WINDSOR LOOKS TO TAKE STRANGLEHOLD
Home-ice win in Game 4 against Knights would put defending champs on brink
Windsor Spitfires head coach Rocky Thompson would prefer not to put any more emphasis on Thursday’s game than any other game in this series.
“Every game, when it’s your next game, is the biggest game of the series,” Thompson said. “It always is no matter what series you’re in.”
But the Spitfires are at a pivotal juncture of their Western Conference quarter-final series against the London Knights with a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven.
Game 4 is Thursday at the WFCU Centre at 7:05 p.m. and a win would give the Spitfires a stranglehold 3-1 edge. Lose to the Knights on Thursday and the series is back to Square 1 tied at 2-2 with London playing two of the final three games at home.
“It’s huge,” Spitfires veteran forward Graham Knott said. “Going up three games to one is something we want and a big goal.”
To put things in perspective, the Knights have not been eliminated in the first round of the OHL playoffs since 2011. For the Spitfires, 2011 was how far you had to go back to find the last time the Spitfires won two playoff games in a season before now. The Spits reached the conference final that year.
“This is another great opportunity for us, on home ice, to continue to play the way we’re playing and an opportunity to win against a very, very good opponent,” Thompson said.
But it won’t come easy. London is the defending Memorial Cup champion and a team that loaded up at the OHL trade deadline in hopes of duplicating Windsor’s back-to-back Memorial Cup titles in 2009 and 2010.
So, as good as the Spitfires have played in three playoff games against the Knights, the club needs to be even better.
“The London Knights are a very good team,” Thompson said. “They’re very hard to beat, especially in the playoffs. They have a great history, they have a great coach, their personnel is good.
“They’re the favourite in this series and that’s something we can’t control. All we can do is focus on the way we play the game and trying our best to stick to our structure.”
Credit the Spitfires, who have been methodical in following the game plan against the Knights to get pucks deep and use their size advantage to wear down the opposition.
“We’re playing great hockey right now,” Knott said. “We just have to keep doing that and keep rolling.”
But Knott knows first hand the
Knights aren’t about to roll over. He was part of a Niagara team that was swept by London in last year’s OHL final.
“They bring speed, skill and their (defencemen) are mobile and get up the ice well, but we limited their offence (Tuesday) and we’re looking to do it again,” Knott said.
“No team wants to go down 3-1 and they’re going to come to play (Thursday) and we’re going to match it. It’ll be a good game.”
Knott will emphasize to his teammates the need to continue to raise their level of play and Thompson just wants his team to continue to play consistent hockey.
“Absolutely,” Thompson said when asked if he expects London to play its best game on Thursday. “Give our guys a ton of credit. They were sacrificing, there was a ton of blocked shots and the penalty kill was outstanding again (Tuesday).
“We want to play the same way we’ve been playing the entire series. Maintain discipline and not get sucked into after the whistle stuff.”