2010 NHL Entry Draft

Hall, Windsor earn return trip to Memorial Cup final

Monday, 05.17.2010 / 10:47 PM / 2010 NHL Entry Draft

By Adam Kimelman - NHL.com Deputy Managing Editor

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Hall, Windsor earn return trip to Memorial Cup final

Taylor Hall had 2 goals and an assist to lock the Windsor Spitfires into a berth in the Memorial Cup final for the second straight year.

Windsor Spitfires left wing Taylor Hall continued his outstanding play, scoring twice and adding an assist as the Ontario Hockey League champions earned a spot in the Memorial Cup title game for the second-straight year following a 6-2 win against the Calgary Hitmen at Westman Place, in Brandon, Manitoba.

Hall, the No. 2 skater on NHL Central Scouting's ranking of North American skaters for the 2010 Entry Draft, now leads the tournament with 4 goals and 5 points.

Dale Mitchell, Justin Shugg, Kenny Ryan and Adam Wallace also had goals for the defending Memorial Cup champions. Goalie Philipp Grubauer, No. 15 on Central Scouting's ranking of North American goaltenders, stopped 25 of 27 shots.

Jimmy Bubnick, a 2009 sixth-round pick of the Atlanta Thrashers, scored a pair of second-period goals for the Western Hockey League champion Hitmen.

Windsor, which became the first team in Memorial Cup history to win the tournament after losing its first two games, now is in line to become the first team to repeat as Memorial Cup champions since the 1994-95 Kamloops Blazers. They'll finish round-robin play with a game Tuesday against the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champion Moncton Wildcats (8 p.m. ET, NHLN-US, SPORTSNET).

Mitchell, a 2007 third-round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs,  opened the scoring when he converted an Eric Wellwood pass just 2:38 into the game.

Just 1:17 later, with Cody Sylvester in the penalty box slashing, Hall took a breakout pass from fellow top prospect Cam Fowler and rifled a slap shot off the rush past Hitmen goalie Martin Jones.

Then, 8:15 into second, Hall made a nice move in the offensive zone and backhanded a  drop pass to Shugg -- No. 53 on Central Scouting's list -- and he wristed a shot past Calgary goalie Jones to make it 3-0.

Bubnick scored twice in a 3:13 span to pull Calgary within one, reviving memories of Saturday, when Calgary trailed Moncton 3-0 in the second and 4-2 with six minutes before rallying for a 5-4 victory.

Hall ended Calgary's comeback hopes 12 seconds into the third period when he stripped Griffen Nyren of the puck at the Hitmen blue line, broke in alone on Jones and slid a shot between his skates to make it 4-2.

Ryan, a 2009 second-round pick of the Maple Leafs, scored a short-side goal over Jones' left shoulder with 3:04 left to close the scoring. The goal was set up by Buffalo Sabres '09 first-round pick Zack Kassian using his 6-foot-3, 214-pound body to protect the puck deep in the Calgary end.

Wallace scored into an empty net with 41 seconds left to close the scoring, and on the ensuing faceoff fought Calgary's Rigby Burgart.

The loss was Calgary's first, and leaves them with the same 1-1 record as Brandon. Those teams will play Wednesday (8 p.m. ET, NHLN-US, SPORTSNET), with the winner earning a spot in the semifinals.

Contact Adam Kimelman at [email protected]