Breaking Down The OHL's Whopping Five First-Round Sweeps

Saying the first round of the OHL playoffs was pretty straightforward is an understatement.

Yes, there were two upsets, with the Soo Greyhounds eliminating the London Knights in five games and the North Bay Battalion knocking out the Peterborough Petes in six.

But five of the eight first-round matchups ended in sweeps. That's the most sweeps in a round in the OHL since 2019.

While the series results were straightforward, many of the games were anything but that. Let's break down what happened in each sweep.

Despite not winning a game in the series, the Saginaw Spirit should be proud of the fight they put up against the Kitchener Rangers. 

The Spirit had multiple leads in Game 1 and were up 4-3 in the third period before the Rangers scored three straight. The Spirit stopped the Rangers from scoring in the first two periods of Game 2, and Game 3 went to overtime. 

Yes, it doesn't make the loss hurt any less as a player, but it's OK to consider the moral victories when you're the eighth seed. 

That being said, the Rangers ensured an upset wasn't a possibility, scoring two goals in 39 seconds to win Game 1, scoring four unanswered goals in the third period of Game 2, winning Game 3 off the stick of Luca Romano and taking command of Game 4 with a 5-1 win. 

Colorado Avalanche prospect Christian Humphreys led the Rangers in first-round scoring, with four goals and nine points.

Kitchener will play the Soo Greyhounds in the next round, starting with Game 1 on Friday.

For the first three games of this series, this series was all about the goaltenders. 

Zach Jovanovski of the Guelph Storm did the best he could to keep his team in each game, allowing only nine goals on 104 shots. However, his teammates weren't able to get much past Joey Costanzo of the Windsor Spitfires, who only allowed two goals on 77 shots and posted a 20-save shutout in Game 1.

Game 4 was a completely different story. 

The Storm held their first lead of the series, taking a 2-1 lead with 3:02 left in the first period. 

The Spitfires proceeded to score nine unanswered goals, winning the game 11-3.

Liam Greentree (NYR) and Jakub Fibigr (SEA) led Windsor in scoring, with seven points.

The Spitfires set up what should be an exciting second-round series with the Flint Firebirds, which know a bit about blowing out their opponent. Game 1 is Friday.

If this series had to be summarized in one word, it would be domination. 

The Firebirds outscored the Owen Sound Attack 35-3, becoming the most lopsided playoff series in OHL history. 

Every game was won by at least five goals. 

The main culprits for this outcome are Owen Sound's lack of discipline and Flint's ability to capitalize on those mistakes. 

Throughout the four games, the Firebirds went 13-for-21 on the power play, a 61.9-percent success rate. 

The Attack got plenty of opportunities on the power play, too, but they only scored two goals on 14 chances. Had they capitalized, this series may have been closer, even if it still ended as a sweep. 

While fingers can be pointed at what the Attack didn't do, credit should be given to the Firebirds for what they did do, specifically their goalie. Mason Vaccari was a brick wall in net, posting a 0.75 goals-against average and a .974 save percentage, including a 32-save shutout in Game 3.

Jacob Battaglia (NYR) and Nathan Aspinall (NYR) were lights-out, leading the OHL in first-round scoring with 15 and 13 points, respectively.

The Firebirds will travel to Windsor to start the second round. 

Similar to the Spirit, the Sudbury Wolves should be proud of how they played against the regular-season champions.

When the Brantford Bulldogs went up 3-0 in Game 1, the Spirit fought back with two goals of their own before Brantford answered back, winning 6-2. 

In Game 2, the Wolves scored two more goals after going down 2-0 and kept it a one-goal game until the empty-netter that iced the 4-2 win. 

Not only did Sudbury have a 4-2 lead in Game 3, but they tied the game to force overtime with 51 seconds left in regulation after Brantford took the lead late. 

Even in Game 4, the overtime defeat didn’t discourage the Wolves as they got the first goal of the game, and it took until the third period for the Bulldogs to get the game-winning goal, winning 2-1. 

With that in mind, the Bulldogs should be applauded for being able to navigate every obstacle that the Wolves threw at them.

NHL draft prospect Caleb Malhotra led the Bulldogs in scoring with five goals and nine points.

Now, Brantford will take on the North Bay Battalion, which upset the Peterborough Petes in six games. Game 1 goes down on Wednesday.

This series may have been a sweep, but it was closer than it seems on the surface. 

Game 1 was a high-scoring affair, where the Ottawa 67's had a 4-2 lead until the Kingston Frontenacs tied the game with two goals in 11 seconds. Ottawa pulled away afterward, winning 7-4. 

The 67's won Game 2 4-3 but not without a scare from the Frontenacs, which came within one after trailing 4-1 heading into the third period. 

Game 3 was the least tight game of the series as Ottawa won 4-1, but Game 4 was a different story. 

The 67's took a 2-0 lead early off a Michigan-style goal by Sam McCue (TOR) and a power-play goal by Jasper Kuhta, but the Frontenacs clawed back to tie the game, and it stayed that way until Filip Ekberg (CAR) scored the go-ahead goal with 31 seconds left in regulation.

Cooper Foster, a free agent drafted in the sixth round by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2023, led the 67's in scoring, with six points.

Ottawa heads to Barrie to take on the Colts, with Game 1 on Thursday.

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