London Knights at Erie Otters — 7 p.m. — Erie Insurance Arena, Erie, PA.
Broadcast: 6:30 p.m. — AM980 and the Radioplayer app
(Western Conference semi-final tied 2-2)
***There are tickets available for Game 6 at Budweiser Gardens on Sunday at 6 p.m. Call 519-681-0800 ext. 1, visit the Knights’ Armoury or online at londonknights.com.
The “must-win” game that London won
The Erie Otters defeated the Knights 3-1 in Game 3. If you walked through the doors of the London dressing room shortly after the final horn, you might have expected to find a whole lot of quiet and maybe a sea of heads hanging low. The Knights had played well enough to win, but didn’t. To win the series, they were going to have to win three out of four games against the best team in the Ontario Hockey League this year.
It wasn’t quiet. Heads weren’t low. Instead, players were talking about how close they had come, how well they had played, and what they needed to do in Game 4.
“The biggest thing for us is to forget this one and focus on the next one, which for us is a must-win,” Knights forward Mitchell Stephens said.
That focus carried the team through to Thursday and the push throughout Game 4 eventually led to a London victory.
What will carry over from Game 4?
The Erie Otters were riding a 2-0 lead through the first few minutes of the third period.
They were 14:09 away from heading home with a 3-1 series lead and a chance to clinch a trip to the conference finals.
Then Max Jones happened. Then Janne Kuokkanen happened. Twice.
Jones chased after a puck in the Erie end with the determination of a pack of wolves. He went from the left side to the right side and got a shot away that missed and wound up in a pile of people on the right side of the zone. Jones dug the puck free and then forced his way to the net, getting through whatever was in front of him and fending off everything behind him, then snapping a shot through the legs of Troy Timpano to re-ignite the Budweiser Gardens crowd.
Next came the trio of Mitchell Stephens, Robert Thomas and Kuokkanen. Thomas got a puck to Stephens in the Otters’ zone and the veteran threaded a pass to Kuokkanen, who finished with a quick deke and the game-tying goal.
Thirty-one seconds later, Kuokkanen scored again, showing off his accuracy as he tucked a wrist shot inside the post to the stick side of Timpano and the Knights took a lead they would not give back.
Erie trekked back home feeling as if they had let a stranglehold slip.
They had the game. They were set to take a commanding lead in the series. And suddenly, they were back to square one with a maximum of three games to play.
The Knights will be looking to carry momentum and hoping they have taken away a bit of the Otters’ confidence that they had built up with back-to-back wins.
Erie now gets a test. Like London’s roster, theirs has a good dose of players who have played in big games.
And Game 5 certainly is a big one for them. Someone will be heading to Budweiser Gardens for Game 6 facing elimination.
Shot-clock switch
Not so fresh off a gruelling seven-game series against the Windsor Spitfires, the Knights were out-shot 46-12 in Game 1 against Erie. London won the game, but they knew they couldn’t withstand five, six or seven games like that.
In Game 2, the Knights lost, but the shots were a little more even. The Otters had 32 shots and London had 24.
Game 3 had them almost even at 36-34 in Erie’s favour.
In Game 4, the Knights outshot the Otters, 33-28.
Shots are a bit of an antiquated statistic. Scoring chances are much more indicative of how a game has gone. In this case, they have shown how the series has evened out offensively.
What’s next?
As with any team coming off a loss in a best-of-7, the ball is in Erie’s court.
They are an excellent team. Can they keep their poise, or will they play “not to lose”?
London would love to get an early goal. They have done a very good job creating early chances, but have only scored one first-period goal all series.
The Otters’ crowd does not have to be big to be a factor, but it is Saturday night and there’s a chance it could be large and loud. If that is the case, it will be up to the Knights to keep it from building into a hostile atmosphere.
London is also waiting for the power play to click. They have only had ten chances in four games and have yet to score. Their power play ranked third overall in the regular season.
Erie is 2-13 with the man advantage.
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