‘Major’ Disappointment for Mississauga, Windsor Wins 5-3 Sunday at the WFCU Centre

Hello time traveller!!
This article is 4457 days old.
The information listed below is likely outdated and has been preserved for archival purposes.

Photo by Kevin Chauvin

The engines of the Windsor Spitfires were definitely running this afternoon, sputtering only a bit as they were turned on. Getting a comeback win Friday in Owen Sound, followed by a big loss last night in Plymouth, the team wanted to finish the weekend on a positive note, and with two more points. In front of a crowd of 6067, the home town boys played hard and defeated the Mississauga St. Michaels Majors 5-3 at the WFCU Centre.

The Spits played the first period sluggishly. Miscued passes and minor penalties were Windsor’s woes, and allowed Mississauga to strike first. Twenty seconds after Windsor’s first penalty began, Majors player Mika Partanen put his team up 1-0. Just over a minute later, on Windsor’s second penalty, Jamie Wise gave Mississauga a 2-0 edge. Though the Spits looked shaken up by Mississauga’s quick start, Kerby Rychel cut the lead to one, and that would close the scoring for the first.

Mississauga wouldn’t let the pace of the game slow down, keeping the pressure on Windsor goalie Jaroslav Pavelka. The Spits backed up their goaltender on many occasions, recovering the rebounds. And for the second game this weekend, Windsor fought back. Zack MacQueen scored his third goal in 3 games, tying the game at 2. Ben Johnson added to Windsor’s scoring spree as his shot found its way through a crowd and behind Majors goalie Spencer Martin.

In the third period, in a play that happened quicker than a blink, Mississauga tied the game. Ben Johnson started skating out of the zone, but before he could make the play, Kristoff Kontos lifted his stick, turned, and shot the puck past Pavelka. The Majors had a great opportunity on the powerplay, especially since Windsor could not clear the puck, but could not capitalize. They had another powerplay opportunity after Alexander Khokhlachev planted a big hit on Trevor Carrick. Unfortunately, and ironically, for Mississauga, Carrick took a penalty of his own just seconds later. As a result, while the teams played 4-on-4, Brady Vail sprung free and scored to put the Spits in the lead 4-3. Before Mississauga could regroup and pull their goalie for the extra player, Brady Vail and Kerby Rychel broke out on a 2-on-1. Rychel finished the play with his second goal of the game, and that was it. The Windsor Spitfires defeated Mississauga 5-3 and earned 2 important points in the playoff race.

Windsor’s next home game is Thursday, February 9^th at 7:05pm against the London Knights.