Ottawa Senators prospect Luke Ellinas scored in overtime of game seven to win the series for Kitchener and complete a reverse sweep of the Kitchener Rangers. It is the first OHL reverse sweep since the Guelph Storm achieved the same feat during the 2019 playoffs.
Windsor blasted through Kitchener in the first three games of the series, quickly establishing a 3-0 lead. Things seemed hopeless for Kitchener, seeing as a reverse sweep is such a rare occurrence. For context, they are just the sixth team to come back from a 3-0 deficit in OHL history.
Ellinas, whom the Senators drafted in the fourth round of the 2024 NHL Draft, has been a key contributor for Kitchener throughout the playoffs. He is tied for the team lead in goals (6) and points (13).
It can be argued that Ellinas started and finished the comeback since he scored all three goals in Kitchener’s 3-0 win in game four as well as the overtime winner in game seven.
Another player who played a huge role in Kitchener’s win is Clarkson University commit Jackson Parsons, whose .919 save percentage and 2.12 goals-against average lead all goalies in the playoffs after two rounds.
The comeback is another feather in the already well-endowed hat of Rangers’ Head Coach Jussi Ahokas, who was awarded the Matt Leyden Trophy, which is given to the OHL’s Coach of the Year.
The Rangers return to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2018 when they narrowly lost to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. This time around, they will face the London Knights, who have yet to drop a single game this postseason.
The Rangers were one of only a handful of teams to defeat London multiple times during the regular season. That said, they did lose the six-game season series against the Knights 4-2.
The Knights will be well-rested going into the series, having played eight games compared to the 12 the Rangers have played. When the series kicks off on Friday, London will not have played in over a week.
Kitchener will enter the series feeling incredibly confident after completing the comeback. While they won’t be as well-rested as London, they will not have had the opportunity to develop any rust either.
If they take even a game off of the 2024 OHL Champions, they will have done better than any other team to play the Knights so far in the postseason. Puck drop for game one of the Western Conference Finals will take place at 7:00 p.m. at Canada Life Place.
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