The London Knights and the Windsor Spitfires finished fourth and fifth overall in the regular season.
There wasn’t much to split between them. In the playoffs, there has been even less.
The final score in Game 6 read 5-3 for the London Knights, but the game was yet another razor-thin matchup.
In a game London had to win, they built a 4-1 lead and then survived a late two-goal Windsor surge to force a Game 7 on Tuesday at Budweiser Gardens.
Even the teams’ coaches couldn’t overlook the sheer entertainment of two such closely-pitted competitors.
“It was exciting,” said Knights assistant coach Rick Steadman. “We get a three-goal lead, they come back and then our players were forced to dig in and hang on, and they did. It was a great win.”
It was London’s first win in Windsor all season and it wrestled back home-ice advantage for the finale.
The teams last went seven games in 2003, when their positions were reversed. The Spitfires were the number-four seed and the Knights were fifth. That game was played at the old Windsor Arena and London won with what amounted to sheer determination.
It took a hefty dose of that same grit for the Knights to get the job done at the WFCU Centre on Sunday afternoon.
London assistant coach Dylan Hunter broke down a few key plays: “Parsons made a really big save on a breakaway early to keep it 1-0 for them. Our special teams were clicking and were getting pucks to the net and working well systematically.”
As they did in Game 5, the Knights came out quickly. In the first minute, an Evan Bouchard shot hit the inside of the post and bounced to Mitchell Stephens. His rebound try went off the outside of the post to the left of the Windsor net.
A little over four minutes after that, a Sean Day shot was blocked in front of the London net, but bounced to Jeremiah Addison and he scored his third goal of the series to put the Spitfires ahead 1-0.
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.
Early in the second period, Parsons made a big stop on Game 4 hero Graham Knott, giving his team a chance to keep pushing for the tying goal.
It didn’t come easily.
Another shot from the point was blocked in front of the Windsor net and bounced to Knights’ captain J.J. Piccinich, and he pivoted and fired off the inside of the post.
London kept coming and were finally rewarded on a power play as Stephens batted a puck in after a shot by Janne Kuokkanen was stopped by Michael DiPietro and the game was tied. Robert Thomas picked up the other assist on that play.
The line of Thomas, Stephens and Kuokkanen clicked well despite being a relatively new creation.
London certainly put Windsor into a different situation in the third period.
After some Spitfires fans booed as the team left the ice at the end of 40 minutes, they had to watch as London scored two goals 1:37 apart.
After a big Windsor chance, J.J. Piccinich skated the puck out of his end, got in across the Spitfires’ blue line and wired a wrist shot that went off DiPietro’s shoulder, fell behind him and trickled in.
Then Thomas started and finished a passing play with Victor Mete that saw Thomas receive a return pass on the right side of the Windsor end, fake a pass back and beat DiPietro short-side to make it 4-1 at 5:50 of the third period.
That lead was the largest either team has had during the series with that much time remaining.
The Spitfires pushed back, with Addison poking a puck past Parsons off a faceoff then jamming in a rebound exactly three minutes later, bringing the Windsor deficit down to a goal.
The Spitfires pulled their goalie and generated a couple of shots, but a save by Parsons went to Jones and he sent a puck into centre ice that Thomas caught up to, held and deposited into the empty net to finish the scoring at 5-3.
The line of Thomas, Kuokkanen and Stephens accounted for three goals and six points.
Parsons ended the game with 25 saves.
Game 7 will begin at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Budweiser Gardens. AM 980’s coverage will start at 6:30. Tickets are available at 519-681-0800 ext. 1, at the Knights’ Armoury or online at londonknights.com.
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