Knights, Spitfires battling for first on final weekend

Knight Watch: Western Conference title honours have come down to the final weekend — and a head-to-head matchup between London and Windsor. Columnist Jake Jeffrey has all the latest Knights news & notes …

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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With 65 games in the books, it will come down to the final three to decide first place in the Western Conference.

London has won just three of their last 10 games heading into the final weekend of the regular season, and they’ll need to win each of their three remaining games to finish first. Windsor beat Guelph Wednesday night to give them a four-point edge over London. The Spits’ final two games are against London, while the Knights have an additional game in hand, a Sunday matchup with Kitchener.

The Spitfires do hold the tiebreaker with 43 regulation/overtime wins (ROW). The Knights have one of the best records in the shootout this season with seven wins, so despite having the same amount of victories as Windsor, they only have 36 ROW.

Sarnia still has an outside chance at first. They have three games left and are five points back of Windsor. The Sting do have the easiest schedule of the three, with  games against Owen Sound, Erie and Niagara. A first-place finish for London would potentially avoid a much tougher second round opponent in either Windsor or Sarnia.

London missed a chance to keep pace with Windsor last weekend, surrendering two goals in the third period to fall 4-3 in Flint on Saturday. It was just the fourth time London has lost this season when leading after two periods, dropping their record in such games to 28-4.

Sean McGurn has goals in three straight, also adding three assists in that span. McGurn is London’s best shot at a 30-goal scorer, as he sits at 27 entering the final weekend. Freshman blueliner Oliver Bonk has five assists over his last three games. He’s second in OHL scoring among rookie blueliners with 10 goals and 40 points.

Brett Brochu has 88 career regular season wins in the OHL, five back of Michael Houser’s 93 for the Knights’ franchise record. He won’t catch Houser, but he does have a shot at becoming only the second Knight to win 90 games. Depending how things shake out Friday night, I imagine Zach Bowen will start at least one of the three games this weekend. 

Ryan Del Monte still hasn’t played since he broke his ankle while playing with Germany at the World Juniors.

Sixteen former OHLers won the U CUP championship with the University of New Brunswick, including a trio of former Knights, Camaryn Baber, Jason Wilms and Cody Morgan. Strathroy’s Noah Carroll was also part of the championship team.

Speaking of Knights alumni, former captain Luke Evangelista is coming off a four-point game for the Nashville Predators with two goals and two assists against Buffalo Tuesday night. He has five goals and nine points in 11 games with Nashville.

Sean McGurn, London’s leading scorer with 81 points in 65 games, has a chance to hit the 30-goal mark (he’s at 27 entering the weekend). (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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UPCOMING GAMEDAYS

Friday (March 24, 7:00pm, at home) & Saturday (March 25, 7:05pm, on road) vs. Windsor Spitfires (43-17-4-2, 1st in Western Conference)

First place in the conference will come down to these two games. Windsor has a four-point edge over London going into Friday’s game at Budweiser Gardens. London has won three of the four meetings between the teams so far, but just one of those victories came in regulation. Shane Wright has three goals and four points in two games against London. He’s only been held pointless once in the 17 games he’s played with Windsor, tallying 14 goals and 32 points since joining the Spits. Goaltender Joey Costanzo has the lone win over London, as he was solid in Windsor’s 4-1 triumph in January. Captain Matthew Maggio leads the OHL with 52 goals and 109 points. Alex Christopoulos has scored 46 goals, and defenseman Rodwin Dionicio has 15 goals this season, 11 of which have come since joining Windsor from Niagara.

Sunday (March 26, 6:00pm) vs. Kitchener Rangers (33-28-5-0, 8th in Western Conference)

Like the Knights, the Rangers are battling for position in the Western Conference standings. They’re currently tied with Guelph for sixth, but they hold the tiebreaker. This matchup could very well be a playoff preview, depending on how the weekend shakes out. Sunday will be the fourth time these two teams have met in 2023, and overall the Knights have won four of the five games so far this season. Easton Cowan has scored four goals against Kitchener this season, while George Diaco has seven points in the five games. On the Rangers side, Reid Valade has five goals and captain Francesco Pinelli has two goals and seven points in four games. Kitchener has won eight of their last 11 heading into the weekend. A hot and cold team this season, the Rangers have been playing much better hockey since a coaching change in mid-February, as general manager Mike McKenzie stepped behind the bench after Chris Dennis was relieved of his coaching duties.

A LOOK AT THE LOCALS

Kitchener Rangers netminder Marcus Vandenberg made 18 saves to post his first OHL shutout in a 6-0 win over Kingston.

Saginaw Spirit forward Hunter Haight has five goals and 14 points over his last nine games, with at least a point in eight of those contests.

Dylan Roobroeck has points in back-to-back games to reach the 50-point mark for the first time in his career.

Brett Harrison has 17 goals and 34 points in 28 games since joining the Windsor Spitfires. He played 27 games with Oshawa this season, scoring 16 goals and tallying 34 points.

KNIGHTS BY THE NUMBERS

16 - The Knights are tied with Ottawa for the most shorthanded goals this season, both scoring 16 times while a man down. Max McCue and Sean McGurn lead the Knights with four shorthanded markers each.

899 - With three games left on the season, head coach Dale Hunter sits one win back of 900.

675 - Only five OHLers have won more faceoffs this season than Sean McGurn, who has won 675 draws, good for 56.2 per cent.

1 - Ryan Winterton potted his first career OHL hat trick in last weekend’s win over Kingston.

47 - Easton Cowan is third in the OHL in rookie scoring with 47 points, trailing only Oshawa’s Beckett Sennecke (50) and Saginaw’s Michael Misa (54).

AROUND THE OHL

The Ottawa 67’s are one win shy of 50. They’ve hit 50 wins in two of the previous three seasons. They’ve already clinched the Hamilton Spectator Trophy as the OHL’s top regular season team, the sixth time they’ve done so in franchise history.

Sarnia’s Nolan Burke became the second OHLer to hit 50 goals this season, after Windsor’s Matthew Maggio. Owen Sound’s Colby Barlow and Kitchener’s Francesco Arcuri both sit at 46 goals this season.

Battling for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, Kingston made things interesting last weekend with a win over Oshawa, the team they’re chasing for the final spot. The Generals now have a single point advantage. Both teams have two games left — including another game against each other to round out the season on Sunday.

The Saginaw Spirit may be young, but they’re proving they can play with the OHL’s best. Despite parting ways with some of their older players at the trade deadline, they’ve won seven of their last eight and 10 of their last 15. They have three players in the top 10 in rookie scoring, including Michael Misa (55), Joey Willis (41) and defenceman Zayne Parekh (36). The Spirit will finish fourth and get home-ice advantage in the first round. They’re set to play either Flint or Guelph.

North Bay recorded their fifth shutout victory in their last nine games, helping the Battalion secure their second straight Central Division title.

Barrie’s Brandt Clarke has kept up his ridiculous offensive pace, as the defensemen has 23 goals and 61 points in just 31 games this season.