Hounds go down but not without a fight

The Soo Greyhounds exhausted every ounce of energy they had on the London Knights.

But in the end it wasn't enough as the Knights skated away with an 8-4 victory in game seven of the Ontario Hockey League western conference semi-final on Monday night in London.

The Knights captured the best-of-seven series 4-3 after nearly blowing a 3-0 series lead.

A shaky start and a questionable goal early in the third period were keys to the Hounds demise.

The Knights came out flying and built a 4-0 lead in the first period on a pair of goals from Robbie Drummond and singles from Patrick Kane and Josh Beaulieu.

From the second period on, the Hounds controlled the play and finally solved Knights goaltender Steve Mason in the middle frame.

Brad Good's second goal in as many games and Andrew Desjardins' second tally of the playoffs cut the Knights lead to 4-2 and set the stage for the third period.

The game slipped out of reach for the Greyhounds early in the final period as a marginal charging penalty on Jiri Tlusty 23 seconds in led to David Meckler's power play goal at 1:02.

Despite a lengthy video review and television replays showing that the puck was knocked into the net by a high stick, the goal stuck and the Knights were in control 5-2.

The Greyhounds continued to fight but traded goals with London until Todd Perry sealed the victory with an empty net marker.

David Kuchejda and Tlusty, who also assisted twice, scored for the Hounds in the period while Cody Thornton had a goal disallowed for gloving the puck into the net after a video review.

Meckler added his second goal of the night for the Knights while Justin Taylor rounded out the scoring.

The Hounds peppered Mason with 42 shots while goaltender Kyle Gajewski faced 31 of 32 London shots.

London now advances to play the Plymouth Whalers in the western conference final with the winner meeting the victor of the eastern conference final between Belleville and Sudbury for the OHL championship.

*** GAME SUMMARY:

Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 4 at London Knights 8 John Labatt Centre

1st Period 1. London, R. Drummond (2) (J. Foreman, J. Beaulieu) 3:16 2. London, P. Kane (9) 12:09 3. London, J. Beaulieu (1) (J. Foreman, R. Drummond) 13:23 4. London, R. Drummond (3) (S. Gagner, P. Kane) 19:00 PP

Penalties - J. Godfrey Ssm (interference) 5:41, A. Desjardins Ssm (boarding) 17:59

2nd Period 5. Sault Ste. Marie, B. Good (2) (B. MacLean, M. Lyall) 7:29 6. Sault Ste. Marie, A. Desjardins (2) (C. Thornton, J. Tlusty) 10:38

Penalties - M. Ashman Ldn (slashing) 3:46, B. Good Ssm (checking from behind) 15:36

3rd Period 7. London, D. Meckler (12) (S. Kostitsyn, P. Kane) 1:02 PP 8. Sault Ste. Marie, D. Kuchejda (4) (J. Tlusty, D. Jeffrey) 2:11 PP 9. London, D. Meckler (13) (S. Gagner, P. Kane) 7:03 PP 10. Sault Ste. Marie, J. Tlusty (9) (J. Godfrey) 13:22 PP 11. London, J. Taylor (4) (P. Kane, S. Gagner) 17:58 12. London, T. Perry (2) (J. Foreman, J. Beaulieu) 18:30 EN

Penalties - J. Tlusty Ssm (charging) 0:23, A. Perry Ldn (hooking) 1:30, S. Gagner Ldn (cross checking) 3:48, J. Godfrey Ssm (checking from behind) 5:45, J. Foreman Ldn (holding) 12:31

SSM Shots: 10 14 18 TOTAL: 42 LDN Shots: 15 5 12 TOTAL: 32

Power Play Conversion Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 2-4. London Knights 3-5.

Goaltenders Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds Gajewski 7-5-1-0 Min: 59:44 SV: 24 GA: 7 [L] London Knights Mason 8-3-0-0 Min: 60:00 SV: 38 GA: 4 [W]

Start : 7:07 PM End : 9:22 PM Attendance : 9090

Referee I: Mark Hicks (19) Referee II: Scott Hoberg (13) LINESMAN I: Scott Cherrey (93) LINESMAN II: Joe Celestin (98)

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