knights lose a heart-breaker to portland
May 24th, 2013
LONDON - It was deja vu for the London Knights. Almost.
Ty Rattie's goal 8:32 into the final period was enough as the Portland Winterhawks held on to edge a narrow 2-1 victory over London in the Memorial Cup semi finals.
The Knights return to Ontario with their heads held high. Despite the defeat, they end their season on a high. For a team that's known for comebacks and last-second victories, they gave it their all right to the final buzzer: pounding, charging, skating well and making their presence felt on the ice for the chance to tie the game.
One shot is all it takes, as head coach Dale Hunter often says.
Max Domi opened the scoring for London at 12:43 in the second period, on the powerplay only to see Tyler Wotherspoon tie things up just over two minutes later. Both teams then headed into the third period with the score tied.
"I thought 3rd period was good old fashioned hockey period," said Portland Coach Travis Green.
And he was right.
The Knights came close towards the end with the extra skater but couldn't get the better of Winterhawks netminder Mac Carruth. Carruth would finish with 34 saves on the night, including some key saves late in the game.
"The character always comes out at the end, said London head coach Dale Hunter. "I can't say enough about the players, they gave it right to the end. You saw it so many times we came from behind. Their goalie played well and made the big saves at the end of the game."
In the opposing net, Jake Patterson repaid the Hunter's trust to start him on successive nights. He stopped 32 of 34 shots, improving his tournament stats to a 3.18GAA and a 0.902 save percent in four appearances.
Seth Griffith gave the Knights' hope late in the game when he blocked a sure shot Ty Rattie empty netter keeping it a one goal game.
For the Knights, this loss brings an end to defenceman Tommy Hughes and forward Tyler Ferry's OHL careers, both overagers on the London roster. Additionally Paxton Leroux, Seth Griffith, Scott Harrington, Justin Sefton and Alex Broadhurst have likely played their last for the green and gold, although there is no word on who's returning as overagers next season.
"I thought we gave ourselves a chance every game," added Knights' captain Scott Harrington. "It doesn't make it any easier to swallow."
"I think we can hold our heads held high that we left it all on the ice."
Portland now moves on to face the Halifax Mooseheads for the 95th Memorial Cup. That game goes down Sunday night giving top prospects Seth Jones, Nathan Mackinnon, Zachary Fucale and Jonathan Drouin one last chance to shine before the 2013 NHL Draft.
The Knights' meanwhile, are already assured a spot in next season's Memorial Cup as the host team.
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GAME GLANCE
Winterhawks 2, Knights 1
Portland goals: Tyler Wotherspoon, Ty Rattie
London goal: Max Domi
Next: Portland faces the Halifax Mooseheads in the championship game Sunday night, 7 pm EDT
Back to Sports Stories
LONDON - It was deja vu for the London Knights. Almost.
Ty Rattie's goal 8:32 into the final period was enough as the Portland Winterhawks held on to edge a narrow 2-1 victory over London in the Memorial Cup semi finals.
The Knights return to Ontario with their heads held high. Despite the defeat, they end their season on a high. For a team that's known for comebacks and last-second victories, they gave it their all right to the final buzzer: pounding, charging, skating well and making their presence felt on the ice for the chance to tie the game.
One shot is all it takes, as head coach Dale Hunter often says.
Max Domi opened the scoring for London at 12:43 in the second period, on the powerplay only to see Tyler Wotherspoon tie things up just over two minutes later. Both teams then headed into the third period with the score tied.
"I thought 3rd period was good old fashioned hockey period," said Portland Coach Travis Green.
And he was right.
The Knights came close towards the end with the extra skater but couldn't get the better of Winterhawks netminder Mac Carruth. Carruth would finish with 34 saves on the night, including some key saves late in the game.
"The character always comes out at the end, said London head coach Dale Hunter. "I can't say enough about the players, they gave it right to the end. You saw it so many times we came from behind. Their goalie played well and made the big saves at the end of the game."
In the opposing net, Jake Patterson repaid the Hunter's trust to start him on successive nights. He stopped 32 of 34 shots, improving his tournament stats to a 3.18GAA and a 0.902 save percent in four appearances.
Seth Griffith gave the Knights' hope late in the game when he blocked a sure shot Ty Rattie empty netter keeping it a one goal game.
For the Knights, this loss brings an end to defenceman Tommy Hughes and forward Tyler Ferry's OHL careers, both overagers on the London roster. Additionally Paxton Leroux, Seth Griffith, Scott Harrington, Justin Sefton and Alex Broadhurst have likely played their last for the green and gold, although there is no word on who's returning as overagers next season.
"I thought we gave ourselves a chance every game," added Knights' captain Scott Harrington. "It doesn't make it any easier to swallow."
"I think we can hold our heads held high that we left it all on the ice."
Portland now moves on to face the Halifax Mooseheads for the 95th Memorial Cup. That game goes down Sunday night giving top prospects Seth Jones, Nathan Mackinnon, Zachary Fucale and Jonathan Drouin one last chance to shine before the 2013 NHL Draft.
The Knights' meanwhile, are already assured a spot in next season's Memorial Cup as the host team.
----
GAME GLANCE
Winterhawks 2, Knights 1
Portland goals: Tyler Wotherspoon, Ty Rattie
London goal: Max Domi
Next: Portland faces the Halifax Mooseheads in the championship game Sunday night, 7 pm EDT
Back to Sports Stories