Oshawa Generals take down #1 team on the road; Leafs’ prospect extends point streak to 27 for London

When the Oshawa Generals went into Flint, Michigan’s Dow Center on January 6 and laid down a 10-2 beating of the home side, it was the start of something good for the Motor City Club.

After a slow start to the season where they were without star forward Calum Ritchie for the first six weeks, the win in Michigan was the first of five straight and eight victories in nine games as the team dragged themselves back into the playoff picture. Never a club to make it easy, the Generals threw in a 3-7 stretch that included five straight losses before the streaky club regained its form, clinched a playoff spot with 11 games to spare and had gone three-for-four heading into a mid-week visit Wednesday to Budweiser Gardens, home to the third-ranked team in the Canadian Hockey League, the London Knights.

London got by Oshawa 4-3 in overtime in their only other meeting this season Feb. 11 at the Tribute Centre, so Oshawa head coach Derek Laxdal preached the importance of a fast start against the Knights.

His players listened and assembled a 3-0 lead against the OHL’s #1 team before riding the red-hot glove hand of Jacob Oster (31 saves) for a 6-4 win to pull within six points of first place Brantford in the east division.

Luke Torrance grabbed two goals for the Generals with Connor Punnett and Calum Ritchie each grabbing three points.

London made it interesting, climbing back to 3-2 and 5-4 in the third (Toronto Maple Leafs’ prospect Easton Cowan had two assists in the game to push his point streak to 27 games) but goals by Matthew Buckley, Ritchie and Connor Punnett was enough to seal the win for Oshawa.

Ritchie now has 62 points (19-43) in 40 games for the Generals since making his season debut in mid-November after rehabbing from a shoulder injury.

Oshawa will take on the Soo and Sudbury this weekend before a Tuesday matchup against division rivals Ottawa, with the 67s just four points back of the Generals with three games in hand.

The regular season ends March 24.