Chesterfield’s Tyler Parsons leads London Knights to first-round victory in OHL playoffs

By @MichaelCaples –

Tyler Parsons might be a rookie in the Ontario Hockey League, but he sure isn’t playing like one.

The Chesterfield native led his London Knights squad to a first-round win over the Kitchener Rangers, which was finalized yesterday with Parson’s 30-save shutout and 5-0 victory.

Wondering who the 17-year-old netminder was squaring off against between the pipes for the series? Twenty-year-old Jake Paterson – a third-round draft pick of the Detroit Red Wings.

Parsons, who recorded a 15-10-0-2 record in the regular season, was the first 17-year-old netminder the Hunter family has picked to start a postseason for the Knights between the pipes. The Little Caesars alum – an undrafted signee for London – started his team off with three straight wins in their first-round series.

After Kitchener battled back for two straight wins to preserve their season a little longer, Parsons slammed the door on them yesterday, stopping all 30 shots he faced to record the Knights’ first shutout of the season.

I’ve been wanting one all year,” Parsons told the London Free Press. “It’s awesome. It’s a rebuilding year (in London) but we played like it wasn’t. We came out and battled every single game and we’ll keep winning games if we do that.”

Parsons finished the first round with a 4-2 record, a 3.03 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage.

His second-round opposition will be quite the test, however; London will now take on the Erie Otters – home of expected first overall draft pick Connor McDavid and high-scoring Farmington Hills native Alex DeBrincat.

Parson’s game-by-game stats in the first round:

• Game 1 – 35 shots, 36 saves – 3-1 win
• Game 2 – 43 shots, 41 saves – 6-2 win
• Game 3 – 41 shots, 35 saves – 10-6 win
• Game 4 – 38 shots, 33 saves – 5-4 loss
• Game 5 – 40 shots, 36 saves – 6-3 loss
• Game 6 – 30 shots, 30 saves – 5-0 win