Thursday, December 31, 2009
Windsor Spitfires Defeat Saginaw Spirit 4-3 in an Overtime Shootout at the WFCU Centre
By Chris Lucas
In Play! Magazine
The Spitfires defeated the Spirit in a shoot out by a score of 4-3.
Saginaw started off the game by applying a lot of pressure on Windsor but that all changed when Kenny Ryan tucked the puck in then net. A few minutes later Eric Wellwood had a wide open net and made no mistake in giving Windsor a two goal lead. Troy Passingham made some huge saves in the period in which he had to show his flexibility and quickness off.
In the second, Tyler Murovich got the puck past Troy Passingham to give the Spirit their first goal of the game. Windsor was all over Saginaw but Barry Sanderson scored on a break away while being short-handed to tie the game. Windsor answered with a goal of their own as Mark Cundari ripped a slap shot that got through traffic to give the Spits the lead going into the third.
The thrid period was filled with scoring chances and rough play from both teams but it was Saginaw who came through and scored late in the period as Josh Shalla roofed the puck to send this game to overtime.
No scoring in overtime brought the teams to a shoot out. Dale Mitchell scored for Windsor and Vincent Trochek scored for Saginaw making it 1-1. Then Cundari made a nice move while Shalla missed the net. Wellwood scored to finish off the Spirit and win the game.
Today's In Play! Magazine player of the game goes to Windsor goalie Troy Passingham. Making 34 saves in the game he came through in the clutch in Windsor's win.
Passingham explains to In Play! how the break helped him out.
“I needed a little break. In today's game my legs were feeling full and ready to go.”
Spitfires’ Special Notes
- Windsor, the CHL’s #1 ranked team, currently leads the OHL standings with 64 points on the strength of a 30-0-4-4 record after 38 games
- Forward Dale Mitchell posts his third consecutive three-point game, as he registered three assists against the Spirit in today’s game.
- Goaltender Troy Passingham won his league leading 28th game of the season. He is also tied for second in the OHL with 3 shutouts and is ranked third in the league with a 2.40 goals against average.
- Forwards Taylor Hall, Greg Nemisz, Adam Henrique and defenseman Ryan Ellis are currently out of the lineup for the Spitfires as they are playing for Team Canada at the 2010 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships. Spitfire defenseman Cam Fowler and future goaltender Jack Campbell are currently playing for Team USA at the WJHC while forward Richard Panik is also participating in the world championships as a member of Team Slovakia.
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