The Saginaw Spirit scored three times in the second period and defeated the London Knights 6-2 at the Dow Event Center to continue the home ice domination between the teams this year.
In seven games between the clubs in the regular season and the playoffs combined, the home team is a perfect 7-0 and has defeated the visitor 38-17.
The loss was London’s first of the 2024 postseason and stopped their winning streak at 10, which is a new franchise record for most wins to start a playoff year.
The Knights lead the best-of-seven series from two games to one.
London and the Spirit will both enjoy a day off before the series resumes at the Dow Event Center on May 1.
Saginaw scored the game’s first goal just 2:55 into the game when Strathroy’s Hunter Haight connected on a pass to the left side of the London net on a power play for his fifth goal of the playoffs and a 1-0 Spirit head Start.
The Knights responded exactly five minutes later on their own man advantage when Ruslan Gazizov scored his third goal in two games past Nolan Lalonde, who started his seventh straight game in the absence of Saginaw goalkeeper Andrew Oke who sat out with an upper-body injury.
Landon Sim used his baseball skills to put London ahead at 15:16 of the first period, when Sim deflected a shot from Isaiah George into the Spirit net and a 2-1 lead for the Knights heading into the second period made.
After an Owen Beck slap shot beat London goalie Michael Simpson at 4:59, Saginaw found the back of the London net twice more after deflected pucks.
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First, a pass from Zayne Parekh went to the net from the blue line off Michael Misa’s skate and in, and then Haight deflected home a shot from Braden Hache for his second of the game with 1:27 remaining in the middle period and the Spirit took a two-goal lead in the final 20 minutes.
Beck and Misa both had nine goalless games.
Calem Mangone got behind the Knights’ defense in the third period and scored on a breakaway to make it 5-2, then Alex Christopoulos poked a third rebound past Owen Willmore, who headed into the London net after the fifth Saginaw goal ended up.
Parekh had two assists on his return to the Spirit line-up. Haight finished the game with two goals and an assist. Roddy Dionicio had three assists on the night.
London played without Jackson Edward (personal reasons), Alec Leonard (lower body) and Kaleb Lawrence (suspension).
Saginaw was without goalkeeper Andrew Oke (upper body) and James Guo (suspension).
The Spirit defeated the Knights 38-20.
London went 0-for-3 on the power play.
Saginaw went 1-for-4.
Kasper Halttunen named OHL Player of the Week
Knights players have now achieved back-to-back OHL Player of the Week honors. Kasper Halttunen’s three goals to start the Western Conference Championship gave him the honor a week after London forward Jacob Julian was given the accolade. Halttunen is in his first year in the Ontario Hockey League and now has nine goals in the playoffs.
Halttunen represented Finland at this year’s World Junior Hockey Championship and was selected by the San Jose Sharks in the second round of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft.
Olli Juolevi wins Finnish championship
Olli Juolevi and Tappara are at the top of the hockey world in Finland after capturing a third straight Liiga title. It was Juolevi’s first after joining the club midway through the 2023/24 season. Juolevi was a key part of the London Knights Memorial Cup championship in 2016. He was so important that he was the player who started the rush that led to the winning goal against Rouyn-Noranda in the Memorial Cup final when he cleared a puck . along the end boards and handed it to Aidan Jamieson, who fed Matthew Tkachuk on the left side of the ice.
Tkachuk took over from there. Juolevi began his NHL career with the Vancouver Canucks organization and was eventually moved to Detroit, where he last played a National Hockey League game in 2021-2022. Juolevi spent last year in the American Hockey League and started this season in Sweden before returning to his home country to help Tappara reach the top of the mountain again.
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