Joel Vanderlaan
@joelvanderlaan
The London Knights got the response they needed on Saturday night at Canada Life Place as they evened the OHL Championship Series with a 5–2 win over the Oshawa Generals.
The series now shifts to the Tribute Communities Centre in Oshawa for back-to-back games on Monday and Tuesday.
The Generals haven't lost on home ice since April 4, when they were beaten by the Brampton Steelheads in Round 1. While the Knights are a perfect 6–0 on the road this postseason.
Calum Ritchie opened the scoring just over nine minutes into the contest on the power play, giving the visiting Generals an early advantage.
The New York Islanders prospect continues to produce in the postseason after tallying the game-winner on Thursday night.
London tied the game before the end of the frame, as Easton Cowan fired a seeing-eye shot through traffic to send the teams into the intermission deadlocked at 1–1.
The Knights took control early in the second period. Sam O’Reilly gave London the lead before Oliver Bonk snuck one in from a sharp angle to make it 3–1 before the midway point of the stanza.
Oshawa responded with Luke Torrance cleaning up a loose puck in the crease to pull the Generals within one.
London restored their two-goal cushion with a one-timer from Jacob Julien off a great feed from Cowan, making it 4–2 after 40 minutes.
The only goal of the third period was an empty netter from Cowan. The Toronto Maple Leafs first-round pick was named the game’s first star.
With his five-point performance, Cowan tied Rob Schremp as the Knights’ all-time playoff scoring leader with 89 points.
Austin Elliott turned aside 31 shots to earn the win. Jacob Oster made 25 saves for the Generals.
