The London Knights defeated the Oshawa Generals 7-1 on May 15 at the Tribute Communities Centre in Oshawa to win their fifth J. Ross Robertson Cup championship in franchise history.
Easton Cowan scored once, added three assists in the game and was awarded the “99” Trophy as OHL playoff MVP.
Denver Barkey had a goal and two assists and Kasper Halttunen had two more goals for London.
The Knights came flying off the start in Game 4 and never let up as they scored three times in the opening 20 minutes, and had a half dozen goals on the board by the end of the second period.
Their first goal came exactly three minutes into the game as London defenceman Sam Dickinson lasered an Easton Cowan pass over the glove of Jacob Oster.
Just 4:31 later Connor Punnett of the Generals dove to block a pass by Cowan to Ruslan Gazizov as they raced in on a two-man breakaway, but that put Punnett out of position behind the net. The Knights worked the puck around until Jackson Edward found Gazizov on the right side of the Oshawa zone for Gazizov’s seventh goal of the postseason and a 2-0 London lead.
Halttunen scored his OHL playoff-leading 16th goal on a power play at 12:31 with a wicked snap shot from the left side. Halttunen has scored more playoff goals than any other import draft pick in Ontario Hockey League history. Cowan and Barkey picked up assists.
Before the period ended Calum Ritchie banged in a rebound to get the Generals their first goal with just under one minute to go.
The play featured a lengthy review for potential goaltender interference but the goal stood and the Knights led by a pair entering the second.
London scored three more times in the middle period to lead 6-1 through 40 minutes on goals by Barkey, Halttunen and Cowan.
Cowan’s came on a power play and gave him four points in the game and 15 points in four games in the OHL Championship Series.
Will Nichol added the final goal of the game at 16:08 of the third period and the team counted down from there to the finish.
The Knights went an explosive 11-for-20 on the man advantage in the series with the Generals.
London outshot the Generals 30-26.
Drummondville advances to Memorial Cup
The Drummondville Voltigeurs finished behind the Baie-Comeau Drakkar in the QMJHL’s regular season standings but they found a way to be ahead of them at every turn in the Championship Series.
The Voltigeurs never trailed in a four-game sweep of Baie-Comeau to capture their second Gilles-Courteau Trophy in franchise history with a 4-3 win on March 14.
Drummondville is led by goaltender Riley Mercer, Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Ethan Gauthier and playoff MVP Vsevold Komarov and give the 2024 Memorial Cup its first official matchup.
The tournament starts on Friday, March 24 at the Dow Event Center in Saginaw, Mich.
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