Windsor Bests Ottawa in 2-1 Shootout Win

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The Windsor Spitfires finally won the big one this afternoon at the WFCU Centre. The team broke its shootout curse with the help of three straight goals. Brady Vail scored the winner, and Jaroslav Pavelka shut the door on Ottawa as the Spits win their first shootout of the season against the 67s.

Last night, the Ottawa 67s were routed in a 10-3 loss to Saginaw.

Just nine seconds after the opening faceoff, Ottawa took the game’s first penalty. The Spits couldn’t make things happen on the power-play, but had some good opportunities that followed. Josh Ho-Sang let a shot go that hit the post. A few minutes later, Ty Bilcke’s shot went off the cross-bar. It was Chris Marchese who was eventually able to put the puck behind Jacob Blair. Ho-Sang took the initial shot, and the rebound went to Marchese on the side of the net. Marchese reached behind and backhanded a shot into the net. As the goal horn sounded, the teddy bears soared through the air. 5627 fans attending the game tossed their bears on the ice and celebrated Windsor’s 1-0 lead. At the end of the period, the Spits took their one-goal advantage to the locker room. They controlled the shots 19-7.

The pace of the game began to slow down in the second period. Both teams tried to get the game’s next goal for their team. The only play that connected was an Ottawa goal as Taylor Fielding tied things up by beating Pavelka. After two periods, the score was even, although the Spitfires kept accumulating the shots – a 32-14 edge.

As time ticked down in the third period, evidence of fatigue was apparent for the two teams. Both squads had to recover from some giveaways. With a couple of minutes left to play, the Spitfires put pressure on the 67s’ goalie with some chances. Ottawa responded with opportunities of their own in-close. However, the period finished all tied up at one.

4-on-4 hockey started the overtime period. The Spitfires had the best chance, but Kerby Rychel couldn’t get his stick on the puck following a touch pass from Ho-Sang.

The middle of the ice would be resurfaced as the teams prepared for the shootout.

Windsor started things off but wasn’t able to score. Rychel was the first to score for the Spits in the shootout in the third round: a wrist shot between the pads. Cody Ceci retaliated for the 67s as Pavelka was beaten glove side. Marchese struck next for Windsor following Rychel’s lead: a shot between the legs. Again, Ottawa got the shootout equalizer as Remy Giftopoulos’ scored with a high backhand. It seemed that Rychel began something earlier though. For the third straight time, Windsor’s shooter (Brady Vail) let a wrist shot go to beat Blair five-hole once more. Steven James decided to try Rychel’s play himself, but Pavelka slammed his pads together. The scorers, Pavelka and the rest of the Windsor Spitfires win their first shootout of the season 2-1.

Windsor comes back to the WFCU Centre this Thursday, December 6^th when they face the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.