Knights, Sting now in best-of-3 battle

Knight Watch: London and Sarnia both went perfect at home to open the Western Conference Final. Will a road team break through?; Brett Brochu remains day-to-day; Will this series go seven? Columnist Jake Jeffrey has all the latest …

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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We have ourselves a best-of-three in the Western Conference Finals.

The home team has won all four games in this series so far, as the Sting took both in Sarnia to even things up at two wins apiece.

The major question for the Knights is the status of Brett Brochu, who has been out of action since getting injured late in the second period of Game 2. He’s been listed as day-to-day with a lower body injury and Zach Bowen has handled the workload since.

Bowen has been decent in relief, helping secure the Game 2 victory, but he was outplayed at times by his counterpart at the other end in Games 3 and 4. Brochu had been on another level prior to his injury, with four shutouts during the postseason.

Despite leaving early in Game 2, he was named OHL Goaltender of the Week for the third time in this playoffs. Simply put, last year’s OHL goalie of the year had been playing some of his best hockey before going down with injury.

Ruslan Gazizov also hasn’t played since Game 1, as he’s been out of the lineup dealing with an illness.

Sting fans were out in full force as in Games 3 and 4 as their team hosted its first conference final games in franchise history. It’s no surprise that Sarnia got off to solid starts in both of those games. They scored 27 seconds into Game 3, and opened the scoring just over three minutes into Game 4.

To the Knights’ credit, they responded on both occasions, but a better start is needed for London in Game 5. Sasha Pastujov was the best player on the ice for either team in those Sarnia victories, as he controlled the play offensively and led the way with a goal and five assists.

After scoring one powerplay goal on six chances through the first two games, Sarnia went three-for-eight on home ice. London has scored four powerplay goals on 16 opportunities this series. 

Ryan Winterton has scored in all four games this series and has seven points. Sean McGurn still leads the team in scoring for the postseason overall, and his 20 points are the most among all forwards. He’s cooled off a bit offensively in this series, as he’s gone pointless in two of the four games thus far (he has a goal and three assists in the other two).

As usual, McGurn’s presence has been felt in the faceoff circle, as he won 13 of 17 draws in Game 1, and then 13 of 18 in Game 2. The tide turned for the two games in Sarnia, though, as Nolan Burke took over, winning nine of 13 in Game 3, and 11 of 13 in Game 4. Burke also scored three goals in those two games. Both McGurn and Burke were among the OHL’s top faceoff men this season.

While London got plenty of offence from their defence during the regular season (65 goals from blueliners), the D-corps has only eight goals in the playoffs thus far. Five of those have come off the stick of Logan Mailloux.

Zach Bowen has been holding down the net since Brett Brochu left Game 2 with an injury. The status of London’s starter is unknown heading into Game 5. (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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As mentioned, the battle for the Wayne Gretzky Trophy as Western Conference champions is now a best two-of-three series. The home team has won each of the first four games in the matchup. The good news for the Knights? They’ve got home-ice advantage.

Game 5 goes Friday in London at Budweiser Gardens, and Game 6 will go Sunday back in Sarnia. If a Game 7 is required, it’ll be back in the Forest City.

OHL Playoffs (Conference Final) - London Knights (2) vs. Sarnia Sting (3) (Series tied 2-2)
Game 1: London 4 vs. Sarnia 1
Game 2: London 3 vs. Sarnia 1
Game 3: London 3 @ Sarnia 5
Game 4: London 3 @ Sarnia 6
Game 5: Fri. May 5 (7:00pm vs. Sarnia Sting)
Game 6: Sun. May 7 (2:05pm @ Sarnia Sting)
Game 7: Mon. May 8 (7:00pm vs. Sarnia Sting) (if necessary)

A LOOK AT THE LOCALS

Ilderton’s Owen Van Steensel had two goals and an assist to help North Bay even up their series with Peterborough 2-2.

For Peterborough, Michael Simpson was the first star in the Petes’ Game 1 win. He’s made 121 saves in the series so far.

Easton Cowan is operating at a point-per-game pace for the Knights this postseason with four goals and 13 points in 13 games. The Mount Brydges native had two assists in five playoff games last year.

AROUND THE OHL

North Bay vs. Peterborough (Series tied 2-2 through action Wednesday)

The Eastern Conference Final has been back and forth and, like its Western counterpart, is also deadlocked through four games. Battalion netminder Dom DiVincentiis was recently awarded the Jim Rutherford Trophy as the OHL’s top goalie for the 2022-23 season.

North Bay’s Ty Nelson is second in playoff scoring with 22 points, a point back of the leader, Brandt Clarke. That makes the top two scorers defensemen, and Clarke hasn’t played since the Colts lost their second round series against the Battalion. Though Kyle McDonald has yet to score in this series, he leads all OHL players with 12 postseason goals.