London looks to finish off Oshawa in Game 5 of OHL Final

The London Knights look to finish off the Oshawa Generals in Game 5 of the Ontario Hockey League Championship Series on Thursday to win the right to lift the J. Ross Robertson Cup for the second straight season and secure their spot at the Memorial Cup in Rimouski, Que.

London took a commanding 3-1 series lead on Tuesday after defeating Oshawa 6-2 on the backs of a pair of San Jose Sharks prospects in Kasper Halttunen and Sam Dickinson.

Watch London battle Oshawa in Game 5 of the OHL Final LIVE Thursday at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on TSN1/4, TSN.ca, and the TSN App.

Halttunen recorded a hat trick for the second straight game and now has four playoff hat tricks versus Oshawa over the last two seasons.

The 6-foot-3 winger has seven goals in the series and 13 goals and 19 points in 16 playoff games this postseason.

"All he does is score goals and players who score are really valuable," TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button said postgame. "It feels like every time the puck is on his stick, he's going to scores. He scores in different ways and if you put him in the right setup with the right players he has all the ability to be an NHL goal scorer."

Not to be outshined, Dickinson put himself in the spotlight in Game 4, recording two goals and two assists in the victory.

Dickinson's four-point night brought his career playoff total to 49 points, surpassing Dennis Wideman for top spot in Knights' all-time scoring by a defenseman in the playoffs.

The 6-foot-3 right-shot defenceman has nine goals and 29 points in 16 playoff games and won the Max Kaminsky Trophy as the OHL's most outstanding defenceman in the regular season after putting up 29 goals and 91 points in 55 games.

"Dickinson really is brilliant when he plays the game, and he plays so many of the important hard minutes of the game," said Button. "He also has an iron lung so he can play lots of those minutes with little rest.

"When I talk about a player that is going to play in the NHL next year, there's no question that Dickinson is ready for the NHL."

Landon Sim also scored for the Knights while Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan took over the OHL playoff scoring lead with two assists on the night.

Cowan now has 12 goals and 37 points in 16 playoff games and brought his career total to 31 goals and 94 points, bringing him to second all-time in OHL playoff scoring since 1980 (when the league was founded) behind Wayne Groulx of the Soo Greyhounds, who has 102 career playoff points.

Nashville Predators prospect Andrew Gibson and New York Islanders prospect Calum Ritchie scored for the Generals.

Auston Elliott took the win after making 23 saves while Jacob Oster gave up five goals on 29 shots in the loss. Isaac Gravelle came in the game in relief of Oster, making nine of 10 saves.

Despite being in the 3-1 series hole, Oshawa still believes that have the character and talent to come back and turn the series around, starting with Game 5 on Thursday.

"We definitely still believe in there," Generals captain and Maple Leafs prospect Ben Danford said after the game. "We've had our ups and downs all year, and we've dug ourselves in a bit of a hole here. I think we believe in that room and every guy in that room will put their best foot forward the rest of the series.

"It's a pivotal game in London [but if we win], we come back home. So we're confident still."

If Oshawa is able to win on Thursday, the series will shift back to Oshawa, Ont., for Game 6 on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on TSN 3, TSN.ca, and the TSN App.

The CHL on TSN continues on Friday when the Medicine Hat Tigers take on the Spokane Chiefs in Game 5 of the WHL Final at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on TSN1/5, TSN.ca, and the TSN App.