Ryan Brown recorded a hat trick as the London Knights defeated the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 4-1 to force a fifth game in the Western Conference quarterfinal series.

After back-to-back overtime victories by the Greyhounds gave them a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series, London fought their way through the second game in as many days down two veteran players, as Braiden Clark and Linus Funck both missed Game 4 with upper-body injuries.

Quinn McKenzie of Sault Ste. Marie scored the first goal of the game at 6:55 of the opening period as he wrapped the puck around the London net and got it by Aleksei Medvedev.

Medvedev was making his first playoff start after making 36 appearances for the Knights in the regular season.

A big second period from London put them in front 2-1 as they killed off four Greyhound power plays and got goals from Jacob Vandeven and Ryan Brown.

Vandeven came out of the penalty box, took a pass from Will Nicholl and went in on a two-on-one with Nicholl, where Vandeven snapped in his first Ontario Hockey League goal at 6:51.

Brown scored on a Knights power play at the 13:41 mark as London got the puck to the Sault Ste. Marie net, then batted and whacked away until it popped to Brown at the right post. Brown put the puck in for his first goal of the post-season and a London lead going into the final 20 minutes.

Brown scored on a breakaway at 14:58 of the third period to make it 3-1 thanks to a high flip pass from Caleb Mitchell, then finished the scoring into an empty net with 3:03 to go in the game.

Medvedev made 25 saves for his first playoff win. Will Nicholl had two assists on the night.

Each team finished the game with 26 shots on goal.

The Knights were 1-for-4 on the power play and 6-for-6 on the penalty kill.

London Jr. Knights advance at 2026 OHL Cup

The London Jr. Knights ran into a hot goaltender in their first game at this year’s OHL Cup but quickly rebounded in their round robin and racked up the necessary wins to advance to the quarterfinals on April 2.

Don Mills squeaked out a 2-1 win over London on March 30 but then beat Thunder Bay 10-1, knocked off TPH Academy 6-4 and blasted Barrie 8-1.

The Jr. Knights are coached by former London Knights captain Danny Syvrey and feature top prospects for the 2026 OHL Priority Selection in Drew Bate and Ryan Beaulieu.

Beaulieu’s father, Josh, was also a part of the Team of the Century with Syvrey in 2004-05.

Next up

Game 5 will take place in London at Canada Life Place on Good Friday, April 3, at 7 p.m.

Coverage will start at 6:30 p.m., on 980 CFPL, at www.980cfpl.ca and on the iHeart Radio and Radioplayer Canada apps.

 

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