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Jared McCann shaken up as ‘Hounds, Otters, Storm take strangleholds: OHL post-game questions

For a news cycle or two, there was upset potential percolating in the Western Conference, but now it does not have that anymore after the top three seeds pushed their challengers one more step toward the door with decisive wins on Wednesday. On with the post-game questions:

Western Conference

Guelph 7 Plymouth 2 (Storm lead 3-1 and host Game 5 on Friday) — Brock who? Robby who? The top seed, after one period tonight, had scored one goal in 113 minutes against the fortress that is Whalers goalie Alex Nedeljkovic. In times past, a Storm team that wasn't getting rewarded and was down a pair of top-6 forwards without the injured Robby Fabbri and suspended Brock McGinn (who's been bounced for a head shot) might have stewed and let Plymouth take advance.

Instead, Minnesota Wild signing Zack Mitchell (1G-3A, +3) and Dallas Stars pick Jason Dickinson (2G-1A, +3) heated up in the second period and soon enough Guelph was out to a 4-2 lead. Tyler Bertuzzi, in his second game back — who would have guessed he'd score? — buried 1:45 into the third and it was game over.

Nedeljkovic still managed to have 40 saves despite being rested for the final 12 minutes.

Word broke prior to puck drop that Whalers overage defenceman Nick Malysa will need surgery to repair a skate cut. Talk about a tough way to finish a run in the league that covered 336 total games across five seasons, all with one team.

Can the Storm be dangerous in Round 2 against (in 99.6 per cent likelihood) the London Knights without those two high-scoring forwards? Fabbri has yet to resume contract practices, and should Guelph advance on Friday, McGinn will only be able to play in the second-round series if it goes the distance. The pantry is hardly bare for a team that led the OHL in goals while playing in its most demanding division, especially with the trio of looking-for-a-legacy older forwards in Mitchell and the 19-year-olds Justin Auger, Scott Kosmachuk and Kerby Rychel. Rookie Pius Suter, who's drawn into the top six, has also had his moments as a soft of Swiss secret weapon, scoring twice in the series. The Storm has been a scoring-by-committee club all season, and a couple absences shouldn't hurt a bona fide championship club.

Erie 7 Saginaw 3 (Otters lead 3-1, Spirit host Game 5 on Thursday) — How healthy is Erie's blueline as it regroups for a potential closeout game in fewer than 24 hours? The Otters pulled away thanks in part to Vancouver Canucks signing Dane Fox's hat trick and Connor McDavid's first OHL playoff goal. Yet it got dinged up defensively, with No. 1 defenceman Adam Pelech taking a shot off his left hand and Kyle Pettit having his calf cut open by a skate.

Erie weathered that, along with facing six consecutive power plays, to come away with a signature win, though. Fox's hat trick goal reopened a two-lead just 43 seconds after Saginaw sophomore Dylan Sadowy had scored.

"After a game where you're working hard and blocking shots, you have more ice bags and we have a lot of ice bags," coach Kris Knoblauch told the Erie Times-News. "When one guy goes down, the other guys feel more motivated ... there was a lot of 'let's get this for Kyle' on our bench.

"He could be right in there [Thursday]. We'll make a decision in the morning."

It was the first decisive result of the series after three one-goal games.

Should Saginaw be counted out? Never say never with a team that has Jake Paterson in goal, along with an offence that is often opportunistic. Erie, with Devin Williams back in net, might have Saginaw figured out. Overage Eric Locke was blanked, and his fellow Buffalo Sabres pick Justin Kea, a two-time 20-goal marksman, has just two assists over the four games.

“First and foremost it was turnovers,” Spirit coach Greg Gilbert told the Saginaw News. “Secondly, not shooting when we had open opportunities. They did a good job, you’ve got to give them credit. They did a good job getting into shooting lanes and our shot selection was not very good.”

Sault Ste. Marie 2 Owen Sound 0 ('Hounds lead lead 3-1 and host Game 5 on Friday) — What will be the status for Soo sophomore Jared McCann and Owen Sound overage Kyle Hope on Friday? In the sixth minute of the second period, McCann, the projected NHL first-rounder who suffered a brain injury during last spring's 'Hounds-Attack series, took a shot and was blindsided by a back-pressuring Hope.

McCann took a knee on the ice, but returned to finish the game. Hope got a checking-to-the-head major and game misconduct and the play will be subject to a league review; keep in mind three players were suspended on Wednesday for aggression against unsuspecting players who weren't injured.

The 'Hounds elected to have McCann examined at hospital. With a 3-1 lead and two more home games, it has some latitude to rest McCann if necessary.

What is the main reason to believe the 'Hounds almost have this in the bag? The Hounds, with first-time-in-the-series scorers Jorgen Karterud and Patrick Watling breaking through to solve goalie Jack Flinn (31 saves), simply have more offence than the Attack's thin blue line can handle. While Colorado Avalanche high second-rounder Chris Bigras can pull down heavy minutes, Owen Sound's resoluteness on the back end drops off steeply. So it has had difficulty carving out sufficient zone time for some pretty decent forwards such as Detroit Red Wings-drafted captain Zach Nastasiuk and Edmonton Oilers fourth-rounder Kyle Platzer to be as dangerous as they were in that Game 1 win last Friday.

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