London Knights move on to the OHL Finals

London Knights goalie Anthony Stolarz (R) and Paxton Leroux (51) join the celebrations at the Budweiser Gardens

Max Domi scored 20 seconds into overtime as the London Knights beat the Plymouth Whalers 5-4, in a thrilling yet nervous encounter. Domi had also opened the scoring at 9:24 in the first period, and finished with five points and a plus 2 rating.

Alex Broadhurst had two goals while Bo Horvat rounded out the scoring for London. who led 4-1 after two periods of play. The Whalers would come back midway in the third with goals from Garrett Meurs, Rickard Rakell and Gianluca Curcuruto, forcing the extra period of play in front of 9,046 at the Budweiser Gardens.

Ryan Hartman had the Whalers other goal.

Plymouth outshot London 41-34, the Whalers pelting Anthony Stolarz with 40 plus shots for the fourth successive game in the series.

“The last two games, their (London’s) power play was clicking,” Plymouth GM and coach Mike Vellucci said. “They got the timely goals. They scored some big goals. They (the Knights) play a good brand. They rope-de-dope you, put you to sleep and boom, they get a two-on-one or a breakaway."

The Knights now return to the OHL Championship series for the second straight year, where they will face either the Barrie Colts or the Belleville Bulls.  The Bulls beat the Colts 3-1 on Friday night, and now trail the series 3 games to 2. Game Six of that series goes down on Saturday in Barrie.
The Knights found a way without Josh Anderson, who missed Game 5 with a lower-body injury. They were also without Matt Rupert, who was great all season against the Whalers.

Knights assistant coach Dylan Hunter took a puck in the eye in the first period, sat out the second and returned to the bench with four stitches for the third period.

“He thought he was done with stitches,” his dad Dale joked.

“He looks good,” Domi added.

Just like the Knights cup chances.