Brett Brochu made 32 saves and earned the game’s first star as the London Knights started the OHL Western Conference final with a 4-1 victory over the Sarnia Sting in Game 1.
Brochu made 13 stops in the opening period including a point blank chance on a turnover and then followed that up with six saves in the second period before coming out with 13 more in the third that was highlighted by a goal mouth scramble.
Sarnia got the puck to the edge of the crease with Brochu down and had a chance to slide the puck in only to have Oliver Bonk dive to knock the puck away. The Sting got the puck again and a shot clanged off the post but London was unable to clear and Brochu had to make a final save after losing his stick and glove before the puck left the Knights zone and the fans at Budweiser Gardens gave Brochu a standing ovation.
Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Luca Del Bel Belluz was the only Sting player to score on the night. The goal came on a Sting power play with less than 22 seconds remaining in the first period. An initial shot by Del Bel Belluz was stopped but he managed to get his stick on his own rebound and chip Brett Brochu to open the scoring.
The Knights took four minor penalties and hit three goal posts in the opening 20 minutes. George Diaco hit two flush with wrist shots and another ticked off the bar to the right of Sarnia goalie Ben Gaudreau as a Logan Mailloux shot was deflected in front of the Sarnia net. London hit at least four goal posts in the game.
Sean McGurn picked up his team-leading 7th goal of the playoffs as he converted a Max McCue cross-crease feed at the 7:25 mark of the second period to tie the game 1-1.
Just two minutes and 20 seconds later, Sam Dickinson blasted a one-timer past Gaudreau on the London power play to give the Knights a 2-1 lead heading into the final 20 minutes.
London added to their lead at 4:15 of the third period when Easton Cowan tipped a Ryan Winterton shot into the Sting net.
Winterton then finished the scoring into an empty net at 19:14 when he won a race to a puck in the Sarnia zone after McGurn had whipped a puck down the ice and off the goal post.
McGurn ended the game with a goal and an assist. He now has 18 points in the post-season.
Diaco had two assists for London.
The Sting outshot the Knights 33-25.
London was 1-for-3 on the power play. Sarnia was 1-for-5.
A week of awards
As the Ontario Hockey League handed out its academic awards this week the London Knights made the math for the weekly individual awards as easy as 1 + 1 = 2. In Brett Brochu’s case it was more like 0 + 0 = 0.
Brochu posted back-to-back shutouts on his way to a second OHL Goaltender of the Week honour and Denver Barkey was named OHL Player of the Week after scoring three times and adding two assist in just two games to help London oust the Kitchener Rangers in the second round of the playoffs.
Two new Knights from the U-18 OHL Priority Selection
Hoping to one day follow in the footsteps of Knights forward Jacob Julien, wingers Quinn McNamara and Colton Henderson were chosen by London in the 2023 U-18 OHL Priority Selection. The draft took place on Wednesday, April 26.
McNamara spent this past season with the Elgin-Middlesex Canucks U-18 team where he had 18 points in 29 games but added grit and physicality to the Canucks lineup. Henderson was the Knights second round pick. Henderson led the Waterloo Wolves U18s in scoring in 2022-23.
Up next
Game 2 between London and the Sting will take place on Sunday, April 30 at 2 p.m. at Budweiser Gardens before the series shifts to Sarnia, Ont., for games on May 2 and 3.
The Peterborough Petes edged the North Bay Battalion 3-2 in the opening game of the Eastern Conference final. Londoner Michael Simpson made 37 saves for Peterborough.
Coverage of Game 2 between the Knights and Sarnia will begin at 1:30 p.m. on 980 CFPL, at www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.
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