Landon Sim scored twice as the London Knights edged the Kitchener Rangers 3-2 on April 28 at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium to take a three-games-to-none lead in the Western Conference Championship series.
Sim began the scoring for the second time in three games when he set up in front of the Kitchener net and was able to direct a Sam Dickinson slap pass behind Jackson parsons to give London a 1-0 lead at the 7:33 mark of the first period.
Dickinson and Easton Cowan ended the game with a pair of assists apiece.
Sam O’Reilly had one assist. He and Cowan still have at least one point in every playoff game.
The win by the Knights set a new franchise record for most consecutive playoff victories with 11.
The Rangers tied the game at 9:39 when Cameron Arquette slid a pass to Luke Ellinas skating right to left across the slot and the Ottawa Senators prospect picked up his seventh goal of the playoffs to make it 1-1.
A power play for the Knights gave them the go-ahead goal as Jacob Julien backhanded a puck through the legs of Parsons and into the Kitchener net at the 16:20 mark for his third goal in two games and fourth goal of the post-season.
Before the opening period ended, London defenceman Jared Woolley was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for kneeing after a hit on Luca Romano of the Rangers.
Kitchener scored once on the ensuing power play as Cameron Arquette got to a loose puck in the slot and wristed a shot behind Knights goalie Austin Elliott. The game sat tied until Dickinson and Sim connected for the second time in the game.
Sim deflected a Dickinson shot from the left point into the Kitchener goal at 10:47 of the second period and London led 3-2 going into the final 20 minutes.
Jack Pridham of the Rangers got about as close as a player can get to scoring in the second as he was sent in alone and got a puck to slide through the legs of Elliott, but it stalled in the snow along the goal line and did not completely cross.
London killed off a double-minor to begin the third period and then stayed in front on the scoreboard.
The Knights outshot Kitchener 37-23.
London was 1-for-5 on the power play.
The Rangers were 1-for 4.
Michael Hutchinson in Liiga final
Former London Knight and Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Michael Hutchinson is three wins away from a championship in Finland.
Hutchinson is playing for SaiPa and Facing KalPa in the Liiga final
Hutchinson played the 2009-10 season in London before beginning a 14-year run through the American Hockey League and National Hockey League with NHL stops in Boston, Winnipeg, Detroit, Vegas, Columbus, Florida and Toronto.
The 34-year old arrived in Europe to start 2024-25.
Up next
Game 4 between London and Kitchener will take place on Wednesday, April 30 at 7 p.m., at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.
Coverage will begin at 6:30 p.m., on 980 CFPL at 980cfpl.ca and on the iHeart Radio and Radioplayer Canada apps.