OHL Western Final: Rangers versus Knights

[J.R.]

Series began tonight at London.

The OHL best London Knights take on the third best OHL team, the Kitchener Rangers. In sizing this series up, the Knights may be finally getting some playoff competition. Entering this series, both London and Kitchener have eight game winning streaks.

The Rangers are riding the back of a hot goalie in Eric Pfliger, who just came in to replace the injured Dan Turple in round one, and he's yet to lose in the playoffs. The Knights are riding the backs of arguably the most stacked CHL team in history.

The winner of this best-of-seven will advance to the OHL Championship against either Ottawa or Peterborough. Hopefully it's a great series.

[leaferfan87]

I expect the Rangers to put up more of a fight than Guelph and Windsor did, but I still think that the Knights will take this series in five or six games.

[J.R.]

Game one at London:
Kitchener Rangers 2 - 3 London Knights.
London leads the series 1-0.

In the opening game of this Western Conference Final, a very physical matchup took place in London, which resulted a 3-2 win for the home team. The momentum was clearly in the Knights favour for most of the first and second periods, as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead half way through the second. In the third, however, Kitchener dominated scoring twice and hitting the goal post twice too. The Rangers did have plenty of chances to tie the game, but in the end it was the Knights' Adam Denis making 25 saves to preserve the win. London takes an early 1-0 series lead as the scene shifts to Kitchener for game two on Saturday night.

Kitchener Scoring
3rd period - Voakes, (4) (McGrath, Benoit), 09:47 (PP).
3rd period - Richards, (9) (Benoit, Lashoff), 18:20.

London Scoring
1st period - Fritsche, (4) (Schremp, Girardi), 17:44.
2nd period - Bolland, (4) (Schremp, Rodney), 09:04.
2nd period - Rodney, (3) (Perry, Bolland), 10:31 (PP).

Full game statistics (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=11508).

[J.R.]

Knights at Rangers are tied 1-1 going to the third period in a fiesty game number two. Like always, a summary will follow the conclusion of this game.

[J.R.]

Game two at Kitchener:
London Knights 1 - 3 Kitchener Rangers.
Series tied 1-1.

Game two of the Western Conference Final was one of the weirdest, most rival-filled games of this year's OHL playoffs. The Rangers fought hard to keep with the Knights in the first period and came away with a 0-0 tie. Just 20 seconds into the second, Evan McGrath made it 1-0 for Kitchener, only to see that goal matched by Corey Perry moments later. It then took a spectacular short handed goal from the Rangers' captain - Mike Richards to break the tie and lead Kitchener to a 3-1 win at home to tie the series at a game a piece. He added the empty-net goal too. The third period was full of penalties, most of them undeservingly against the Rangers. Perry was all over the ice acting like the little bitch he is, slashing Rangers left and right. Then the little guy with the big mouth wouldn't shut it late in the game, so he was tossed. Expect game three at London on Monday to be just as ugly.

London Scoring
2nd period - Perry, (8), 04:11.

Kitchener Scoring
2nd period - McGrath, (6) (Keefe, Davis), 00:20.
3rd period - Richards, (10), 01:55 (SH).
3rd period - Richards, (11) (Pfligler), 18:55 (EN).

Full game statistics (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=11509).

[KB in Kelowna]

Question, do all OHL series alternate home games? Out here the WHL the team with the better record gets the games 1&2 (usually friday/saturday) as well as games 5 and if necessary 7.

[J.R.]

Question, do all OHL series alternate home games? Out here the WHL the team with the better record gets the games 1&2 (usually friday/saturday) as well as games 5 and if necessary 7.The OHL always alternates home games. From round one to the OHL Championship Final, the better record team gets games one, three, five and seven, while the lower seeded team getting games two, four and six at home. In some cases, however, due to arena scheduling conflicts, things change and one team may have back-to-back games at home.

[go_leafs_go02]

The OHL always alternates home games. From round one to the OHL Championship Final, the better record team gets games one, three, five and seven, while the lower seeded team getting games two, four and six at home. In some cases, however, due to arena scheduling conflicts, things change and one team may have back-to-back games at home.

Distance also is a factor. If erie and SSM (Ste. Saint Marie) play eachother in the playoffs, the distance factor of 663 mi (about 10 hours 5 mins drive THANKS GOOGLE) would likely cause the series to be 2-2-1-1-1.

[J.R.]

Game three at London:
Kitchener Rangers 1 - 6 London Knights.
London leads series 2-1.

An "unsharp" Rangers team ran into the buzz saw known as the London Knights tonight and got cut up by Canada's best major junior team 6-1. A real poor effort right from the beginning by Kitchener saw them go down quickly. They began the game just minutes in with a five on three power play, which included the cheater known as Corey Perry using an illegal stick, but didn't do anything and it ended without any good chances. London then was handed a bunch of power plays and they took advantage, scoring three PP goals in the first. They added three more in the second to make it 6-0 going to the third, where Kitchener at least got a single goal. With the blowout win, the Knights capture a 2-1 lead in the series, as things shift back to Kitchener for game four on Wednesday night.

Kitchener Scoring
3rd period - McGrath, (7) (Richards, Benoit), 02:56 (PP).

London Scoring
1st period - Fritsche, (5) (Hunter, Syvret), 05:06 (PP).
1st period - Perry, (9) (Syvret, Bolland), 09:11 (PP).
1st period - Hunter, (8) (Syvret, Perry), 13:17 (PP).
2nd period - Hunter, (9) (Fritsche, Schremp), 00:44 (PP).
2nd period - Fritsche, (6) (Bolland), 12:19 (PP).
2nd period - Bolland, (5) (Kell, Schremp), 14:35.

Full game statistics (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=11510).

[J.R.]

Game four at Kitchener:
London Knights 5 - 4 Kitchener Rangers (OT).
London leads series 3-1.

In a back and forth game all night, game four was probably the best this series has seen so far. Those familiar jerks known as the London Knights were celebrating on the bench with 45 seconds left in regulation, when the score was 4-3. Sounds like their "fans" thinking the series is over at 2-1. Kitchener then burned them with a goal to tie the game with only six seconds left in the game and injected the hopes of an upset back into the Rangers. The game went into overtime and less than three minutes of furious action, London scored to win the game 5-4 and take a 3-1 series lead heading home. The Knights' fourth and fifth goals were serious flukes. Game five is scheduled for Friday night.

London Scoring
1st period - Perry, (1) (Schremp, Methot), 07:59.
1st period - Schremp, (7) (Perry, Syvret), 10:17 (PP).
2nd period - Fritsche, (7) (Girardi), 14:34.
3rd period - Foreman, (1) (Thomson), 11:50.
4th period - Bolland, (6) (Drummond, Syvret), 02:42.

Kitchener Scoring
1st period - Voakes, (5) (Clarkson, Richards), 03:44 (PP).
1st period - Keefe, (3) (Davis, McGrath), 07:31 (PP).
3rd period - Benoit, (5) (Richards), 04:08.
3rd period - Voakes, (6) (Richards, McGrath), 19:54.

Full game statistics (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=11511).

[J.R.]

"Must win" is a cliche, but tonight for Kitchener, it's true.

With a loss tonight, the Rangers would be eliminated from the OHL Playoffs, so needless to say, but this is their biggest game of the season.

Game five begins tonight at seven at the John Labatt Centre in London.

The game can be seen across Ontario on Rogers Television and heard on Kitchener's 570 News (www.570news.com - Live worldwide).

[J.R.]

Game five at London:
Kitchener Rangers 0 - 6 London Knights.
London wins series 4-1.

They gave them a valient effort, but in the end, the London Knights were too strong. Another dominating performance at home from the Knights ended the Rangers season with a 6-0 loss at the John Labatt Centre. The goals came quickly and often in game five and Kitchener didn't have any of their own to answer. Denis played a spectacular game in net for the Forest City, especially in the first period. However, Kitchener's effort in this game was still evident as they pushed London for the most part. With the win, the Knights eliminate the Rangers four games to one. They now advance to the Ontario Hockey League Final against the Ottawa 67s, who have now officially clinched a berth to the Memorial Cup Championship tournament, being held in London in May.

Kitchener Scoring
None.

London Scoring
1st period - Schremp, (8) (Fritsche, Perry), 04:12.
2nd period - Hunter, (10) (Larman, Perry), 03:10.
2nd period - Syvret, (3) (Perry, Foreman), 16:03.
3rd period - Schremp, (9) (Fritsche, Ferry), 04:13.
3rd period - Foreman, (2) (Syvret, Girardi), 12:57 (PP).
3rd period - Bryce, (1) (Perry, Reed), 14:39.

Full game statistics (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=11512).