By Chris Lucas
In Play Magazine
Kitchener defeated Windsor in game one of the Western Conference finals as they beat them 7-6 in overtime.
Chris MacKinnon scored first for Kitchener but Marc Cantin, Kenny Ryan and Cam Fowler all scored in a row to take a 3-1 lead. Jeff Skinner then scored back to back goals to tie it up going into the second.
Ryan tells In Play! about his first goal.
“I just went to the net, Cundari made a great play along the boards, there was a rebound there and i got good traffic in front of the net.”
The game continued back and forth as Ryan put in his second of the game. But this time Ryan Murphy scored back-to-back goals to give Kitchener the lead. Zack Kassian then scored but Jason Akeson replied with a goal of his own. Justin Shugg scored in the dying seconds in the second to tie it up 6-6.
Head Coach of Windsor Bob Boughner explains his thoughts to In Play! about pulling Philipp Grubauer after the second.
“After the second the coaching staff talked about it. With three minutes to go in the period, you sort of want to get out of the second period and make a decision. Probably if we were down coming out of the second, I would've made that change.”
With no scoring in the third, led to an intense over time. That's when Jonathan Jasper tucked home the winner.
Tonight's In Play! Magazine player of the game goes to Ryan. He played a big part for Windsor scoring two goals and even though they didn't get the win, he made his presence known in the game.
The Spits travel to Kitchener Saturday for game two. Game time starts at 7 p.m.
Spitfires’ Game Notes – Rogers Western Conference Championship Series, Game One
- With tonight’s 7-6 overtime loss, Windsor dropped their first game of the 2010 post-season and are behind in a series for the first time this post-season, after sweeping the Erie Otters and Plymouth Whalers in the previous two rounds. This is also Windsor’s first loss in 11 OHL playoff games and first playoff loss at home in six games, with their last loss coming at the hands of the Brampton Battalion in Game three of the league championship series against Brampton 4-2 on May 4, ’09 at the WFCU Centre. Windsor last trailed in a playoff series last season, when they dropped Game one of the Western Conference Semi-Final to the Plymouth Whalers 6-3 in Game one of the series.
- Windsor outshot Kitchener 65-35 in the game.
- Defenceman Mark Cundari registered two assists, with a +5 plus-minus rating and was named the Penalty Box’s Second Star of the game.
- Forward Justin Shugg scored one goal and added three assists, with a +5 rating in the contest. In nine playoff games, he has three goals and five assists for eight points with a +5 plus-minus rating.
- Forward Kenny Ryan scored two goals and was a +2 tonight.
- Forwards Zack Kassian along with defencemen Marc Cantin and Cam Fowler all scored one goal in the contest.
- Defenceman Ryan Ellis registered one assist in the game. Ellis is ranked first amongst all OHL defencemen, and is second on the Spitfires and tied for seventh in league scoring as he has posted 17 points in nine games. He also leads all defencemen and is third in the league with 15 assists. Ellis has recorded points in each of the Spitfires nine playoff games and is tied for second in the OHL for points in consecutive playoff games.
- After OHL review, forward Taylor Hall was awarded two assists in the series’ final game in Plymouth. Hall extended his point streak to nine consecutive games tonight, registering one assist in the contest. Hall is tied for second in the OHL with a +11 plus-minus rating in the playoffs. He is also tied for third in the OHL with nine goals and is ranked fifth in the league with 16 points in the playoffs.
- Goaltender Philipp Grubauer lost his first game of the playoffs for Windsor, stopping 27 of 35 shots faced tonight.
- Windsor was held without a power play goal for the first time in seven games. The team’s power play is ranked third overall in the OHL, operating at a 26.1% clip during the playoffs.
- Windsor allowed two goals on Kitchener’s eight power play opportunities. This is the first time that Windsor has allowed a power play goal in four games. The Spitfires are still ranked first in the OHL, killing 90.2% of their penalties during the playoffs.
- Forward Stephen Johnston missed the game due to injury.
Spitfires’ Series Recap
2010 Windsor Spitfires “CODE RED” Playoff Run – Rogers Western Conference Championship Series
#1 Windsor vs. #3 Kitchener – Rogers Western Conference Championship Series (Round Three), 2010 OHL Playoffs (Kitchener Leads Series 1-0)
Game 1 – Thursday April 15 at 7:05 pm – Kitchener at Windsor (Kitchener wins 7-6 in overtime)
Game 2 – Saturday April 17 at 7:00 pm – Windsor at Kitchener
Game 3 – Sunday April 18 at 7:05 pm – Kitchener at Windsor
Game 4- Tuesday April 20 at 7:00 pm – Windsor at Kitchener
Game 5 – Thursday April 22 at 7:05 pm – Kitchener at Windsor*
Game 6 – Friday April 23 at 7:30 pm – Windsor at Kitchener*
Game 7 – Sunday April 25 at 2:05 pm – Kitchener at Windsor*
*if necessary
