Spits Miss The Mark With 4-2 Loss

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Vying for a playoff spot, the Windsor Spitfires could have made a little headway. Welcoming Sarnia to the WFCU Centre Sunday afternoon, Windsor was hoping to grab the advantage in the playoff race. Unfortunately, the plan could not be fulfilled. Alex Fotinos stopped a whopping 46 shots for Windsor, but it just wasn’t enough. The Sting take down the Spitfires 4-2.

The Spitfires were without star defenseman Trevor Murphy, who sat his first of a 5-game suspension for a “derogatory slur”.

It seemed as if it’d be a solid matchup between Windsor and Sarnia. The Spitfires couldn’t get the puck to the net cleanly, and the Sting weren’t able to get the puck through defenders. The two squads blocked shooting lanes with bodies and sticks and had defensive fronts that prevented open plays. The Spits had a flurry of late chances as they put quite a bit of pressure on the Sting, but to no avail. The first period ended in a scoreless stalemate.

The action really picked up in the second, almost right from the start. Hayden McCool took the game’s first penalty for Windsor. Upon stepping out of the box, his team was on a powerplay of its own. As fate would have it, McCool made up for his penalty by scoring the first goal. He found some room and skated in from the boards, where he fired a shot that was too quick for goalie Taylor Dupuis. The lead lasted only a couple minutes as the Sting tied it up. A screened Alex Fotinos had trouble seeing the play, so Jacob Chychrun’s shot beat him cleanly. The play opened up and the pace fastened. The teams played continuous hockey for quite some time, before the Sting grabbed a lead. Hayden Hodgson’s shot from the right circle just crept through Fotinos, and Stephen Pierog dove on the sitting puck, giving Sarnia a 2-1 lead. tensions were rising as the period was coming to a close. Windsor was outshot in the period 20-4, but was only down 2-1.

With playoff hopes riding on a win, the Spits weren’t about to sit back. It took just 35 seconds into the third period to even the game at two. Slater Doggett split the defense down low and chased the puck to the end boards. He threw it toward the front of the net, hitting the defender and bouncing behind Dupuis. It was now a brand new hockey game. The teams each had chances at both ends, until the chances were capped off with a Sarnia goal. Pierog found David Brown alone, and his shot beat Fotinos between the legs. There was plenty of playing time left in the game, but the Spits couldn’t mount offense. They were unable to keep up against the Sting, and as a result, the visitors added one more goal. After some pressure down low, Pavel Zacha came around the net before sending a backhand toward Fotinos. The puck slid through his pads once again to give the visitors a two-goal lead with five and a half minutes to go. Windsor tried to get the goal by pulling the goalie and adding the extra player, but the team could not score. The Spits lost to the Sarnia Sting 4-2.

Windsor’s next game is Thursday, March 5^th against a tough Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds team, at 7:05pm, at the WFCU Centre.