Advertisement

London Knights nab series lead, gain shot of confidence: OHL post-game questions

The London Knights came out ahead on the faceoffs and the puck battles and ultimately came out ahead by virtue of Chris Tierney's tip-in goal with 3½ remaining.

London 3 Niagara 2 (Knights lead final 2-1; Game 3 Wednesday at Niagara) —Will this loss lead the IceDogs to be peak performers? The table is still largely open after three successive games which were all in doubt through 59 minutes of later. If nothing else, the more veteran IceDogs should have some idea of what it is going to take to overcome London, particularly in the defensive zone.

They had two leads, but didn't follow up on either. Their first advantage lasted all of 18 seconds before London's Max Domi potted a goal on a ricochet off the post. Their second lead lasted only 1:48 before Austin Watson roofed a power-play goal to square the game 2-2 in the third period. That left the game out there for the taking late in the third when Tierney beat world junior forward Ryan Strome on a faceoff and then tipped a low, hard Olli Määttä point shot.

The IceDogs felt there was inference on one of their forwards before Määttä's shot. Freddie Hamilton, who was lined up on the centre hash mark, did seem to be impeded from covering the point.

"It was a close game tonight and a couple bounces didn't go our way and the last goal there [was] a lucky tip when our winger got interfered with when he tried to get out to the point," said right wing Brett Ritchie, who scored the first IceDogs game. "Obviously, it's a close game and we just have to be attentive to details and hope for the best.

"We've faced adversity," the Dallas Stars prospect added. "Obviously, the loss is going to fire us up and we wish we could get back out there right now.

Is this the point where the IceDogs channel their frustration into a stronger effort? Or has London taken up residence between their ears by winning consecutive games?

"They're .500 at home and we're going to get to .500 at home," IceDogs coach-GM Marty Williamson said. "It's a race to four, it's not a race to two. There's a lot of hockey to be played and there's a lot of travel yet."

Five of the IceDogs drafted forwards — New York Islanders first-rounder Ryan Strome along with Tom Kühnhackl, David Pacan, Alex Friesen and Steven Shipley — are goal-less so far in the series. Surely someone has to break out in Game 4, right?

What will a second consecutive comeback win mean for the confidence of the young Knights? "It's huge," said Tierney, the fourth-liner who not only scored the winner but was entrusted to help protect the late lead. "We came in with the mentality we wanted to ourwork the toher team and I thought we did that most of the game. We did the little things right which added up to the win."

It's a small sample but the Knights' youngsters have been more productive than the IceDogs' older contributors. Seven of their nine goals have come from 1994- and '95-birthdate players, including Ryan Rupert's Game 2 hat trick and singles from Domi in each game at London.

"You never know how they're going to handle the pressure of playoff hockey, " Knights coach-GM Mark Hunter said. "You get Chris [Tierney] and the Ruperts [17-year-old wingers Matt and Ryan], they're good players and they're gaining confidence.

Määttä's assist also gave him 21 points in 17 playoff games. The defenceman is building a case to be playoff MVP if London can win two more games, although Houser and two-way forward Austin Watson (nine goals) would also be considered.

"Usually it takes players who come from overseas a little time to adapt. The second half and playoffs, he's been very dominating. There's reasons why we're winning hockey games and Olli has stepped up his game big-time in the playoffs.

Did Niagara play well enough to win? The answer would be yes if it was any other time of year. Niagara, which was outshot 35-27, didn't play poorly. But they once again had trouble getting point shots through the Knights' legion of shot blockers. London probably came out better than 50-50 on faceoffs on puck battles along the boards.

"Tonight was kind of a back-and-forth game" Williamson said, "We'd score and they'd answer right back. Again, tough goal at the end. You're supposed to able to skate out block shots but when they interfere, they interfere. It's a tough loss.

"We pushed awfully hard," Williamson added. "We wavered a little bit in the first period and came back with a pretty strong second period and then they took it to us and we started with a penalty kill."

Niagara's adjustments for a perhaps do-or-done game on Wednesday might include having to replace grinder Mitchell Theoret. The rugged New York Islanders pick left in the first period with some sort of arm/wrist injury after being checked by Watson.

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