Spitfires Take Daggers To Knights in 8-1 Blowout

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The WFCU Centre won’t be seeing Windsor Spitfires playoff hockey. But that didn’t stop the Spitfires from fighting, and decimating the London Knights. Alexander Khokhlachev scored a hat trick and added two assists, while Jaroslav Pavelka made 39 saves. The Spits swarmed and shot out the Knights 8-1 Sunday afternoon in Windsor.

Giftopoulos dropped a pass back to Kerby Rychel. Rychel let a shot go, and Giftopoulos was there to shove the rebound behind Anthony Stolarz. Alexander Khokhlachev got his first of three a little later. Following a big save by Jaroslav Pavelka at one end, the Spitfires raced down to the other. Ryan Verbeek fired a slap-shot that rebounded to Khokhlachev speeding in. He put the puck between the goalie’s legs to give his team a two-goal lead near the end of the period. The Spitfires were up 2-0 after twenty minutes.

The Knights took little time to cut the Spitfires’ lead in half, scoring just 28 seconds into the second period. Olli Matta was sprung on a breakaway and beat Pavelka blocker side. After that, it was all Windsor. Though the Knights dominated a power-play with shot after shot, countered by save after save, the Spits struck again. Brady Vail found Alex Aleardi skating behind the London defense. Aleardi bounced the pass off his skates to his stick and easily slid the puck in. 36 seconds later, Emerson Clark added another Windsor goal. A blocked shot left the puck up for grabs. Clark snuck in, lifted the defender’s stick, and backhanded a shot to the back of the net. Once more, near the end of the period, Khokhlachev increased his team’s lead. He scooped up a loose puck, skated out front and fired one by Stolarz. His second of the afternoon, with eight seconds left in the period, had the Spitfires up 5-1 after two periods.

London began the third by switching goalies from Stolarz to Jake Patterson. However, the change didn’t halt Windsor’s attack. Rychel got himself a powerful one-timer goal off a pass from Khokhlachev. The Russian star continued his offense by completing his hat trick less than six minutes later. Aleardi’s persistent effort allowed Ho-Sang to pick up the puck behind the London net. A few great moves and puck-handling skills, followed by a cross-ice pass to Khokhlachev in close got the Spitfires another goal.

In the late stages of the game, the song “Chelsea Dagger” by The Fratellis sounded through the sound system’s speakers, thanks to Windsor’s DJ. The song was played to teasingly mock the Knights (it is London’s goal song.) The playfulness continued a bit later when Josh Ho-Sang scored. The Spits swatted at a bouncing puck as London tried to recover. Ho-Sang gained control and lifted it over Paterson. To celebrate, and add insult to injury, the players and fans cheered to London’s song once again.

The Spitfires overpowered the Knights 8-1.

Windsor’s next game is Thursday, March 14^th when they welcome the Plymouth Whalers.