CHL Playoff Roundup: Generals win game one

The Ontario Hockey League final has begun and the Oshawa Generals have drawn first blood.

On home ice, the Generals beat the Erie Otters 4-1 on Friday night in the series opener.

A pair of third-period goals sealed the victory for the Generals, who opened the scoring on the power play in the first period and led 2-0 before Remi Elie scored on the power play in the final minute of the second period for the lone Otters goal.

Hunter Smith, Michael McCarron, Mitchell Vande Sompel and Michael Dal Colle scored for the Generals while Stephen Desrocher assisted on two goals.

Generals goaltender Ken Appleby stopped 18 Erie shots.

“We played a solid all-around game and stayed out of the penalty box for the most part,” Generals Coach D.J. Smith told reporters following the game. “We played the way we have to play, which is above the puck, we blocked a lot of shots and Kenny made the big saves when he had to.”

Erie goaltender Devin Williams stopped 27 shots.

“They really play an aggressive game,” Otters Coach Kris Knoblauch said in a post-game press conference. “They didn’t give our guys a lot of room. They’re a good team but I still feel we have a lot more to give.”

The series resumes on Saturday night in Oshawa.

In the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Anthony Duclair and Adam Erne had a goal and two assists each as the Quebec Remparts took a 2-0 series lead over the Rimouski Oceanic in the QMJHL final thanks to a 4-1 victory on Friday night.

Remparts goaltender Zach Fucale made 40 saves while Kurt Etchegary and Matt Murphy had a goal and an assist.

Christopher Clapperton had the lone goal for Rimouski.

Duclair had two goals and an assist in Quebec’s series-opening 7-4 win on Tuesday nigvht. Etchegary also had a three-point night with a goal and two assists.

Michael Joly had three goals for Rimouski in the opening game.

The series resumes on Sunday afternoon in Quebec City.

In the Western Hockey League, the Kelowna Rockets opened the league final with a 4-3 road win over the Brandon Wheat Kings on Friday night.

Leon Draisaitl’s goal at 18:50 of the second period was the game-winner. Tyson Baillie and Justin Kirkland had a goal and an assist each while Chance Braid also scored for the Rockets.

Rihards Bukarts scored a pair of goals for the Wheat Kings. Peter Quenneville also scored while goaltender Jordan Papirny stopped 36 shots for Brandon.

The series resumes in Brandon on Saturday night before shifting to Kelowna