Medicine Hat defeats the London Knights to advance to Memorial Cup final
The Medicine Hat Tigers defeated London 3-1 on May 27 to earn a spot in the championship game for the first time since 2007 when they were defeated by the host Vancouver Giants.
The Tigers last won the tournament in 1988 when a Trevor Linden-led Medicine Hat team defeated the Ontario Hockey League champion Windsor Spitfires.
The Knights started fast in the game with two odd-man rushes in the first two minutes.
Even though neither one produced a shot on goal London kept coming and drew a penalty that led to the game's first goal.
Sam Dickinson's shot from the left point was deflected into the Tigers net at 3:34 of the opening period by Kasper Halttunen to give London a 1-0 lead.
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Halttunen now has six goals in the seven Memorial Cup games that the San Jose Sharks prospect has played.
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London had several good chances in the opening 20 minutes but pucks went off sticks and over nets and the first period came to an end with the Knights ahead by a goal.
Ethan Neutens tied the game for the Tigers at 5:11 of the second period as a shot from the blue line hit a skate and went right to the big forward from Cochrane, Alta., who was standing to the left of the Knight net.
Medicine Hat overage forward Mathew Ward put them ahead just 1:17 into the third period when he took a pass at the side of the London goal and swung it around Knights netminder Austin Elliott for his first goal of the tournament and a 2-1 lead.
London's Easton Cowan wrung a shot off the crossbar as the game wore on and Harrison Meneghin made some key stops even through a late Knights man advantage and Ryder Ritchie scored into an empty net with less than 12 seconds to seal the victory for the Tigers.
London outshot Medicine Hat 36-29.
The Knights were 1-for-3 on the power play and 3-for 3 on the penalty kill.
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Billy Moskal into Kelly Cup final with Toledo
Former London Knights forward Billy Moskal set up Matt Anderson for an insurance goal in the third period as the ECHL's Toledo Walleye downed another ex-Knight in Nathan Dunkley and his Kansas City Mavericks to advance to the Kelly Cup championship. Moskal's career in London ended in 2019-20 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Sudbury, Ont., native took his defensive skills to the University of Toronto after that where he spent four seasons before joining the Walleye for the final ten games of their regular season.
Up next
The host Rimouski Oceanic will meet the Moncton Wildcats on Wednesday, May 28 at 7 p.m., in the final round robin game at the 2025 Memorial Cup tournament.
The London Knights will face the winner of that game on Friday, May 30 at 7.p.m.
Coverage will begin at 6:30 p.m., on 980 CFPL, at http://www.980cfpl.ca and on the iHeart Radio and Radioplayer Canada apps.
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