OHL FINAL: London Knights crush Oshawa Generals in Game 1 blowout

Easton Cowan didn’t have too much fun in last year’s Ontario Hockey League championship series.

His London Knights lost to the Peterborough Petes. He also missed a game due to illness and finished that final set with four points.

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This time, the reigning league MVP topped that in the first two periods of the opener. He had a hand in London’s first five goals and the Knights steamrolled Oshawa with an eyebrow-raising 8-1 victory before 9,036 Thursday at Budweiser Gardens.

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“It feels way different this year,” the 18-year-old Maple Leafs first-rounder said. “Last year, we were obviously the underdogs, but this time, it feels like we’re more the favourites. We have that revenge tour in our minds and we want to win so badly.”

It showed.

The Knights outclassed the Generals from pillar to post. They were perfect on special teams. They scored in the first half-minute of both the second and third periods. They chased OHL top goaltender Jacob Oster from the visiting crease after seven goals and didn’t give a beat-up Oshawa squad any room to make an offensive push.

Even the Gens’ lone bright spot shouldn’t have counted. Forward Connor Lockhart crushed London defenseman Isaiah George from behind right before ruining Michael Simpson’s shutout bid.

“That’s an unacceptable effort from our team regardless of how long our series (with North Bay) was,” said Lockhart, an OHL champion last year with Simpson in Peterborough. “We’re here for a reason. We have some things to clean up. . . Saturday is a game that will show what kind of group we are.”

The Knights want to follow their long-time mantra of staying humble and keeping pushing with momentum.

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“We have to realize we put up eight goals but it’s not aggregate like in soccer,” London defenseman Oliver Bonk said. “The goals aren’t carrying over to the next game. We need to refocus for Game 2.”

TOUGH BREAK: The Generals are missing difference-makers Connor Punnett on the point and Beckett Sennecke and Matt Buckley up front due to injury.

London’s Jacob Julien wouldn’t have the same time in front of the crease with Punnett in his face. Sennecke can wheel with the puck and Buckley is a solid finisher. Oshawa is leaning on some young depth pieces and they struggled at the moment.

“With (them) out, it hurts us but we have to find a way,” head coach Derek Laxdal said. “That’s what this time of season is all about. That’s not the reason we lost. London is a helluva hockey club. We got a taste of what they can do when they’re firing on all cylinders (and still missing Kaleb Lawrence and Landon Sim).

“We have to wash this game out. We didn’t do a lot of things well. I think the only thing we did was tie up our skates and put our jerseys on.”

QUICK STRIKE: London converted its only two power-play chances in a grand total of 54 seconds. That’s prime efficiency.

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They didn’t draw many penalties against Saginaw and that trend continued with the Oshawa opener. So when you get that rare man advantage, better make it work.

“That’s always the approach,” Bonk, the Flyers first-rounder, said. “We’re staying away from the referees right now. Just let them do their job and stay away from it. Score when we can and not let them into it.”

AROUND THE RINK: What better time to score a first OHL playoff goal than in the finals? Rookie defenseman Jared Woolley had that thrill with his point shot in the first period. “He started in Junior B and worked his way up this year,” Bonk said. “He’s going to be a really good player one day. He is right now, but he keeps improving every game. He has a pretty good shot, got it through and it was a big one for us.” Julien provided an expert screen. . . How hard is it to defend Cowan? Bonk deals with it regularly in practice. “He’s a pretty big kid who can skate like the wind and cut back like you’ve never seen before,” he said. “He has all the tools you can have on offense.” Bonk usually handles him, though, right? “Usually,” he said. “Sometimes he cuts back and I’m falling face first into the boards.” . . . Cowan’s five points were the most by a Knight in the playoffs since Mitch Marner and Matthew Tkachuk did it in 2016. Marner had a six-point effort the year before. . . The Knights handed out promotional flashing green glasses before the game – then asked the fans in the lower bowl to turn them off during play when it appeared to be a visual distraction. . . London’s Alec Leonard will not play in the final. The veteran defenseman is still wearing a protective boot and is considered week-to-week. “We miss his 15 minutes a game,” assistant coach Dylan Hunter said. . . . Oshawa captain Stuart Rolof sat out the Generals’ regular-season win in London Feb. 28 because he sprained his ankle slipping on a wet floor while kicking around a soccer ball with his teammates. It goes to show you how stupid injuries can potentially happen that he got hurt playing sewer ball,” Oshawa GM Roger Hunt said. I wonder how many injuries happen in hockey with these pre-game, off-ice warmups.” . . . Cody Morgan, the Knights grad who was part of New Brunswick’s perfect season in university hockey this year, got the fans going before puck drop. George Diaco was there, too. . . Game 4 of the Sutherland Cup final goes Friday in St. Marys. The Lincolns trail Listowel 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.

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OHL PLAYOFFS

Knights 8, Generals 1

(London leads best-of-seven championship series 1-0)

London goals: Oliver Bonk (2), Ruslan Gazizov (2), Jared Woolley, Easton Cowan, Denver Barkey, Jacob Julien
Oshawa goal: Connor Lockhart
Next: Game 2 is Saturday, 7 pm at Budweiser Gardens.

Thursday at Budweiser Gardens

Knights 8, Generals 1

First period
1., London, Bonk 5 (Julien, Cowan) 8:50 (pp)
2. London, Woolley 1 (Cowan, Barkey) 16:58
Penalty – Roobroeck, Osh (tripping) 8:34.

Second period
3. London, Bonk 6 (Cowan, Dickinson) 0:28
4. London, Cowan 8 (Julien, Dickinson) 10:23
5. London, Barkey 4 (Cowan. Halttunen) 18:10 (pp)
6. Oshawa, Lockhart 7 (Kumpulainen) 19:42
Penalties – R. Boulton, Ldn (checking from behind) 11:09, Sandhu, Osh (roughing) 17:32.

Third period
7. London, Julien 8 (Dickinson) 0:11
8. London, Gazizov 4 (McCue, Edward) 1:20
9. London, Gazizov 5 (O’Reilly, Woolley) 5:48
Penalties – Delisle, Osh (diving), S. Boulton, Ldn (slashing, roughing) 10:29, Woolley, Ldn (delay of game) 13:58.

Shots on goal by
Oshawa 6 9 10-25
London 12 18 11–41

Power plays: Osh 0-3. Ldn 2-2.

Goalies: Oster, Osh (32-25) (L, 12-6), Bender, Osh (9-8, 1:20 of third period). Simpson, Ldn (W, 13-2).

Referees – Mike Cairns, Joe Monette. Linesmen – Nick Arcan, Dustin McCrank.

Attendance – 9,036 (9,036)

Three stars: 1. Easton Cowan, Knights; 2. Oliver Bonk, Knights; 3. Denver Barkey, Knights

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