McDavid and Otters Fall in Game One of OHL Finals
While the hockey world have their eyes on the NHL playoffs, they might also want to pay attention to the OHL finals. That’s where Connor McDavid and his Erie Otters have taken center stage in Canada (outside of maybe Montreal and Calgary) as they face the Oshawa Generals.
The matchup is a heavy weight bout for the two top Ontario Hockey League clubs. They opened their playoff series last night where the Otters, the team with the second top record in the regular season, fell to the Generals 4-1. McDavid, whom is expected to be the first overall pick in the NHL draft to the Edmonton Oilers, was held to a single assist in the loss.
McDavid has been a stud in the post season, with a whopping 42 points in 15 playoff contests as he continues his dominance of the junior circuit. This included 19 points against the Ste Sault Marie Greyhounds, whom the Otters defeated in six games to advance to face the Generals.
While the Otters have the flash, it was the Generals who were victorious to open up a 1-0 series lead. They were led by forward Micheal McCarron, defenseman Mitchell Vande Sompel, Micheal Dal Colle, and Hunter Smith who did the scoring for Oshawa on their home ice.
McDavid’s assist came on the Otters lone goal in the second period as he fed Remi Elie to cut the Oshawa lead to 2-1. However, that’s as close as they would get and the Generals ended up extending their lead by another two goals.
“You’re going to struggle if you want to try to trade (scoring) chances with them,” said Generals head coach D.J. Smith to TSN. “We’ve been good all year at playing defence and we even have to turn it up one more notch. I thought tonight we played that style very well.
“In saying that, it’s going to be tough to keep that pace all series, and we’re going to reload and do our best tomorrow.”
Still, if the Generals are going to limit McDavid, they have a fighting shot. Not to mention, they kept the Otters other super prospect, Dylan Strome, completely off the score sheet.
While the series continues, the storylines to watch are the development of McDavid and Strome in the high pressure situation of the playoffs. The NHL world will have their eyes glued to this tournament as final scouting reports are drawn up for the upcoming draft.