Spits Crash And Burn Against Fronts

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In front of a national audience, the Windsor Spitfires hoped for some retribution. Playing against the tough Kingston Frontenacs team that beat them in February, they were looking for a different outcome. The Frontenacs, just as they had done previously, were ready to take it to the Spits. Before a crowd of 6276 inside the WFCU Centre, Windsor dropped a 6-3 decision to Kingston Sunday afternoon.

The Spits had all the chances, but the Frontenacs struck first. Deep in the Windsor zone, before circling the net, Chad Duchesne sent it out front to Conor McGlynn, who easily tapped it past Mario Culina. Windsor came close to tying the game with a drop pack pass and a slapshot, but the Kingston goalie was on top of his game. At the other end, the Frontenacs picked up their second goal. The two teams battled for a bouncing puck in front of Culina. On a clearing attempt, the puck was kept in and shot from the point. Through traffic, it made its way between the goalie’s pads and in. The Spits had a chance late on the powerplay, but Lucas Peressini was up to the task. He kept his team up by a pair at the end of the first.

Needing something to get going, the Spitfires scored fairly early into the middle period. On the powerplay, Windsor stopped a clearing attempt and put some pressure on down low. After Christian Fischer’s tries at a loose puck, Logan Brown swooped in for the rebound. He put it past the goalie to cut the lead in half. Shortly after, Brown took a penalty following a scrum in front of the Windsor net. The Frontenacs capitalized with the extra man and regained their two-goal lead. Lads Eller blocked a slapshot from the blue line, but Spencer Watson was there to gather up the bouncing puck. He fired a quick shot, too quick for Culina. It didn’t take long for the visitors to go up by three. A little over a minute later, Ryan Verbeek fooled Culina on the glove side with his swift shot. The fourth goal would be the goalie’s last as Michael DiPietro made his way to the net. The change must’ve been what Windsor needed, because less than a minute later, the team scored its second. Mikhail Sergachev’s shot from the point bounced all the way to the left boards. Brown picked up the puck and sent a fast pass to Brendan Lemieux. He finished off the play with a one-timer to bring the Spits within two once more. Again, though, Windsor’s woes came back. In the Kingston zone, a Spits defenseman missed a pass at the blue line. Ryan Cranford burst up the ice with the puck and beat DiPietro’s glove one-on-one. With the late goal, Windsor had a steep hill to climb, down 5-2 after two.

The Spits were trying to hang in there defensively. They took an early penalty, but the defense did what they could to hold strong. Eventually, efforts paid off as the team got within two once again. On a sweet tic-tac-toe play, Brown was along the boards when he sent a pass to Fischer. From beside the net, he forwarded a pass to Bradley Latour in the left faceoff circle. He blasted a point-blank shot straight in. The Spits pressed on, while the Frontenacs switched to a more defensive game. Their mission was to kill the clock, and they were doing really well. With less than two minutes to go, Kingston would be called for a penalty. DiPietro returned to the bench for Windsor to give his team a 6-4 player advantage. Unfortunately, when the Frontenacs gained possession in their zone, they sent the puck down into the empty net. The goal was the game’s last, as Windsor was doubled 6-3 against Kingston.

The Spitfires return to the WFCU Centre Thursday, March 10^th at 7:05pm to face the Sarnia Sting in their second last home game of the regular season.