Joel Vanderlaan
@joelvanderlaan
The London Knights are a win away from their second straight J. Ross Robertson Cup in the OHL Championship.
London took a 3–1 series lead on Tuesday night on the road, defeating the Oshawa Generals 6–2 at Tribute Communities Centre in Game 4.
The Knights have now won three straight after dropping the finals opener and have since outscored the Generals 18–9.
After a scoreless first period, the Knights broke through in the middle frame. Sam Dickinson opened the scoring at 6:27, capitalizing on a turnover and beating Jacob Oster.
With his goal, the San Jose Sharks prospect passed Dennis Wideman for the most career playoff points by a defenceman in Knights franchise history with 47.
London didn’t let up as Kasper Halttunen, coming off a hat trick in Game 3, doubled the lead.
Then midway through the frame, Easton Cowan set up Dickinson on a 2-on-1 rush.
Oshawa responded as Nashville Predators prospect Andrew Gibson blasted home a slap shot off a faceoff win, but just 31 seconds later, Landon Sim restored the three-goal cushion for the Knights.
Halttunen added his second of the game before the period ended, going five-hole on the power play to make it 5–1 after 40 minutes.
The Generals made a goaltending change to start the third, with Isaac Gravelle replacing Oster, trying to spark the Generals into another third period comeback like the night before.
Calum Ritchie gave Oshawa an early spark, scoring his ninth of the playoffs less than a minute into the period. But that was as close as the Generals would get.
As Halttunen completed his second consecutive hat trick. The Helsinki native now has 15 goals over his eight finals appearances.
Austin Elliott improved to 15–1-0 in the postseason making 23 saves in the win.
The series now shifts back to London for Game 5 on Thursday night at Budweiser Gardens, where the Knights will look to clinch their fifth J. Ross Robertson Cup in franchise history.
