Guelph Storm lose lead, but beat London in frantic opener: OHL post-game questions

Justin Auger scored Guelph's only 5-on-5 goal with 2:06 left after a London clearing attempt hit a linesman and stayed inside the Knights zone, leading to the Storm winning 6-4 in Game 1 of the most anticipated second-round series. That tiebreaker goal mooted a Knights comeback from a four-goal deficit. Meantime, it was goose eggs in every other Ontario Hockey League precinct. On with the post-game questions:

Western Conference

Guelph 6 London 4, ENG (Storm lead 1-0, host Game 2 on Sunday) — How could blowing a 4-0 lead work out for the Storm? The off-day video session at the Sleeman Centre could be awfully interesting as Storm coach Scott Walker and assistant coach Bill Stewart review how their charges couldn't clamp down on the Knights.

Guelph scored four special-teams goals in the opening 22 minutes, including two short-handers on the same London man advantage. Perhaps that led to its focus straying, as it took four consecutive power plays as the Knights, led by Max Domi (2G, -1), cut the margin in half after 40. (For the record, the Storm was 2-for-6 on the PP to the Knights' 2-for-5.)

Guelph got its wires crossed on Domi's second goal early in the third, opting to make a line change as the puck slid into the London zone during a delayed penalty. That allowed Domi to launch a rush and beat Storm goalie Justin Nichols (33 saves on 37 shots) up high. His fellow NHL first-rounder, Montreal Canadiens pick Michael McCarron, finished off a tic-tac-toe play with 9:10 left to wipe out the last of the lead. Fortunately for the Storm, who had missed on a 2-on-0 second-period rush and also had Robby Fabbri hit the crossbar on a chance to make it a 5-3 game, caught the last break. Auger was teed up by a nice saucer pass from Dallas Stars first-rounder Jason Dickinson (3A, +1).

What did Domi do for his popularity ranking in Guelph? Not a lot, and he probably doesn't care. The Phoenix Coyotes first-rounder gets booed every time he touches the puck in Guelph due to a headshot incident earlier this season. He played the heel to the hilt, drawing penalties and holding up his index finger to shush Storm fans after his first goal. London still trailed by two at the time.

How will the Knights' duct-taped-together defence corps hold up over the run of the series? There is a phenomena of teams stabilizing in their defensive zone as a series goes along. London had some scrambly moments behind its own blueline, even with Buffalo Sabres first-rounder Nikita Zadorov playing in the range of 35 minutes. Goalie Jake Patterson (34 saves on 39 shots) had to come up with a number of bailout saves.

How did Robby Fabbri look during his first game in two weeks? The Storm's super soph scored a short-handed goal and also hit the crossbar in the third period, so overall he was in fine form. Guelph went away from its usual combinations up front, though, separating Fabbri from his regular right wing for much of the year, overage Minnesota Wild signing Zack Mitchell.

Erie 4 Sault Ste. Marie 0 (Otters lead 2-0, host Game 3 on Monday) — What has happened to the 'Hounds, who have been outscored 7-1? Erie might just be what we thought it was; as Connor McDavid (2G-2A, +2), Dane Fox (1G-3A, +2) and Connor Brown (3A, +2) tallied 11 points in a second consecutive straightforward road win. Sault Ste. Marie is not looking for excuses and were certainly expecting to acquit itself, but it did finish 11 points adrift of Erie while playing in a less daunting division and its defence is fairly callow once gets by Darnell Nurse and Alex Gudbranson.

Washington Capitals first-round André Burakovsky has not had a point in the series, but might have made the move of the night by turning a 'Hounds defender inside-out.

Eastern Conference

Oshawa 3 Peterborough 0 (Generals lead 1-0, host Game 2 on Sunday) — What repercussions will the Petes face after it got hairy in the final 10 minutes? Overage goalie Andrew D'Agostini had his obligatory 40-save effort to help the Petes stay in contact before the 'Shwa pulled away with its second and third power-play goals of the night midway through the third. Standout forward Nick Ritchie got away with only a minor for a check to the head on Gens D-man Will Petschenig. In the final 90 seconds, rookie defenceman Matt Spencer got a major/game misconduct for a head shot on fellow first-round pick Mitch Vande Sompel. The latter will be subject to an automatic review by the OHL.

So Hunter Smith was a large problem for the Petes? The Big Rig, who might get drafted as a re-entry candidate, got his 11th point in five playoff games with the only goal of the first 40 minutes. Smith's length at 6-foot-6 is going to be a problem.

North Bay 1 Barrie 0 (Battalion lead 1-0, host Game 2 on Sunday) — How about those imported Troops? Indeed, while Swiss world junior team member Vincent Praplan (one assist in seven games) has been limited in what he's been able to contribute, 18-year-old Swede Alex Henriksson has picked up the slack. The right wing broke the deadlock with his team-high fifth of the playoffs (almost halfway to his regular-season total), by going top shelf in the third period off a dandy drop pass from rookie Brett McKenzie.

The clubs largely traded baseline rallies as fa as one could tell, with Jake Smith notching a 21-save shutout and Barrie goalie Mackenzie Blackwood turning aside 25-of-26 shots.

Where did the Colts miss Aaron Ekblad the most? The top NHL draft prospect practised throughout the week but missed his second consecutive game. With the only goal coming on a perfect shot, Barrie's defence wasn't a problem. It certainly missed Ekblad's booming shot on the power plays, where it went 0-for-3. The Colts don't have another right-shooting defenceman who can get pucks through the shot blockers as consistently, and Ekblad's absence meant the Battalion could sag toward other dangerous Colts such as 95-point scorer Andreas Athanasiou.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.