Generals Snag Narrow Victory In Game One Of The OHL Final

Last night, the Oshawa Generals snapped London's 17-game postseason winning streak by claiming a narrow 4-2 victory in game one of the OHL Championship.

Winning game one on the road has become a trend for the Generals, who have not held home-ice advantage since round one of the playoffs. 

 "All year, we had a hard time on the road ... we'd have a bad start or give something away late," said Generals Head Coach Brad Malone. "We started trying to tweak certain things in terms of routine to find the right groove, and certainly in the playoffs, we've found that."

Winning on the road is one thing, but winning in London takes it to a whole other level. Before last night, the Knights had only lost five out of 41 games played inside Canada Life Place during the regular season and postseason. 

Add to that a mass of screaming fans clad in green and gold, and you can understand why playing in London can be such a daunting task. 

"The message all year has been to focus on ourselves," said Malone. " We had a good week to get prepared and ... we were fortunate tonight, we got some bounces and big saves."

From beginning to end, game one was riddled with penalties. A total of 12 power plays were hounded out between the two teams, with Oshawa's nine opportunities tripling London's three.

By the end of the game, Oshawa's power play outscored the vaunted London power play unit 3-1 while on the man advantage. However, the two power plays operated at the same 33.33 percent efficiency. 

"You can't talk about the refereeing ... they did a good job," said London Head Coach Dale Hunter when asked about the discrepancy in penalties during the post-game press conference.

Early in the third period, Hunter openly showed his dislike for a double-minor for high sticking given to Philadelphia Flyers prospect Oliver Bonk by making diving signals with his hand while standing on the bench. 

The third period ultimately made all the difference in the game, as London held a 2-1 lead at the end of 40 minutes. Andrew Gibson tied the game just before the midway mark of the final frame on a pinpoint accurate shot that went over the shoulder of Austin Elliott. 

Gibson was one of the standout players for Oshawa in the game, scoring a pair of goals while playing a very physical style throughout the evening. However, the best player on the ice was Generals' goaltender Jacob Oster, who made 30 saves on 32 shots. 

In the second period, the overage goaltender made a pair of breakaway saves against Leafs prospect Easton Cowan and Oilers prospect Sam O'Reilly. Without his play in the second period, London likely would have taken a much bigger lead into the third period. 

"Ozzy [Oster] was huge, stopping a couple of breakaways," said Gibson. "He played unreal for us, and I think he's the reason why we kept going and were in that game still and won."

After tying the game, Islanders prospect Calum Ritchie scored on a 4-on-3 power play to give Oshawa the lead for the first time in the game. Matthew Buckley's empty-net goal with 47 seconds remaining in the game was the icing on top of the Oshawa victory.

By winning game one, Oshawa has already outperformed every other team to go up against London this postseason. The Knights were undefeated going into the OHL Final.

Game two will take place on Saturday in London. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.