Cowan’s Late-Game Heroes Lead Knights to Memorial Cup Final – Hockey Writers – Other Leagues

In the most anticipated game of the 2024 Memorial Cup round-robin games, the London Knights and Saginaw Spirit square off at stake. The winning team earned the number one seed and a direct bye to the finals, while the other team will face the Moose Jaw Warriors in the semifinals. The matchup between the two teams in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) was intense and it was a back-and-forth struggle. In the end, the Knights secured a 4-2 win over the Spirit and earned a spot in the Cup Finals.

Spirit Can’t Make Money From Chances

At the beginning of both the first and second periods of the game, Moya came out with momentum and power. The problem though is that they couldn’t do anything about it for the most part. There were plenty of quality chances thanks to strong puck movement, but whether it ended up with a shot missing the net or the puck bouncing off the sticks, the Spirit couldn’t quite get anything past Knights goaltender Michael Simpson’s most dangerous chance.

While getting the Spirit on the board with the first goal of the game, Alex Christopoulos had a ton of solid scoring opportunities throughout the game and was unable to finish off Simpson. Simpson was solid again for the Knights, stopping 26 of the 28 shots he faced.

Cowan Shines Big Time

The OHL’s regular season and most valuable player, Easton Cowan looked offensively quiet heading into the game against the Spirit (he had two total assists coming into the game). But he came alive for the Knights in their win over Saginaw, including an assist on San Jose Sharks forward Kasper Halttunen’s first goal of the game. He looked pretty much like the league MVP the entire game and finally got himself in the goal column and did it in a big way.

After not recording a single goal in the Memorial Cup against Saginaw, Cowan, a Toronto Maple Leafs prospect, scored the Knights’ biggest goal of the season when he netted the game-winning goal in the. less than a minute and a half left in the game. He would end up scoring an empty netter to seal the deal for the Knights.

Evil spirits are coming back to attack them

If you look back at how the Knights scored three goals, it was some mistakes by Moya that led to the Knights getting their goals. Whether it was trying to force a game or being too good, Moya’s simple mistakes eventually got them in.

Related: 2024 Memorial Cup: Players and Teams to Watch

It started with Zayne Parekh taking a double penalty kick in the first half, which helped lead to the Knights’ first goal of the game, and ended with a clearly unsuccessful turnover attempt in a safe and secure position. smart option to get the puck up the ice leading to a Knights run, and ultimately Cowan’s game win. In the end, the Spirit managed to control the play for a good part of the game, but this inaccuracy can be seen as having a big impact on them losing the game.

Some Game Notes

• Spirit goalkeeper Andrew Oke was strong between the pipes for his team as well, making several saves when the Knights found themselves pressuring the Spirit defense. In total, he made 32 saves in the game for his team.
• The Knights’ victory marked Dale Hunter’s 13th career Memorial Cup win. He is tied for second all-time in wins in the season finale and has a chance to tie the most wins with a win in the finale on June 2.
• With his two goals and an assist, Cowan earned Player of the Match honors.

What’s Next for Both Parties

As mentioned above, with the win, the Knights find themselves waiting to see who they will play in the finals on June 2. The Wind will face the Moose Jaw Warriors in the semifinals on May 31, who they beat in the finals- round robin 5-4, to see who will face the Knights.