KNIGHTS CLOSE OUT KITCHENER
On Thursday in Kitchener, the London Knights had a chance to do something they had already done once in the playoffs: close out a team on the road.
As far as degree of difficulty goes, it’s hockey’s version of fill-in zookeeper at the hungry lion and tiger enclosure.
It’s not easy.
When you find yourself down three goals late in the second period, you can’t help but notice a gleam in the eyes of those lions and tigers.
The Knights stared them straight in the face and scored five times in a row to win 6-4 and take the Western Conference semi-final series with the Rangers in four straight games.
Kitchener netted a pair in the first period to take a 2-0 lead. First, Darby Llewellyn snapped a puck through a small space from the left side of the London zone and then the Rangers managed to keep a puck in at the London line and Maple Leafs’ prospect, Jeremy Bracco, tipped in a Ryan MacInnis shot at the left side of the London net.
The Knights’ penalty kill stayed perfect against Kitchener in period one.
In the second, the Rangers managed a goal on the man-advantage as Frank Hora’s high shot sailed through a screen into the London net to put Kitchener ahead 3-0.
London hit the scoreboard at 9:27 of the second period as rookie, Robert Thomas made a nice play from the left corner. He managed to lift a pass in front to Aaron Berisha and number 72 made a move to get Kitchener goalie, Dawson Carty, to open up just a bit and the overager of the year nominee slid the puck in to make it 3-1.
The Rangers restored their two goal lead as a Dmitri Sergeev point shot hit Darby Llewellyn and found its way inside the post and it was 4-1.
Mitch Marner brought the Knights back again, taking a long feed from Graves on the right side and beating Carty with a wrist shot.
Dawson Carty made two large stops to keep the score where it was toward the end of the second. A gorgeous three-way set up ended on the stick of Matthew Tkachuk and he got a good shot away, only to be stopped by Carty.
Then Owen MacDonald took a feed and cut across the slot inside the final two minutes and tried to slide a backhand through the legs of Carty, but the Mississauga native closed his pads in time.
The Knights failed to feel frustration, flying into the final frame for four.
The first came courtesy of Cliff Pu at 4:31. Pu used his speed down the right wing side of the ice and cut to the net. The former Toronto Marlboro wristed a shot that hit the stick of Carty and bounced up and over that stick and into the net.
If any goal completely shifted the momentum meter, it was that one. It also gave the Knights time to play patient. They didn’t play panicky. They controlled the puck and played a great deal of the next nine minutes along the walls in the Kitchener zone, grinding at the Rangers’ defence and looking for openings.
One of many big goals came with 3:24 to go in regulation time as Christian Dvorak and Matthew Tkachuk got a puck into the slot that came free to Jacob Graves. With Marner cruising through the crease, Graves snapped home his second-ever goal as a Knight to tie the game 4-4.
With the comeback complete, London could have tried to wind the game toward overtime, but they didn’t need to.
Kitchener won the faceoff at centre ice and tried to fire the puck up the right side boards. Matthew Tkachuk sniffed that out and was there to snag the puck for the Knights. He quickly tapped it back to Brandon Crawley, who shipped the puck up the middle right to Marner who was already moving at the Ranger blue line. Marner blew right between the defencemen and snapped a puck through Carty and in ten seconds from the drop of the puck, the Knights had taken the lead.
Marner completed the hat trick and a 12-point performance in the four games with an empty netter to seal it at 6-4.
Tkachuk and Dvorak each had three assists on the night.
Robbie Thomas was named the game’s second star. Marner was star number one.
The London Knights will face either the Erie Otters or the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in the Western Conference finals. They meet Friday in Erie. The Otters are ahead 3-1 in the series. Both Eastern Conference finals ended in four games as Niagara swept Kingston and Barrie put the broom to North Bay.
Tickets for Round Three will go on sale Friday morning at 10:00am. Make sure to call the OMAC Mortgages London Knights Box Office at 519-681-0800 ext. 1, go to the Aluminum Associates London Knights Armoury, or go online to http://bit.ly/1m2wloY to get your hands on seats early.
