London Knights the Hunted entering Round 2; an OHL Western Conference playoff preview

Nothing is off-limits from gamesmanship as the playoffs roll along. Apparently, that even extends to when the games shall be played.

The starting date of the Saginaw-London series is as hot a topic as whether defensive-minded Knights Austin Watson and Jarred Tinordi can stifle their high-flying Team USA teammate Brandon Saad, who would hands-down win the OHL's outstanding player award if he had played a fuller schedule. The Knights, as is their prerogative, wouldn't sign off on Game 2 being held in Saginaw on Saturday since coach-GM Mark Hunter also has to run his team's draft room on the same day. That's forced the Spirit to host the tilt on Sunday, raising concerns they could be out a few thousand sheckels in playoff revenue if some potential customers choose to celebrate Easter. (The Spirit are apparently thinking on their feet, offering package deals aimed at families in hope the Dow Event Center will have a playoff atmosphere.

The other cross-border clash in the Western Conference also sells itself. The Plymouth Whalers and Kitchener Rangers are hooking up for the second year in a row. As was the case in their opening-round series a season ago, this one might go the distance.

Believe it that no one was more surprised than your humble agent that all four of BTN's first-round picks came through, two in the exact number of games predicted. (Plymouth needed six games to get by Guelph instead of five, whereas London came in one under the prediction of a five-game win over Windsor.) That will probably never happen again.

Here is a look at Round 2.

(2) Plymouth Whalers (47-18-2-1, 97 points, beat Guelph 4-2) vs. (3) Kitchener Rangers (42-24-1-1, 86 pts, beat Owen Sound 4-1)

Season series: Plymouth 3-1-0-0. Odds favour: Plymouth 69 per cent. Prediction: Plymouth in 6.

Why Plymouth should win: The Whalers on the whole are big with a mean streak, plus their early stumble — losing the first two games to Guelph before sweeping the next four — might have forced them to snap to attention. They have top-end talent to drool over with their three NHL first-round picks up front, most notably Ottawa Senators prospect Stefan Noesen, the playoff co-scoring leader with 14 points. New York Rangers prospect J.T. Miller, who scored the series-winning OT goal in the first round, might also be hitting his stride. The Whalers also have reliable veteran scoring in the name of Andy Bathgate and Mitchell Heard. Winger Tom Wilson was a bull in a china shop during the first round, as well.

Having New Jersey Devils prospect Scott Wedgewood between the pipes makes it very unlikely the Whalers are going to be out-goaltended by a significant margin, even though the Rangers counter with a world junior 'tender of their own in Anaheim Ducks pick John Gibson. Defensively, the Whalers improved during the first-round series and should be close to welcoming captain Beau Schmitz back to their blueline. They were also third in the 20-team OHL on the power play and penalty kill in the regular season. Provided the latter does not let them down — both in how many penalties they have to kill and how well they kill them off — they should be fine in this series. Expect Noesen (nine points in the seven-game win over Kitchener a year ago) and Wedgewood (40-plus saves in three of the games vs. Kitchener) to reprise their roles from a year ago. This probably will not be a short series since the venerable Kitchener Memorial Auditorium is a tough building to win in during the playoffs.

How Kitchener could win: The Rangers' best bets rest on two 18-year-olds, Carolina Hurricanes first-round pick Ryan Murphy on the back end and Gibson in goal. Plymouth, not that it's averse to playing a bit of run-and-gun, would probably prefer to use its size to wear the Rangers down as the series progresses. Murphy, with his speed and playmaking, could make it more of an open-ice game.

Gibson, whom many thought should have been Team USA's No. 1 goalie over Jack Campbell at the world junior championship, is capable of stealing a game or two. The Rangers are opportunistic offensively, with the likes of Edmonton Oilers prospect Tobias Rieder (13 points in the five-game win over Owen Sound), captain Michael Catenacci (13 in that series) and 6-foot-5 Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Andrew Crescenzi. They could put some dents in Plymouth's defence, especially if projected NHL first-rounder Radek Faksa gets back in the lineup after sustaining a concussion vs. Owen Sound. Their defence corps of Murphy, Cody Sol, ex-Whaler Max Iafrate and comeback kid Ben Fanelli is not too shabby, either.

Kitchener, whose power play climbed from near dead last in the league to eighth by regular season's end, could pounce if Plymouth runs into discipline problems. (The Whalers were the league's second-most penalized team in the regular season.) The Rangers, of course, have their own penalty killing issues. They were 13th in the league during the regular season. That is the worst of any team which is still standing.

(1) London Knights (49-18-0-1, 99 pts, beat Windsor 4-0) vs. (5) Saginaw Spirit (33-27-1-7, 74 pts, beat Sarnia 4-2)

Season series: London 4-0-0-0 with one shootout win. Odds favour: London 69 per cent. Prediction: London in 6.

Why London should win: The measure of a playoff team is how far it can go without having to shorten the bench and start double-shifting the stars. From afar, the Knights have done a great job of cultivating a true four-line lineup. That should be their saving grace in this matchup against the star power of Saad, who has an eye-popping 88 points in 50 regular-season and playoff games since returning from the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks.

The Knights could stand to have Watson (three points in the four-game sweep over Windsor) and Greg McKegg (four in that series) each kick it up a notch offensively. But they have plenty of weapons beyond the two 19-year-old rental players, particularly 45-goal scorer Seth Griffith, who makes the hard work of getting open look easy sometimes. London is also the better structured team defensively and their troika of world junior blueliners, Tinordi, Pittsburgh Penguins second-rounder Scott Harrington and 18-year-old Olli Määttä, give them a great base on the blueline. Throw in the always steady Michael Houser in goal and London would appear to have no great fatal flaw.

How Saginaw could win: The Saad-Josh Shalla-Michael Fine line has been devastating by times in the second half of the season. Sparkplug centre Vincent Trocheck, who has six points in as many playoff games, augments the production line's output very well. That being said, it's not far off from the truth to call Saginaw a one-line team, or two if Saad double-shifts a lot. The Spirit would probably need a huge breakout from one of their complementary forwards, similar to how Garret Ross scored in each of first four games of the Sarnia series.

A lot would have to break right for Saginaw to take down London. Seventeen-year-old goalie Jake Paterson is much better than either his statlines in the regular season (3.42 average, .904 save percentage) and playoffs so far (2.67, .906) would indicate. The Mississauga, Ont., native came up with countless saves when the Sting's passel of snipers tested him from close range. That might be a tip-off about Saginaw's defence, though. Their defence got picked apart during their second-round loss to Windsor last season. That could repeat itself unless their back end, led by overager Brad Walch and Columbus Blue Jackets fourth-rounder Brandon Archibald, plays above its normal level for the next two weeks.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Contact him at neatesager@yahoo.ca and follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.