Easton Cowan breaks late tie, London beats Saginaw 4-2 to advance to Memorial Cup championship game

SAGINAW, Mich. (AP) — Easton Cowan broke a tie with 1:25 left and added an empty-netter and the London Knights beat the Saginaw Spirit 4-2 on Wednesday night to advance to the Memorial Cup championship game.

Cowan took a pass from Sam O’Reilly and beat Andrew Oke to the glove side.

“I’m actually getting chills right now,” Cowan said. “It’s a dream come true … I think all of us will be ready to go (in the final). A couple days off will be nice. We’re just going to have fun with it and treat it like another game.”

Kasper Halttunen and Denver Barkey also scored and Michael Simpson made 26 saves for the Ontario Hockey League champion Knights (3-0) in the round-robin finale.

Saginaw (2-1) will face Western Hockey League champion Moose Jaw (1-2) in the semifinal Friday night, with the winner advancing to play London on Sunday.

Alex Christopoulos and Joey Willis scored for Saginaw, with Willis tying it at 2 with 5:40 left in the second period. Oake stopped 31 shots.

“It was a big-boy game We played well. We’re one shot away from the final,” Spirit coach Chris Lazary said. “It’s a tough way to lose in the last minute like that, but it’s hockey.”

Christopoulos opened the scoring for Saginaw at 8:50 of the first period. Halttunen tied it on a power play with 5:37 left in the first, and Barkey gave London the lead with 9:20 to go in the second.

The teams met for the first time since London beat Saginaw in six games in the OHL’s Western Conference final.

___

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports