Bah, Humbug! Spits Come Up Short

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Inside the WFCU Centre, festive music played as the Windsor Spitfires were looking for a little holiday cheer at home before the break. Saginaw, however, spoiled the delight for Windsor. In a low-scoring bout, Jake Paterson stood tall for the Spirit as the Spits couldn’t complete the comeback. Windsor lost a close game 2-1.

The battles on the ice were evenly matched Thursday night as the teams played solid hockey. Each squad was tested and came up with good opportunities. The Spitfires nearly grabbed the first goal on numerous occasions with odd-man rushes, but Jake Paterson was up to the task. Alex Fotinos, at the other end, made some timely saves as well to keep it a scoreless first period after 20 minutes.

Fairly early enough in the middle frame, Saginaw came alive to score the game’s opening goal. The Spirit offense had the Spitfires scrambling in their own zone. From behind the net, Devon Paliani centered a pass. The original shot was stopped, but Dylan Sadowy got the rebound and he slapped it into the net. Eight minutes later, the Spirit added another goal to go up by two. In close, Nick Moutrey tried to make a move around goalie Alex Fotinos. Instead, the puck slid off the stick – but not before catching Fotinos going the other way. Windsor wasn’t ready to let the game slip away as they answered with plenty of pressure. The Spitfires came within inches a few times, even hitting the crossbar. With moves down low, they created good chances. And their efforts paid off. Jamie Lewis cut the lead to one with 29 seconds to go in the period. This time, the Spits had the Spirit skating frantically. Patrick Sanvido’s shot was initially stopped, but Lewis put away the rebound. Windsor was now only down by a goal after two periods.

The Spitfires played hard for the equalizer, especially in the second half of the final period. They fired everything they could toward the Saginaw goalie. With only minutes to go, Windsor had great chances to tie the game after pulling Fotinos. However, despite the pressure, the team couldn’t capitalize. During a flurry in the final seconds, Paterson caught the puck before quickly throwing it to the corner. The heads-up play ensured that the clock kept ticking and eventually, time ran out. The Spitfires came up short to the Spirit, losing 2-1.

Windsor will be back in action at the WFCU Centre Wednesday, December 31^st at 2:05pm against the Plymouth Whalers.