Joel Vanderlaan
@jovanderlaan
After reaching the OHL Finals last season, the Oshawa Generals are headed back to the Eastern Conference Semifinals, securing a 4-1 series-clinching win over the Brampton Steelheads in Game 6 on Sunday afternoon at CAA Centre.
The Generals will now face divisional rivals, the Brantford Bulldogs in the second round.
Oshawa went 2-4-1-1 against Brantford during their eight-game regular season series.
Steelheads goaltender Brayden Gillespie made his first start of the postseason in place of Jack Ivankovic, who was unavailable after exiting Game 5 due to an injury.
Brampton was also without overage defenceman Spencer Sova and NHL-drafted forwards Angus MacDonell and Vilmer Alriksson.
Anaheim Ducks 2024 first round prospect Beckett Sennecke missed his second straight game for Oshawa.
The Generals opened the scoring late in the first period as Colby Barlow tallied his sixth of the postseason at the 18:51 mark, giving Oshawa a 1-0 lead heading into the intermission.
The Winnipeg Jets first-rounder recorded a point in every game of the series. Just over a minute into the second period, Luke Torrance doubled the Oshawa lead.
Brampton broke through in the final frame as Carson Rehkopf scored his seventh of the playoffs, assisted by Luke Misa, who picked up his tenth helper of the series.
Owen Griffin sealed the win with an empty-netter to make it 4-1. The Markham native is ranked 197th among North American skaters on Central Scouting’s midterm list.
Alternate captain Calum Ritchie added a pair of secondary assists in the victory, while Jacob Oster made 23 saves as Oshawa advanced.
