Olli Juolevi’s wrist shot off the post and into the Windsor net at 12:49 of the third period gave the London Knights a 3-2 victory and a series win over the Spitfires in seven games.
As fans lined up outside the gates of Budweiser Gardens on Tuesday night, more than a few voices were wondering aloud whether Game 7 might allow them to keep their fingernails.
The first six games were jammed full of nailbiting moments. Goals were about as easy to come by as diamonds in a copper mine. Those fans just wanted something a little less stressful.
Their wishes went unheard as the first 20 minutes produced nothing but close calls.
A power play plunge by the Knights made it to the goal line, but was kept out.
A Dante Salituro shot on goal was reviewed and ruled no goal.
Cliff Pu hit the crossbar on a shorthanded chance.
Windsor didn’t quite have the same kind of opportunities, but left the period with a scoreless tie.
The chances were not as easy to come by for the Knights in the second period but somehow the goals were.
London went to work on an early power play and Robert Thomas threaded a pass to Janne Kuokkanen who rifled a puck under the bar and past Spitfires’ goalie Michael DiPietro for a 1-0 lead at 3:55. Kuokkanen wasted no time getting the shot away, leaving DiPietro no time to react.
Owen MacDonald and Max Jones combined to put the Knights ahead 2-0 at 9:34 of the second. MacDonald carried the puck across the Windsor blue line as Jones charged to the net. MacDonald fed Jones and the Anaheim Ducks’ prospect tipped the puck in and then had his legs cut out from under him by a sliding Luke Boka. Jones collided with DiPietro and both were shaken up. Both remained in the game and it went to the third period with London ahead by a pair of goals.
Those same fans outside the building before the game might have finally started to breathe a little easier heading to the third period, but those breaths got pretty shallow pretty quickly.
First, Maple Leafs’ prospect Jeremy Bracco kept a puck in at the blue line, skated into the slot and snapped a wrist shot past his former Team USA teammate, Tyler Parsons, to make it 2-1.
Just over seven minutes later, Windsor ended a string of 14 consecutive successful penalty kills by the Knights as Aaron Luchuk took a pass in front, spun and slid the puck into the back of the London net and the game was tied.
At that point, the Spitfires had the momentum and they had sapped some of the energy of the sellout crowd inside Budweiser Gardens.
Not long after the tying goal, the Knights got a power play and Windsor held them off for one minute and 49 seconds. That’s when Victor Mete slid a pass to Olli Juolevi and he moved in on the left side and wristed a shot off the post and in for the game winning goal with 7:11 to play.
It was as if the final 431 seconds took all of the tension the series had provided to that point and sent it into motion all over again.
Tyler Parsons was forced to make big saves, including one off a deflected Sean Day shot from the left point with just over a minute and a half left. Knights’ players blocked shots and even worked a puck to centre ice where Cliff Pu attempted a shot at the empty net that hit off the outside of the post.
Windsor mounted three more rushes after that and as the crowd held its collective breath, the Knights turned them back all three times, eventually clearing the puck outside their zone as the final horn sounded.
In a class move by both teams, goaltenders Tyler Parsons and Michael DiPietro began the handshakes at centre ice.
As host team of the MasterCard Memorial Cup, Windsor must now wait for approximately six weeks for the tournament to begin.
London moves on to round two against the Erie Otters with the chance to defend their 2016 Championship still intact.
The Knights and Otters have met in the playoffs in each of the past two seasons. Erie swept London in 2015. London swept the Otters in 2016.
Game 1 is Thursday in Erie. Game 2 is Friday in Erie.
Game 3 will take place in London on Tuesday, April 13. Game 4 will be at Budweiser Gardens on Thursday, April 15.
Tickets are on sale as of 10 a.m. Wednesday morning at 519-681-0800 x 1, at the Knights’ Armouries or online at http://www.londonknights.com
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