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Rob Gagnon
Windsor Spitfires
(Sarnia, ON) The Windsor Spitfires travelled to Sarnia earlier tonight, playing the back-end of a home and home series with the Sting. With 10 regulars at NHL camps, the Spitfires had 15 players available for tonight’s contest and Windsor looked to keep its unblemished 3-0-1 pre-season record intact with the hopes of sweeping the two-game series against the Sting. Sarnia had other plans though, and ended Windsor’s four-game unbeaten streak with a convincing 6-3 win at the RBC Centre in Sarnia.
In the first period, both teams were playing a cat and mouse game early but Sarnia carried the edge in play early on. Sarnia capitalized on the first key scoring chance enjoyed by either team as Sting forward Jesse Stoughton created a turnover in the neutral zone that sent Craig Hottot into the Spits end, where he unleashed a wicked wrist shot from the top of the left circle to give the home side a 1-0 lead. After a Zack MacQueen hooking penalty, the Spitfires found themselves shorthanded roughly one minute later and Sarnia added to their lead on the power play as Sting forward Brandon Francisco tipped in a Nathan Chiarlitti point shot, increasing Sarnia’s lead to 2-0.
Being down two goals, the Spitfires shifted momentum in the mid-stages of the opening frame and cut Sarnia’s lead in half, with newly acquired Spits forward Brendan McCann scoring his first goal in a Windsor uniform, to make it a 2-1 game. Windsor continued to pressure the Sting in the late stages of the first period but Sarnia retained its 2-1 advantage heading to the dressing room at the end of the first period.
The Spitfires opened the second period with good chances in Sarnia’s zone and Windsor was rewarded for their efforts as they capitalized on a Sting penalty with Spits forward Eric Locke re-directing a Saverio Posa point shot to score his third goal of the pre-season, a powerplay marker at 5:05 to tie the game at 2-2. Sarnia opted to change goaltenders at 10:16 of the middle frame as they brought in Brandon Hope to replace Shayne Campbell. Campbell stopped 13 of the 15 shots he faced.
In the final ten minutes of the second period, Sarnia had two power play opportunities and Spitfire goalie Michael Nishi made several saves to keep the Sting at bay, including a nice stop on a post to post save made against Sarnia’s Craig Hottot. Nishi stopped 10 of the 11 shots in his direction during the middle frame and both teams were tied at 2-2 after 40 minutes of play.
Sarnia came out strong in the third period and had the Spits pinned in their own zone before Sting forward Alex Galchenyuk netted his second goal of the pre-season on a wrist shot that beat Nishi high on the glove side to give Sarnia a 3-2 lead at 5:34. 26 seconds later, Sarnia increased their lead to 4-2 with Tyler Peters netting his fifth goal of the pre-season on a Windsor turnover. Windsor and Sarnia exchanged penalties in the next few minutes and the Sting took a three-goal lead at 10:06 of the final frame on a fortuitous bounce with four skaters aside with Lester Brown scoring a five hole marker, his first goal of the pre-season. Windsor enjoyed a brief man advantage and Derek Lanoue converted a nice feed from Zack MacQueen to cut Sarnia’s lead to 5-3 before Sarnia iced away the game on a Nick Latta marker, his second of the pre-season with just over three minutes left in the game to secure a 6-3 win for the Sting.
Tonight’s loss was Windsor’s first of the pre-season, dropping their record to 3-1-1. Spitfires goalie Michael Nishi stopped 25 of 31 shots with Sarnia’s Brandon Hope making 11 saves on 12 shots faced in relief of Shayne Campbell. The Spitfires will take to the ice for their final game of the 2010 exhibition season next Saturday (September 18), welcoming the Erie Otters to the WFCU Centre. Game time is set for 6:05 p.m., Spitfire players will be skating with fans after the game in this season’s first “Skate with the Spits”. Fans are encouraged to bring their skates to the game.
