For the second game in a row, the London Knights and the Owen Sound Attack needed overtime in their first-round series.
And for the second game in a row, overtime didn’t take long.
Alan Lysczcarczyk banged in a Brett McKenzie rebound just 33 seconds into OT to give the Attack a 4-3 victory in Game 3 on Monday night at Budweiser Gardens and a 3-0 lead in the series.
The Knights were trying to duplicate the script from Saturday in Owen Sound that saw the Attack score a third-period goal and then find a way to win it.
“It’s definitely one of those hard things in hockey,” said Knights assistant coach Rick Steadman. “We have great character in our room and a great leadership group and they have shown all year that they will lead us the right way.”
London forward Tyler Rollo scored a goal on a London power play that went 2-for-5 on Monday and believes that the road back is more than possible and that it has already begun.
The Knights are in unfamiliar territory, facing their first opening round exit since 2011, they haven’t been swept in the first round since 1995.
London fought back from 1-0 and then 3-1 deficits in the game and evened things on a goal by captain Evan Bouchard who leaned toward capitalizing on the chances that the Knights are getting.
“Honestly, I think we’re playing all right. What we’re doing is all right and I think eventually, pucks are going to start going in for us.”
The next opportunity for that to happen arrives on Thursday in what has turned into a must-win for London.
How the goals were scored
The Knights scored the first goal in both games that were played in Owen Sound.
The Attack kept the road team streak alive by opening the scoring in London on a goal by Brett McKenzie that came right off a faceoff in the London end at 3:54 of the opening period.
Sergey Popov of the Knights tied the game early in the second period as he went gliding across the Owen Sound blue line and snapped a shot high and over the shoulder of Attack goalie, Olivier Lafreniere, to make it 1-1.
McKenzie struck for his third straight goal for Owen Sound as he went in on a partial breakaway to pick up his fourth goal of the post-season to put the Attack back in front by a goal at 5:08 of period two.
Sean Durzi scored just over three minutes later on a shot through traffic from the left point to put Owen Sound ahead 3-1.
Before the period ended, London got that one back. On a Knights power play, Evan Bouchard’s shot went wide, but was controlled by London forward Tyler Rollo and from behind the goal line, he banked the puck off Lafreniere and in to get the Knights to within a goal.
London captain Evan Bouchard scored the equalizer on a Knights power play with 4:59 remaining in the third period as he came off the left side boards and wristed a puck that Lafreniere could not squeeze between his pads. The puck trickled across the goal line and the teams sat 3-3 until time expired at the end of 60 minutes.
The game-winning goal was created off a faceoff in the London end inside the first minute of overtime as McKenzie gloved a puck down to his stick, got a shot away that Joseph Raaymakers stopped, only to have Alan Lyszczarczyk bang in the rebound for his fourth goal of the series.
Formenton flying off the start
Brett Connolly of the Washington Capitals currently leads the National Hockey League in shooting percentage among players who have played at least 50 games, Connolly has connected on 23.4 per cent of his shots this season. At the other end of the spectrum is Duncan Keith of the Chicago Blackhawks who has put 363 shots on net this season and has scored just once. In the OHL, Alex Formenton began the playoffs with five goals in two games, nearly burying every single one of his chances. Formenton scored his five goals on just eight shots, good for a shooting percentage of 62.5 per cent.
Lost Dog
Kyle Langdon of the Niagara Ice Dogs will miss the next six games after receiving a six-game suspension from the Ontario Hockey League for a blindside hit on Mitchell Brewer of the Oshawa Generals. Brewer did not play in Game 2 of the series. The Ice Dogs won the first two games by a combined 10-3.
Up Next
Game 4 between London and Owen Sound will take place on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Budweiser Gardens.
The pre-game show begins at 6 p.m. on 980 CFPL, at http://www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.
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