). Their record in the finals is 37-30-9… The Petes made no lineup changes while London welcomed Ruslan Gazizov back after he missed Game 4 to illness.
*****
KNIGHTS 4 PETES 1
First Period
1. Peterborough, Lockhart 7 (Avon, Zanetti) 6:08 (pp).
2. London, Cowan 9 (Edward, Bonk) 18:32.
Penalties — Humphrey Ldn (holding) 4:50; Federkow Ldn (check to the head) 7:28; Zanetti Pbo (holding) 8:54.
Second Period
3. London, Humphrey 8 (Edward, McGurn) 4:31.
4. London, Barkey 11 (Mailloux, Cowan) 16:55.
Penalties — McGurn Ldn (delay of game) 8:34; McCue Ldn (unsportsmanlike cnd.) 17:36; Gauvreau Pbo (roughing) 17:36.
Third Period
5. London, Mailloux 8 (unassisted) 17:47 (en).
Penalties — Peterborough bench (too many men, served by Lefebvre) 6:27; Edward Ldn (roughing) 8:49; Mailloux Ldn (delay of game) 10:49; Humphrey Ldn (interference) 14:39; Beck Pbo (match-slew foot) 19:20.
Shots on goal by
Peterborough 8 12 13 = 33
London 16 11 7 = 34
Goal — Peterborough: Simpson (L 15-7-0-0). London: Willmore (W 1-0-0-0).
Power plays (goals-chances) — Peterborough: 1-6; London: 0-3.
Referees — Dave Lewis, Mac Nichol.
Linesmen — Adam Harris, Brian Birkhoff.
— The Canadian Press
*****
OHL PLAYOFFS
Fourth Round
OHL CHAMPIONSHIP
J. Ross Robertson Cup
(Best-of-7)
All Times Eastern
London (W2) vs. Peterborough (E4)
(Peterborough leads series 3-2)
Friday’s result
London 4 Peterborough 1
Wednesday’s result
Peterborough 5 London 3
Sunday’s game
London at Peterborough, 7 p.m.
Monday, May 22
x-Peterborough at London, 7 p.m.
x — played only if necessary
PREVIOUS RESULTS
Thursday, May 11 (Game One)
London 3 Peterborough 0
Saturday, May 13 (Game Two)
Peterborough 5 London 3
Monday, May 15 (Game Three)
Peterborough 6 London 5 (OT)
— The Canadian Press
*****
QMJHL: Halifax Mooseheads rebound to force Game 6 with Quebec Remparts
The Canadian Press
HALIFAX — The Halifax Mooseheads edged the Quebec Remparts 3-2 on Friday night at Centre Vidéotron in Quebec City in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League championship.
The Remparts now hold a 3-2 series lead.
*****
MOOSEHEADS 3 REMPARTS 2
First Period
1. Halifax, Vidicek 8 (Schultz, Doucet) 1:01.
Penalties — L’Heureux Hal (tripping) 18:52.
Second Period
2. Halifax, Boucher 9 (L’Heureux, Schultz) 1:19.
3. Québec, Malatesta 13 (Robidas) 2:40.
4. Halifax, L’Heureux 10 (Vidicek, Martin) 6:32.
5. Québec, Langlois 2 (Robidas, Rochette) 9:05 (pp).
Penalties — MacKinnon Hal (hooking) 7:21; Roy Que (hooking) 7:51; Phillips Hal (high sticking) 8:51; Cataford Hal (roughing) 13:17.
Third Period
No Scoring.
Penalties — Savoie Que (interference) 4:12.
Shots on goal by
Halifax 9 5 8 = 22
Québec 11 17 9 = 37
Goal — Halifax: Rousseau (W). Québec: Rousseau (L).
Power plays (goals-chances) — Halifax: 0-1; Québec: 1-4.
Referees — Samuel Bernier, Olivier Gouin.
Linesmen — Maxime Desjardins, Philippe Pilon.
Attendance — 18,259 at Québec.
*****
QMJHL PLAYOFFS
Fourth Round
QMJHL CHAMPIONSHIP
Gilles-Courteau Trophy
(Best-of-7)
All Times Eastern
Quebec (E1) vs. Halifax (E2)
(Quebec leads series 3-2)
Friday’s result
Halifax 3 Quebec 2
Wednesday’s result
Quebec 2 Halifax 1
Sunday’s game
Quebec at Halifax, 4 p.m.
Monday, May 22
x-Halifax at Quebec, 7:30 p.m.
x — played only if necessary
*****
Seattle Thunderbirds top Winnipeg Ice 4-2 to take commanding 3-1 lead in WHL finals
The Canadian Press
KENT, Wash. — Dylan Guenther scored his playoff-leading 16th goal as the Seattle Thunderbirds took a 4-2 win over the Winnipeg Ice and a commanding 3-1 series lead in the Western Hockey League championship on Wednesday.
Kevin Korchinski, Gracyn Sawchyn, with a goal and an assist, and Nico Myatovic, with an empty-net goal, provided the rest of the offence for Seattle.
Thomas Milic made 31 saves in the victory.
The Thunderbirds are in search of their second title in franchise history and redemption after last season’s championship series loss to the Edmonton Oil Kings.
Carson Latimer and Evan Friesen scored for Winnipeg to tie the game at 2-2 in the second period. Dylan Hauser stopped 33-of-36 shots.
Game 5 is set to go Friday in Kent, Wash.
*****
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