The seemingly unstoppable London Knights defeated the Erie Otters in overtime to sweep their second-round series and advance to the Western Conference Finals.
London has played eight playoff games and come away with eight wins. Neither the Owen Sound Attack nor the Erie Otters managed to put so much as a dent in their armor as they marched towards a repeat of last year’s championship season.
They are the only team to remain undefeated through the first two rounds of the playoffs.
Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan leads the team in points with a stunning eight goals and 13 assists in eight games. Although he sits three points behind playoff leading scorers Ilya Protas and Liam Greentree, his points per game average of 2.625 is very comparable to their 2.66 points per game.
Besides Cowan, London boasts six players who have all averaged at least a point per game so far in the playoffs, including Denver Barkey, Kasper Halttunen, Sam O’Reilly, Sam Dickinson and Landon Sim.
Facing elimination, the Otters put up a fantastic fight in the game. After the first period, the two teams were tied at one, with Cowan and Pano Fimis scoring goals.
Erie’s Ty Henry scored in the opening minutes of the second period to give the Otters a 2-1 lead that they managed to maintain until Sam O’Reilly and Sam Dickinson scored a pair of power play goals near the end of the second period to take a 3-2 lead.
London’s power play played a huge role in this game, as it has in the postseason in general. Operating at a 30 percent success rate, the London power play is the second-best remaining in the playoffs.
Early in the third period, Malcolm Spence tied the game at three and ended up forcing overtime. The Otters found goals in critical moments despite being outshot 50-28 during the game.
Just under seven minutes into the first overtime period, Sam O’Reilly ended the game and the series by crashing the net and slipping a puck into the Erie goal.
Based on their roster and unbeaten start the postseason, the Knights have to be viewed as the favourites to win a second consecutive OHL Championship.
They will await the winner of the series between Windsor and Kitchener. The Spitfires currently hold a 3-1 series lead and could end the series tonight at home. Puck drop is a 7:05 p.m. at the WFCU Centre in Windsor.
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