Cowan’s late winner sends Knights to Memorial Cup FinalEaston Cowan (TOR) scored twice late in the third to help punch the London Knights’ ticket to Sunday’s Championship Final of the 2024 Memorial Cup presented by Dow after a 4-2 win over the Saginaw Spirit.
Kasper Halttunen (SJ) and Denver Barkey (PHI) also had goals for London while Michael Simpson turned aside 26 shots.
“This is the stuff you grow up dreaming of as a kid,” Barkey said of reaching the Memorial Cup Final. “Ever since I got to London when I was 16 this was always the end goal they’ve always strived for. To be here, it’s pretty surreal. You can’t take this moment for granted and we’ll be ready to go Sunday.”
Alex Christopoulos and Joey Willis (NSH) scored for Saginaw as Andrew Oke made 32 saves.
Tied 2-2 with less than 90 seconds to play, Sam O’Reilly flicked a backhand pass to Cowan beat Oke on the glove side at 18:35 for his first of the tournament.
Cowan would send London to its fourth Memorial Cup final with 22 seconds left in regulation when he scored into the empty-net.
“I thought I was getting my chances through the first couple of games,” Cowan said. “But that third period I really felt like I got back to my game, forechecking in stops and starts, and it felt good to get one.”
With the win, Knights head coach Dale Hunter tied Brian Kilrea for the most career Memorial Cup wins by an OHL coach, securing his 13th. He enters Sunday’s final one win from tying former Kamloops Blazers and Vancouver Giants head coach Don Hay for the event record since the adoption of the tournament format in 1972.
Christopoulos scored the opener at 8:50 as Josh Bloom’s (VAN) shot hit the former’s skate and slid in for his second of the tournament.
The Knights levelled things up before the end of the first through Halttunen who scored his third goal of the tournament on the power play after he executed a highlight-reel toe drag before he beat Oke glove side at 14:23.
London had its first lead of the night at 10:40 of the second as Halttunen fed Barkey out-front who fantastically re-directed the puck past Oke on the backhand. Willis got Saginaw level 3:40 later as he sniped his second of the tournament short-side to make it 2-2 through 40.
“It never gets old,” London head coach Dale Hunter said of reaching another Memorial Cup final. “It’s a battle to get here. You’re battling real good teams and the top teams from the league so it makes it fun hockey.”
Despite tonight’s defeat, Saginaw will face Moose Jaw Friday in the Semi-Final where the winner will meet London in Sunday’s Memorial Cup Final.
“We’ve played Saginaw a lot and we know what they bring and we’ve played Moose Jaw once,” Cowan said. “They’re both good teams so whoever comes out on top we’ll be ready to play them.”
