Game 4
London Knights at Windsor Spitfires – 7 p.m. – WFCU Centre, Windsor, Ont.
Broadcast: 6:30 p.m. – AM980 and the Radioplayer app
(Windsor leads best-of-7 Western Conference quarter-final 2-1)
Series so far
The London Knights entered the match-up as the defending Memorial Cup champions, not ready to end their run. Windsor is going to host the 2017 MasterCard Memorial Cup tournament and wants to do everything they can to avoid a first-round playoff exit and a six-week layoff before the best of the best in junior hockey arrive on their doorstep.
With so much at stake for both teams, the first two games at Budweiser Gardens had a whole lot of everything. Along with big goals and superb saves, there were hits, fights, rants, complaints and even a two-game suspension to Jeremiah Addison of the Spitfires.
Windsor head coach Rocky Thompson gave a post-game media interview following a 5-2 loss in Game 2 that accused the Knights of diving and was less than complimentary towards the officials on the ice. Thompson was fined $7500, the maximum fine allowed by the OHL for that kind of action.
Underneath all of that, the Knights and Spitfires came through the first two games with a split. Windsor won 4-3 in overtime in Game 1, and London a tight contest in Game 2, adding two empty-netters from Max Jones at the end of the game.
The series shifted back to Windsor for Game 3 and although Thompson had declared there would be a war, the game resembled shadow-boxing. There was little to no room allowed by either side and all four goals in a 3-1 Spitfires’ victory came off deflections, turnovers and falling defencemen.
The game matched the lead-up and the hype in the same way misguided online dating sites match members. The teams on the ice at the WFCU Centre looked nothing like the ones seen in London, two and four days earlier.
They ground each other to a combined 34 shots and limited scoring chances to far below that.
The teams split their six, regular season meeting as evenly as imaginable. Each team won every game played on their home ice. Each team won in overtime, scored 17 goals and won by a score of 4-1.
What to expect in Game 4
Likely, more of the same.
Some playoff series are won inch by inch. London experienced that last year in round one against Owen Sound. They have a similar road against the Spitfires, minus the Game 3 win.
Knights assistant coach, Rick Steadman addressed the shot count and chance count at practice on Wednesday.
“More than anything, we had our chances and we wound up missing the net, so I think it comes down to an old saying: If you aim small, you’re going to miss small.”
Every Knights’ player seemed to be repeating a mantra about getting pucks to the net. That will be a big thing to watch for and still a difficult thing to do, given the way the Spitfires’ big bodies block shots and take away shooting lanes.
With the ease that London has handled some of their most recent playoff opponents, it may seem strange to see the team trailing 2-1 in a series.
London captain J.J. Piccinich says the Knights simply have to execute their game plan better.
“It’s nothing too crazy. We’re doing a pretty good job, five on five. I think we can still do a better job starting our cycles. They were doing a good job limiting our zone time.”
Windsor will hope to ride their home-ice advantage again, although London did a very good job getting the bodies they wanted to have on the ice against certain players. The crowd was also smaller than anticipated on Tuesday. Thursday is Windsor’s regular home night for games, so it will be interesting so see whether the building is full and responsible for a more raucous atmosphere.
Windsor appears to be backing in a little more to combat London’s speed. The Knights have defencemen who can jump up as a trailer. Look to see whether that becomes a strategy on the attack for London.
Two more things
Spitfires’ General Manager, Warren Rychel has been sanctioned by the OHL for actions pertaining to OHL rules about interaction with officials. As the Windsor Star indicated, he will be “limited” in terms of what he can do and where he can be on game days, and will have a hearing with the league on Friday in Toronto.
The OHL has also ruled that the London Knights’ first goal of the game in Game 2 should not have counted. The play was reviewed for more than five minutes and Cliff Pu was credited with his first of the playoffs.
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