Oshawa has their backs against the wall heading into Game 4 of the OHL Finals against the London Knights, but their spirit and drive has never waivered.
The Generals have had an interesting season, to say the least. Despite the slow start to the beginning of the year, Generals staff believed they could make the playoffs and do some damage, as written in an article for Durham College’s The Chronicle.
Praises were also given to players like Owen Griffin, Ben Danford, Matthew Buckley, and Beckett Sennecke, as they were all younger players looking to step up. However, that article was released in mid-October, when even the thought of the J Ross Robertson Cup Final was considered a dream for this squad, even with all the potential.
Many players did step up and played with their hearts on their sleeves. This style of play was on display in Game 3 of the OHL’s championship series, which ended in a 7-6 2OT loss.
One of the most notable players is the newly acquired Connor Lockhart. In his fourth OHL season and first with Oshawa, this isn't his first time in the league’s championship series, as he spent last season with the Peterborough Petes.
Despite being only 5’9”, Lockhart was everywhere on the ice. Constantly digging, fighting for the puck, and even recorded two goals in the six the generals tallied Monday night.
Ironically, the two goals that Lockhart notched, tied the amount that Oshawa put up in both games 1 and 2.
Game 3 was a night and day difference in Oshawa's performance. The Generals buzzed along the ice and shut down the highly talented London Knights offence for most of the game. The problem is that no matter what they did, London just had that much more talent.
Fighting aside, London showed throughout most of the game that they could easily work the puck into the offensive zone. They have many highly talented first-round draft picks, like Oliver Bonk and Easton Cowan, alongside projected 2024 first-round draft pick Sam Dickinson.
Another glaring issue is that despite his prowess in the regular season, Jacob Oster has not had a good series, allowing 6 or more in all three games so far. With skilled players getting key scoring chances for most of the second half of the game, it didn't spell success for Oshawa.
Although Michael Simpson surprisingly gave up so many goals, the takeover by Owen Willmore also saved the Knights when the Generals had scoring chances.
Though Game 4 looks much more promising than games 1 or 2, Game 3 is the very late start of success in this series if they can continue to battle London's never-ending skill on both ends of the ice.