KNIGHTS VS. ATTACK – ROUND ONE PREVIEW

The London Knights will have home ice advantage as they faceoff against the Owen Sound Attack in a best of seven series in the first round of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) playoffs.  London finished the regular season as the number three seed in the Western Conference with a record of 51-14-2-1 (105 points).  Owen Sound will matchup against London as the number six seed in the Western Conference with a record of 32-25-8-3 (75 points).

London will host Owen Sound at Budweiser Gardens on Friday, March 25^th for game one and Saturday, March 26^th for game two.  London will then travel to Owen Sound where game three will take place on Monday, March 28^th and game four will be played on Wednesday, March 30^th.  The remaining games (if necessary) will take place in London on Friday, April 1^st, Owen Sound on Sunday, April 3^rd, and back to London for a possible game seven on Tuesday, April 5^th.

London comes into the playoffs leading the league in scoring (319 goals for) while also giving up the fewest goals (182 goals against).  Owen Sound ranked 14^th in league scoring (209 goals for), while they ranked 10^th in defence (222 goals against) by the end of the regular season. 

The Knights currently own the advantage in the season series as they have gone 4-1-1-0 against the Attack.  In the first matchup, the Attack got the best of the Knights, taking home a tightly played contest by a score of 2-1 back on October 10^th.  This would be followed up by a 5-1 victory by the Knights which would see 10 players in the green and gold register at least a point.  In the third instalment of the season series, London would take home a 6-1 decision that featured a four-point performance from Christian Dvorak, which included a hat-trick.  The teams’ next battle saw London come out victorious again, beating the Attack by a score of 4-1 in front of a rowdy Owen Sound crowd.  The Attack would finally strike back in the fifth matchup of the season, defeating the Knights in an offensive affair that saw Owen Sound pepper the London netminders with 47 total shots.  These same netminders got their revenge on the Attack shooters, shutting them out in their final matchup, winning by a score of 5-0 in front of a sold out Budweiser Gardens on February 5^th. 

By a total score of 24-9, London will look to carry on their regular season success against Owen Sound through to the playoffs.

Knights leading scorer, Christian Dvorak, will lead the charge against Owen Sound’s leading point getter, Bryson Cianfrone.  Dvorak finished the season second in the league with 121 points (52 goals, 69 assists), while Cianfrone finished the season 65^th in the league with 50 points (17 goals, 33 assists).

Leading the way in the crease, the Knights will feature the Dave Pinkney Trophy winning goalie trio of Tyler Parsons, Brendan Burke, and Emmanuel Vella.  The Dave Pinkey Trophy, given to the team who gives up the fewest goals in the league, was anchored by Parsons who had the league’s best Goals Against Average (2.33 GAA) and Save Percentage (0.921 SV%) ratios.  Parsons was also recently named goaltender of the month of March, sporting a 6-1-0-0 record with a 1.69 GAA and 0.941 SV%.  For the Attack, Michael McNiven tended the twine throughout the year, sporting a 2.94 GAA and 0.902 SV% in 53 games played.