The Erie Otters captured the Wayne Gretzky Trophy as Western Conference Champions for the first time since 2002 as Connor McDavid led the way with a goal and four assists and OHL Rookie of the Year Alex DeBrincat buried a hat-trick in a 7-3 win over the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds on Saturday. Highlights / Post-Game Comments

The Game 6 victory saw McDavid net the winner 10:19 into the second period on a powerplay wraparound to give the Otters a 4-2 edge and they never looked back, advancing to the OHL Championship Series to face the winner of an Eastern Conference Final series between Oshawa and North Bay.

“Coming in I think everyone had us pegged as the underdog,” said Otters captain Connor McDavid following the win. “This group pulled together after losing the first one in the Soo though. We managed to get the second game there and knew that coming back to this crowd would work in our favour. The fans were loud the entire series.”

The atmosphere inside Erie Insurance Arena was electric from the drop of the puck as fans across Canada tuned in on Sportsnet to see two of the OHL’s best clubs clash in the sixth game of what’s been a back and forth series.

The Otters struck first on a well orchestrated play by defenceman Travis Dermott who find Nick Betz in the slot from the half boards to open the scoring 2:49 into the first.

The Greyhounds responded before the midway point of the first when Michael Bunting and Jared McCann doubled up on goals under three minutes apart to give the Hounds a 2-1 edge.

Jake Marchment sent the game to the second intermission knotted at two with a goal off the rush at 10:12 with assists going to Remi Elie and Travis Dermott.

In the turning point of the game, the Otters cashed in on a five minute powerplay with Connor McDavid playing a key role in a pair of goals to put Erie out in front 4-2.

First, McDavid curled around the back of the net to find Alex DeBrincat who beat Greyhounds goaltender Brandon Halverson over the shoulder with a quick shot at 8:46. A shift later, McDavid did it himself, evading a check down the boards to curl around the net and bank a shot in off a Sault Ste. Marie defender for his 19th of the playoffs as the building erupted.

Darnell Nurse drew the Hounds to within one to start the third, beating a screened Devin Williams through traffic with assists to Anthony DeAngelo and Jean Dupuy to narrow the Erie lead to 4-3.

Buffalo Sabres prospect Nick Baptiste would provide the dagger for the Otters though, reinstating the two goal lead at 11:53 on the man advantage to make Erie 3-for-5 on the powerplay. McDavid gathered an assist along with Dylan Strome and would help orchestrate Erie’s sixth goal of the night under three minutes later.

The Otters pulled off a nifty tic-tac-toe sequence on a three-on-one with 5:28 remaining in the third, with McDavid teaming up with Elie to find DeBrincat for the finish past a helpless Halverson.

DeBrincat found the empty net to complete the hat-trick and score his eighth of the playoffs and start the party at Erie Insurance Arena as the Otters sealed the deal on a 7-3 win and 4-2 series victory.

“I think one of the bigger storylines was getting Kurtis MacDermid back into the lineup tonight,” said Otters coach Kris Knoblauch after the win. “I have to credit guys like Raddysh, Donnay, Dermott and Genovese who have logged a lot of minutes in the series and played very well. Tonight Kurtis came back and took some of the pressure off everyone else.”

Knoblauch also praised the team’s powerplay that went 10-for-21 (47.6%) in the series.

“The powerplay came through when we needed it to, and there were some games in this series where special teams was the difference. Our penalty kill also helped us succeed, and credit is due to our best penalty killer in goaltender Devin Williams who had a very good series.”

Connor McDavid’s sensational five point performance sees him increase his OHL playoff scoring lead to 19 goals, 23 assists and 42 points in 15 games while equaling Cory Pecker’s franchise record of 42 points in a postseason set in 2002. He is now nine points shy of Justin Papineau’s (1999) and Jason Dawe’s (1993) OHL record of 51 playoff points.

“We had an opportunity to win it all last year but we fell short with a very good team,” said McDavid. “It feels good to be a step closer to where we want to be. We’re not there yet and we have a lot of work to do, but this step does feel good.”

Click here for the 2015 OHL Playoff Expanded Brackets

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PHOTO: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images