The London Knights will play a do-or-die Game 7 Tuesday night against the Windsor Spitfires before a sold-out crowd at Budweiser Gardens.
The Knights’ dream of returning to the Memorial Cup to defend their title hangs in the balance, as London looks to complete a three-game come-from-behind win against this year’s host.
The final score in Game 6 in Windsor was 5-3 for the Knights, which was the first game they won in Windsor this season.
As this year’s hosts of the Memorial Cup, the Spitfires are guaranteed a spot in the four-team playoffs, but no team wants to go out in the first round and have to sit around for five weeks.
The Knights built a 4-1 lead and then survived a late two-goal Windsor surge. London was put to the test on the penalty kill in the opening period and held off all three Spitfires’ chances. For the second straight game, the Knights did not allow a power-play goal, and in the two wins to tie the series, they were a perfect 10-for-10 in penalty kills.
Goalie Tyler Parsons ended the game with 25 saves.
READ MORE: Tyler Parsons: From a spark to a flame
If they win tonight, it wouldn’t be the first time London rallies from that far behind; they completed a 3-1 series comeback against the Barrie Colts in 2013 to win the OHL Championships.
But the Knights have also experienced some heartbreaking playoff losses over the years, including a Game-7 defeat by the Guelph Storm in 2004 that another former Knights’ captain, Danny Syvret, remembers well.
“That one hurt, like, me. The next day I was so mad and upset, I ended up packing up all of my stuff and moving out of my billet’s house, I think that day,” said Syvret.
Unlike Bo Horvat’s stunning goal against Barrie with just 0.1 seconds left in the game, London Knights’ fan Steve Armer wasn’t able to pull off any last-minute heroics to score the last of the Tuesday-night tickets released at the box office earlier in the day.
“It’s Game 7 okay, so the building is going to be electric to begin with. Win, lose, or draw, you know that the players are going to salute the fans at the end of the game and hey, it’s the London Knights. It’s the hometown team.”
Armer says he’s looking forward to watching the game from the comforts of home instead, but he’s hoping for more than just a win.
“The overtime games of course can go either way, like technically, the Knights could have won this series if they had (DELETE: of) won those two overtime games,” he explained.
READ MORE: Knights battle their way to Game 6
A special hour-long pre-game show kicks off live from Budweiser Gardens on AM980 at 6 p.m., with puck-drop set for 7 p.m.
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