The Memorial Cup round-robin wrapped up with a 4-2 London Knights win over the Saginaw Spirit. Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan continued his bid for this year's best major junior hockey player.
The Saginaw Spirit and London Knights faced off for the 11th time this season. Both teams were 2-0 in round-robin play at the Memorial Cup, and the winner of this game got an automatic bye to the Memorial Cup Final. The loser had a date in the semifinals against the Moose Jaw Warriors.
London took advantage of the six minutes of powerplay time they were handed in the opening frame and outshot Saginaw 15-7. Spirit goaltender Andrew Oke had to be razor-sharp in the crease. He was a major factor in keeping his team in the game and holding the Knights to only one goal.
Former Don Mills Flyers, Alex Christopoulos, erupted the home crowd with the game’s opening goal after he redirected a shot from Josh Bloom. Saginaw may have gotten lucky here as the slow-mo replay showed a potential kicking motion by Christopolous. The refs reviewed it, and to much of the displeasure of Knights Head Coach Dale Hunter, the goal stood.
In accordance with CHL rules, coaches can only challenge for goaltending interference. Any goal reviews related to a potential kicking motion are handled by the league promptly following the goal.
Zayne Parekh prepared for an incoming hit from London's Max McCue with six minutes left in the first period. However, he was overly aggressive in bracing for the hit, and his stick made contact with McCue's mouth, resulting in a double-minor penalty for high sticking.
Kasper Halttunen led the OHL playoffs in goals with 17, and he showcased his pure goal-scoring touch on the ensuing man advantage. Halttunen received a pass from Easton Cowan on the zone entry before executing a slick curl-and-drag around Saginaw’s captain, Braden Hache, and fired his shot under the blocker of Oke.
Five minutes into the second, Saginaw had seven shots on net and multiple high-danger scoring attempts. The Knights couldn’t stop turning over the puck in the neutral zone, and Michael Simpson had to make up for his team’s mistakes.
Kasper Halttunen wanted to show he isn’t just a goal scorer, as he busted down the wing and threw a backhand pass over to Denver Barkey heading hard to the net. The Philadelphia Flyers prospect redirected the puck over the shoulder of Oke, putting London up 2-1.
Finnish import Halttunen has demonstrated, through the OHL playoffs and three Memorial Cup games, why the San Jose Sharks selected him 36th overall in the most recent NHL Draft. He has the ability to turn the game around with his high-level offensive skills. Halttunen has the shot power to outpace goalies with the speed of his release, and he can execute highly skilled maneuvers with the puck in one-on-one situations.
Shortly after Andrew Oke denied London’s forward Max McCue on a breakaway, Nashville Predators prospect Joey Willis rips a perfectly-placed shot from the right-side faceoff circle, short side on Simpson to tie the game up.
With London and Saginaw knowing what was at stake with a win or loss, they both decided to play with a conservative approach through the third period, waiting for one team to crack defensively.
That crack opened up when Sam O’Reilly found Easton Cowan sneaking to the hashmarks of the left-side faceoff circle, and one-on-one with Andrew Oke. The OHL regular season and playoff MVP made no mistake. With one quick snappy release, he beat the Saginaw netminder and put the Knights up 3-2 with only 1:25 remaining.
“He’s got the skill and the will. He’s a good skater, he knows the game, and pushes through. It was hard skating out there, both teams went with three lines so lots of ice time for those guys, and he just kept pushing,” said London Head Coach Dale Hunter on Cowan’s ability to rise in these high-pressure moments.
Cowan sealed the victory with an empty-net goal to cap off his three-point stellar performance — taking home Player of the Game honors.
London now gets a nice three-day break before the Memorial Cup Final on Sunday, Jun. 2nd. They await the winners of Moose Jaw versus Saginaw, who will battle it out on Friday, May 31st.