Sam O’Reilly scored twice and added two assists as the London Knights defeated the Spirit 7-3 in Saginaw in Game 4 of the Western Conference Championship series on May 1 to take a 3-1 series lead.
The victory marked the first time in eight games in the regular season and playoffs that either the Knights or the Spirit had beaten the other on the road.
Max McCue of London had three assists and was a plus-6. Easton Cowan, Isaiah George and Oliver Bonk each had a goal and an assist and Knights goalie Michael Simpson made 34 saves.
A pair of quick goals for the Knights each scored by a player named Sam got London off and running.
O’Reilly set up Sam Dickinson just 28 seconds into the game and then exactly two minutes and one second later O’Reilly scored a goal of his own as he charged between a pair of defenders and put the puck over the glove of Saginaw goaltender Nolan Lalonde for a 2-0 Knights lead.
The Spirit cut that lead in half at the 5:13 mark of the opening period as Calem Mangone banged in a rebound to the left of the London net on a Saginaw man advantage.
O’Reilly had a short-handed chance later in the period as he was sent to the Spirit net alone by Easton Cowan but Lalonde robbed him with a glove save.
Each team added one power play goal and another at even strength in the middle 20 minutes.
Landon Sim scored for London at 4:04 on a feed from McCue to put the Knights ahead by two but 1:40 later Jorian Donovan of the Spirit got that goal back.
Bonk grabbed the puck out of a pile of legs and sticks in front of the Saginaw net and backhanded it over the blocker of Lalonde to make it 4-2 London, but an Owen Beck wrist shot got through traffic just over three minutes later and the Knight lead was again down to a single goal.
Simpson made 23 saves through the first two periods in the London net and his three biggest came in quick succession and the final two came off the stick of Zayne Parekh with 11:25 to go in the second.
In the third period the Knights did some solid defending and then got a major break as O’Reilly got a puck to McCue and he carried into the Saginaw zone and found Cowan going to the net. Cowan’s shot was stopped but the puck deflected in off the skate of Joey Willis who was charging back to try and help on the two-on-one and that had London ahead by two goals with 4:05 remaining on the clock.
O’Reilly then scored on a bank shot that went off the boards and trickled into an an empty net.
Isaiah George scored a second empty-netter as he knocked Hunter Haight away from a rebound and drilled a puck from deep in his own zone down the ice and into the net to finish the scoring.
The Spirit outshot the Knights 37-28.
London was 1-for-2 on the power play.
Saginaw was 2-for 6.
Jackson Edward returned to the London lineup after missing the first three games of the series with the Spirit for personal reasons. Alec Leonard remained out with a lower-body injury.
Andrew Oke remained out of the Saginaw lineup with an upper-body injury.
Kaleb Lawrence of the Knights and James Guo of the Spirit each completed five game suspensions and will be eligible to return to their respective lineups on Friday, May 3, when the series returns to Budweiser Gardens in London.
Canada Set for quarter-finals at U18 World Hockey Championship
Londoner Jett Luchanko and his Team Canada teammates will meet Latvia in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Under-18 World Hockey Championship on May 2.
Luchanko is a top prospect for the 2024 NHL Entry Draft and will be entering his third year in the Ontario Hockey League in 2024-25. He was named the William Hanley Trophy winner as the OHL’s Most Sportsmanlike Player.
London Knights draft pick James Hagens leads the tournament in scoring with seven goals and nine assists for 16 points in just four games. London selected Hagens in the sixth round in 2022. He and his brother Michael have each committed to attend Boston College beginning next year.
Up next
The series returns to London for Game 5 on Friday, May 3.
Coverage will begin at 6:30 p.m., on 980 CFPL, at www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.
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