Knights, Spirit battle for spot in Memorial Cup final on TSN
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The Ontario Hockey League champion London Knights and host Saginaw Spirit will battle for a spot in the Memorial Cup Final on Wednesday when they faceoff in their final round robin game.
London and Saginaw have both captured their first two games of the tournament and the head-to-head winner will have a bye to the final, while the loser will take on the Moose Jaw Warriors in the semifinal.
Watch London battle Saginaw LIVE at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on TSN1, TSN.ca, and the TSN App.
Wednesday's game is a rematch of the OHL Western Conference Championship Series that saw the Knights defeat the Spirit in six games and eventually become OHL champions.
OHL regular season and playoff MVP Easton Cowan ran wild in the series for London, recording five goals and 11 points, while Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Max McCue had eight assists and NHL draft prospect Sam O'Reilly added three goals and seven assists for the victorious Knights.
London is coming off a 5-4 victory over the Western Hockey League champion Moose Jaw Warriors on Monday night led by O'Reilly with a goal and assist while Cowan added two assists.
In the Knights' two victories at the Memorial Cup, they've been led by draft eligible winger Ruslan Gazizov with three goals while Winnipeg Jets prospect Julien Jacob and Philadelphia Flyers draft pick Oliver Bonk both have three points each.
Michael Simpson picked up both victories in the tournament and has a .934 save percentage and 2.00 goals-against average.
"It's going to be a good, fast game [against Saginaw], and we know how skilled they are over there," O'Reilly said after the game against Moose Jaw. "Two wins are nice but at the end of the day our goal is to win this tournament and that's our focus."
A factor in the Spirit's loss to the Knights in the third round of the OHL playoffs was that Saginaw was missing starting goaltender Andrew Oke for the entire series and projected 2024 lottery pick Zayne Parekh in the first two games, due to injuries.
Anaheim Ducks prospect Rodwin Dionicio was the most effective player against the Knights in their third-round matchup, recording two goals and nine points while Minnesota Wild prospect Hunter Haight also added five goals and seven points.
Saginaw last played on Sunday in a narrow 4-3 victory over the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League champion Drummondville Voltigeurs. Haight recorded two goals in the victory, while highly touted 2025 NHL Draft prospect Michael Misa added three assists.
Parekh has led the way in the Spirit's two victories at the Memorial Cup with a goal and four points while Misa has four assists.
Oke returned from injury at the Memorial Cup and has an .860 save percentage and 3.50 GAA in his two wins.
On Friday, the tournament shifts to the elimination round where Moose Jaw will battle either the Knights or the Spirit in the semifinal for the right to advance to the Memorial Cup final at 7 p.m.ET/4 p.m. PT and that game can be seen live on TSN, the exclusive home of the Memorial Cup.