Game 1 of the OHL Championship Series goes to the Oshawa Generals
Oshawa came into the series with a 35.8 per cent success rate on the man advantage and scored three of their four goals that way to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-7.
The first period showed just how tight things can get when two elite teams hit the ice.
The scoreboard read 0-0 through 20 minutes and shots stood at 4-4.
That changed at 4:05 of the second period when Noah Read skated across the Oshawa blue line on the left side and found Rene Van Bommel going to the net and the Strathroy, Ont., native scored his first goal of the playoffs and the first goal of the series to give the Knights a 1-0 lead.
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Gibson tied the game for the Generals on a power play at 10:08 but London climbed back in front when Kasper Halttunen rocketed a wrist shot past Jacob Oster on a Knights man advantage with 1:03 remaining in the middle period and London took a 2-1 lead into the third period.
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Gibson tied the game a second time at 8:18 of the final period when he scored with three seconds remaining on a double-minor.
Oshawa took their first lead on a 4-on-3 power play when Cal Ritchie walked into the slot and wristed in his seventh goal of the playoffs at the 16:35 mark of the third.
The Knights pulled goaltender Austin Elliott with just over two minutes remaining in regulation time but could not find the equalizer and Matt Buckley sealed things for the Generals when he scored into an empty net with 40.7 seconds left on the clock.
London outshot Oshawa 32-26.
The Generals were 3-for-9 on the man advantage.
The Knights were 1-for-3.
Denver Barkey named OHL Humanitarian of the Year
London Knights captain Denver Barkey has been named the 2025 OHL Humanitarian of the Year. Barkey worked with the London Knights Official Fan Club to found Barkey's Buds and was instrumental in creating opportunities in the London community for young people and their families to attend games but also for young people to play the game of hockey who might not otherwise have the means to do so. Barkey's Buds was also responsible for donating over 1500 pieces of hockey equipment as part of a drive held during the season.
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London and Oshawa will play Game 2 at Canada Life Place on Saturday, May 10 at 7 p.m., before the series shifts to Oshawa Games 3 and 4 on May 12 and May 13.
Coverage for both games will begin at 6:30 p.m., on 980 CFPL at 980cfpl.ca and on the iHeart Radio and Radioplayer Canada apps.
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