by John-Eric Iannicello
windsorspitfires.com
Peter Holland's second goal of the night gave the Guelph Storm a late 4-3 win over the Windsor Spitfires Friday night in Guelph.
Holland scored on a busted play with just 1:52 to play, after the Spitfires had tied the game for the third time.
Nick Ebert scored two goals for Windsor and Alexander Khokhlachev had two assists.
The hard-luck loss keeps the Spitfires (6-6-0-1) winless on the road.
The Storm found the score sheet early in the first period, when Tyler Carroll smacked a puck out of mid-air and past Troy Passingham to make it 1-0.
The Spits would tie it when, fresh out of the penalty box, Alexander Khoklachev hit a streaking Nick Ebert with a creative behind-the-back pass. Ebert busted in with great speed and snapped a shot over Storm goaltender Brandon Foote, knotting the game at 1-1, at 17:40.
That's the way the first ended.
The Spitfires had a golden chance to pull ahead on a 5-on-3 power play, midway through the period. But it was the Storm that took the lead. Peter Holland scooped up a loose puck in the neutral zone and beat Troy Passingham, through the five-hole, at 10:33 of the second, to make it 2-1.
Tom Kuhnhackl pulled the Spitfires even at 2-2 just a few shifts later. And again, it was Khoklachev who sprung him. This time he sent a short pass to the surging German forward, who blasted it past Foote.
The Spitfires carried the offensive pressure for the remainder of the second, but remained tied with the Storm at 2-2, after 40 minutes.
Michael Latta shifted the momentum in Guelph's favour, once again, early in the third period, sliding a tricky shot through a screen, just 1:10 in to make it 3-2.
But for a third time, the Spitfires fought back to pull even. An Ebert wrist shot from the point handcuffed Foote, for his second of the game, to make it 3-3 at the 7:14 mark.
With just under two minutes to go, a busted play left Holland all alone in front of the Spits goal for an easy tap-in, and his second goal of the night, sealing a late 4-3 win.
NOTES
Troy Passingham stopped 25 of 29 shots ... The Spitfires were 0-for-6 on the power play. Guelph went 0-for-4 with the man advantage... The Spitfires out-shot Guelph 37-29 ... Kuhnhackl’s goal was his third in the last two games...Eric Locke extended his point streak to five games, assisting on Ebert’s second goal... Spitfire scratches included Grant Webermin, Andew Clouthier, Josh Malecki and Cam Fowler, who is still with the Anaheim Ducks.
THREE STARS
1. GUE - 6 Tim Campbell
2. WSR – 22 Nick Ebert
3. GUE – 13 Peter Holland
