Music: {allcanada} OHL final: Generals limit McDavid in Game 1 win

Friday, May 8, 2015

{allcanada} OHL final: Generals limit McDavid in Game 1 win

OSHAWA, Ont. — The Oshawa Generals were able to dictate the style of play more so than the Erie Otters and it helped them jump out to a lead in the Ontario Hockey League final.

Oshawa took the opener of the OHL championship series 4-1 on Friday before a sold-out crowd of 6,068 at the General Motors Centre.

The Generals played their usual fast-paced, physical game and were able to grind out a win over the potent Otters — limiting superstar Connor McDavid to just a few decent chances and one assist in the process.

"I think they were ready to play right from the start," said Otters coach Kris Knoblauch. "There was a lot of energy from their team, also generated from their fans. They really play an aggressive game with a lot of tight-checking, and they didn't give our guys a lot of room."

McDavid, who came into the game with 42 points in 15 playoffs games — including 19 in a six-game semifinal win over the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhound — was held in check, mostly, by a line centred by Cole Cassels and the defensive pairing of over-agers Josh Brown and Dakota Mermis.

"They were ready to play and we weren't," said McDavid. "After being on such a high, beating the Soo like we did was exciting and maybe it was a little bit of a letdown for us going into this."

Six-foot-six power forward Michael McCarron opened the scoring for Oshawa on a power play, taking a couple of cracks at it before sweeping a backhand past Erie goalie Devin Williams at 10:35 of the first period.

Defenceman Mitchell Vande Sompel upped the lead to 2-0 just 20 seconds into the second period, moving in from the point and beating Williams with a high wrist shot.

McDavid flashed his brilliance on Erie's goal, on a late second-period power play, bursting through the Oshawa defence and setting up Remi Elie, who beat Ken Appleby high and just inside the post.

Oshawa restored the two-goal lead just 46 seconds into the third period, as Michael Dal Colle scored with a quick, low shot off a rebound.

Hunter Smith finished off the scoring for Oshawa late in the game.

Generals coach D.J. Smith preached before the series that discipline would be crucial for his club, and sure enough they gave up only two power-play chances.

"You're going to struggle if you want to try to trade (scoring) chances with them," said Smith. "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."

Game 2 of the series is back at the GM Centre on Saturday, and Knoblauch expects to see a much better effort from his club.

"As much as they're a good team, I feel we still have a lot more to give," he said. "We've got to find a way. They were ranked No. 1 for most of the season and we saw why tonight."

The Generals outshot the Otters 31-19.

Both clubs went 1 for 2 with the man advantage.