Knights at Otters – 7:00 p.m. – Erie Insurance Arena
Broadcast: 6:30 p.m. – AM980 and http://player.am980.ca
“We’re treating this like a playoff game,” – Knights’ forward Owen MacDonald
Where the teams sit
The Erie Otters are atop of the OHL standings and with the London Knights just two points behind, this is a battle for first overall.
It’s one of those match-ups that gets called a “four-point game,” because at the end of the game, London and Erie will either be tied for first or the Otters will be four points ahead. (Unless overtime complicates the numbers.)
The Knights’ schedule has slowed down slightly. After playing eight games in 15 days, London has had four days without a game. They are coming off back-to-back victories over Flint and Kitchener and have won six of their last seven.
Erie has taken over the title as OHL’s hottest team. They have won 10 games in a row, scoring 63 times over that stretch. Alex DeBrincat has 14 points in his past four games and leads the league in scoring. The free agent from Farmington Hills, Mich. is just three points away from his third straight 100-point season.
The season series so far
Being Midwest Division rivals, the Knights and Otters play each other six times a season.
The first two meetings were blowouts but each team secured a victory. The Knights won 6-2 in September at Budweiser Gardens while the Otters beat London 7-1 in Erie in October. After that, the teams didn’t see each other until after the trade deadline.
On January 27, as both sides were dealing with a flu virus, they hooked up in London for a game that swung like it was on a giant pendulum. Not an ideal environment for players who weren’t feeling 100 per cent. The first period belonged to the Knights while second stanza was all Erie. The third period went back and forth until London and the Otters had themselves wrapped in a 3-3 tie. Overtime was inching closer and closer until Dylan Strome got his stick on a puck that was shot from the far right point in the Knights’ end. It found its way past Tyler Parsons and into the net. Erie added an empty netter and won the game 5-3
The Otters are good. The Knights are good. Over the past 22 months, what else is new?
Erie has been dominant on home ice this season where they have yet to lose in regulation. Owen Sound edged them in overtime and the Hamilton Bulldogs snuck out a shootout win on New Year’s Eve but the Otters have a formidable 25-0-1-1 through 27 games at the Erie Insurance Arena.
Being a Wednesday, the building will not be full, but it doesn’t have to be in Erie to be a factor. Their fans are loud and vocal and find a way to play a part. The Otters feed off that energy.
London has had to battle back in games, but with just one loss in their past seven, they have been able to on all but one occasion. Cliff Pu scored twice against Kitchener and looks to be getting back the timing after a tough bout with the flu.
Both number one goalies are missing. Knights ‘tender Tyler Parsons was injured a week ago in practice and is close to returning, but not quite ready yet. Otters ‘keeper Troy Timpano has missed the last six games with an illness and will not play against London.
Joseph Murdaca was picked up as a little bit of veteran insurance and that policy is being cashed right now. He is 9-1 with the Otters with a .901 save percentage.
Victor Mete will also miss the game for the Knights.
One more story…
These two teams battled all the way to the final two games of the regular season before deciding first place. A last game win by the Otters gave them the Hamilton Spectator Trophy by a tiebreaker after both clubs finished with 105 points.
The teams are on almost exactly the same pace this year, only they don’t have a home-and-home to end their schedules in a nice, tidy showdown.
That makes this game and the two left against one another very large, especially for London, who trail in the standings.
Last year it didn’t make much of a difference. In fact, the test that London got from Owen Sound in the first round may have been beneficial to their run of 17 wins in a row, all the way to a Memorial Cup Championship.
“We’re treating this like a playoff game,” Knights’ forward Owen MacDonald said. “We want first place and this could be a game that decides that.”
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