Mississauga Steelheads are Eastern Conference Champions
The Mississauga Steelheads have claimed the Bobby Orr Trophy as Eastern Conference Champions for the first time in team history, sending Mississauga to its first Rogers OHL Championship Series since 2011.
The Steelheads took a commanding 7-0 home ice victory in Game 4 on Wednesday, taking a clean sweep of their Eastern Conference Championship Series against the Peterborough Petes.
“I think our guys showed up focused and ready to play in all four games of this series,” said Steelheads head coach James Richmond. “We limited them to just four goals overall and I thought we limited their shot attempts and defended well through the neutral zone.
“We didn’t play a lot in the defensive zone and that allows our skill guys to take over and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
The 7-0 win came on the heels of a 2-1 double overtime victory on Michael McLeod’s winner in Game 3 as the Trout picked up where they left off to close out the series on home ice.
Owen Tippett (7) and Ryan McLeod (3) gave Mississauga a 2-0 lead after one period before the Steelheads stormed out of the gate in the second with goals from Vili Saarijarvi (5), Jacob Moverare (2) and Trent Fox (5).
Michael McLeod (9) and Brendan Harrogate (3) added third period markers as the Steelheads extended their current winning streak to eight games.
Overage netminder Matthew Mancina stopped all 24 shots he faced to post his second shutout of the series.
The Steelheads outscored the Petes 17-4 in the series as Michael McLeod (9-16–25) and Spencer Watson (14-8–22) continue to lead the club in playoff scoring while Ryan McLeod (3-13–16) and Owen Tippett (7-8–15) have also registered at least a point-per-game.
The Peterborough Petes see their season come to an end after claiming the franchise’s first East Division title since 2006.
The Petes entered the series having won all eight of their previous postseason matchups before dropping four straight to the Steelheads.
“Obviously we came in with higher expectations than what happened, but give Mississauga credit, they were running on all cylinders from their goaltender out,” said Petes head coach Jody Hull. “We couldn’t get anything going and I don’t think we were the same team in this series that we were in the first two.”
Overage veterans Steven Lorentz, Kyle Jenkins and captain Brandon Prophet played their final OHL contests as the Petes, who played to an Eastern Conference-leading 42-21-2-3 record see their memorable season come to an end.
The Mississauga Steelheads advance to the Rogers OHL Championship Series that will get underway next week against the winner of a Western Conference Final series between the Erie Otters and the Owen Sound Attack.
SERIES AT A GLANCE:
Game 1 – MISS 5 @ PBO 3
Game 2 – MISS 3 @ PBO 0
Game 3 – PBO 1 @ MISS 2 2OT
Game 4 – PBO 0 @ MISS 7
HIGHLIGHTS:
POST-GAME COMMENTS:
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