Buffalo Sabres Prospects Eliminated From Memorial Cup
The hockey season is now over for two more Buffalo Sabres prospects. As the London Knights fell to the Guelph Storm 7-2 on Wednesday in Memorial Cup action, Brady Austin and Nikita Zadorov‘s seasons are now over.
The Knights, who are the host team of this year’s Memorial Cup, lost all three round-robin games they played in. They faced a must-win situation heading into tonight’s game against Guelph, a challenge they were unable to rise to.
The Knights loss means that the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings and QMJHL’s Val-d’or Foreurs will face each other in the semifinals on Friday; the winner will go on to compete in the finals against Guelph on Sunday.
London’s season is now over, so let’s take a look at the three games they played in the Memorial Cup this year.
MEMORIAL CUP, GAME 1: LONDON VS. VAL-D’OR
The Knights participated in the opening game of the Memorial Cup tournament this year, playing host to the Foreurs on May 16.
Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Antoine Bibeau had an outstanding 51-save performance for Val-d’Or. Detroit Red Wings prospect Anthony Mantha scored the lone goal of the game to lead the Foreurs to a 1-0 win.
Not a great start for the host team Knights. Zadorov didn’t get on the scoresheet, while Austin had a pair of penalty minutes and finished the game a minus-1.
MEMORIAL CUP, GAME 3: LONDON VS. EDMONTON
After being shutout in the first game of the tournament, the Knights came back to host the Edmonton Oil Kings on May 18. London managed to score in this game, but the end result wasn’t much better. Edmonton eventually came out on top, 5-2.
It took until the 16:12 mark of the second period for the Knights to get their first goal of the tournament. They were able to add another in the third, but it wasn’t enough. Londn split their goaltending duties between Jake Patterson and Anthony Stolarz, while Tristan Jarry had 38 saves for Edmonton in the win.
London’s goals came from Dakota Mermis and Alex Basso.
Nikita Zadorov had two penalty minutes in the loss. Brady Austin had four penalty minutes and was a minus-2.
MEMORIAL CUP, GAME 6: LONDON VS. GUELPH
Heading into their third game of the tournament, the Knights knew they had to win in order to have any hopes of making it further in the Memorial Cup. A win in the third game would push London into a tiebreaker game on Thursday against the Edmonton Oil Kings, but the Knights weren’t able to get there.
Just as Guelph eliminated London from the OHL playoffs, they also eliminated them from the Memorial Cup – this time, in the form of a 7-2 win on Wednesday.
Scott Kosmachuk had a hat trick for Guelph in the win, while Justin Nichols had 45 saves for the Storm.
London goals came from Brett Welychka and Josh Anderson. Once again, goaltending duties were split – Anthony Stolarz allowed three goals on 17 shots before Jake Patterson came in to allow four goals on 21 shots.
Zadorov was a minus-2 and had a pair of penalty minutes in the loss, while Austin had one assist.
The Memorial Cup will continue with a semi-final game between Edmonton and Val-d’Or on Friday. The winner of that game will then face Guelph in the championship game at Budweiser Gardens on Sunday afternoon.