London Knights sweep aside Windsor, shenanigans mar Whalers win; OHL post-game questions

The London Knights complete their sweep of Windsor, while the Plymouth Whalers pull away in the final 20 minutes to tie their series with Guelph. On with the post-game question?

London 8 Windsor 3 (Western Conference series tied 2-2) — Is Knights defenceman Olli Määttä seriously injured after coming out of the game early? The only spot of trouble for the Knights in a one-sided victory — they scored only one fewer goal tonight than they did in the series' first three wins — came when Määttä was hammered by hulking Spitfires rookie forward Hunter Smith.

The Knights' other two world junior defenders, Scott Harrington and Jarred Tinordi, each played hurt in this series. So there was probably concern when Määttä went out, but that appears to have been overblown.

From Ryan Pyette:

London will have at least a week to rest. It stands to reason that's enough time for their big three to be in peak form by the time their Round 2 series begins.

Who are two of the younger Spitfires whom one would expect to really internalize this loss? Off the cuff, 40-goal Kerby Rychel was probably Windsor's best forward in the series. However, Rychel was snakebitten on a handful of chances tonight and earlier in the series when a favourable bounce might have helped the Spitfires steal a win they could pay forward toward the next two seasons. He was good, but like the old Vin Scully aphorism goes, that's not enough when better is expected. At the other end of the spectrum, fellow sophomore forward Chris Marchese, whom the Spitfires expected would progress over the year when they acquired him from Erie, never became a compelling factor, managing just one goal. In fairness, he was facing one of the closest-checking teams in major junior hockey.

In reality, though, Windsor had little chance without offensive catalyst Alexander Khokhlachev (lacerated kidney). They simply weren't equipped for an open style of game, which meant playing conservatively and into London's hands. Coach Bob Boughner finally took the clamps off tonight, but it was a little late.

Plymouth 5 Guelph 2 (Western Conference series tied 2-2) — What will the fallout going to be from debacle at the end of the game? Referees Dave Lewis and Garrett Rank's concept of what constitutes a penalty seemed to vary wildly throughout the night. That boiled over into a mêlée with 1:53 left that was touched off by a check from behind from Whalers forward Jamie Devane, who got a minor, major penalty and game misconduct.

It's not worth jumping into the mud fight by saying either team was worse. It's best to say it seemed the officials lost control of the game. Guelph coach Scott Walker hit his low boiling point after an apparent Plymouth penalty was missed seconds before the Whalers' Alex Aleardi (two goals) scored to open a 4-2 lead in the third. That came just a few minutes after the Whalers' go-ahead goal which came on a power play that stemmed from a ticky-tack stick infraction on Matt Finn, their No. 1 defenceman. Finn is usually very smart with his position, as evidenced by the fact he's only had 81 penalty minutes in two seasons while playing defence, so one can see why the Storm had a beef.

Have the Whalers solved Guelph goalie Garret Sparks? The Toronto Maple Leafs draft choice's performance has probably gone hand-in-hand with his team's play in front of him. But the contrast is unmistakable. Since his stellar 45-save performance in the opener, Sparks has allowed 15 goals on 105 shots for an .857 save percentage. The Storm need him to pull back a few sure goals to retain any chance of staying in the series.

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