London, Ont. – The London Knights utilized three power-play goals to earn a 5-1 victory in game one of a best-of-seven series in the second round of the OHL Playoffs Thursday night. Francesco Arcuri (Dallas Stars) scored the lone goal for the Rangers and Marco Costantini made 27 saves on 32 shots.
The teams played a tight opening frame through the first 19 minutes of the opening period. In the final minute, London took advantage of a late cross-checking penalty and opened the game’s scoring with 44.7 seconds left to play. Denver Barkey took a shot from the top of the right circle that beat Marco Costantini far-side through a screen. Shots in the period favoured Kitchener 12-10 with London up 1-0.
London doubled up Kitchener in shots in the middle frame 16-8 and added two more unanswered goals to take a 3-0 lead through 40 minutes of play. The Knights scored on their second power-play of the game, 3:05 into the second period. A point shot by Logan Mailoux (Montréal Canadiens) was tipped in by Sean McGurn. Then, Ryan Humphrey jumped on a loose puck in front of the Kitchener net and slid the puck around the body of Costantini for London’s third goal in the game.
London added a fourth goal through Ryan Humphrey’s second of the game just over midway through the third period. Kitchener got themselves on the board with a power-play goal of their own at 15:16. Francesco Arcuri was setup for a one-timer at the right faceoff dot and fired the puck home for his second of the post-season. With another late penalty called on Kitchener, London scored their third power-play goal of the game to make it a 5-1 final. Shots favoured the Knights 32-23.
Kitchener finished the game 1-for-2 on the power-play and 1-for-4 on the penalty kill. A trio of Knight skaters swept the three stars in the game tonight.
Next Up:
The Rangers continue their best-of-seven series against the Knights Friday in London. The Rangers will return home for game three this Sunday at 2 p.m. and game four this Tuesday at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online here.
Photo Credit: Wild Ave Photography / Giant Creative Inc.
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