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An impressive rally from a 4-0 deficit wasn’t enough for the Windsor Spitfires, as they fell to the London Knights 5-4 in a shootout Saturday night.
After the Spitfires failed to bury a few quality chances on the power play, London opened the scoring late in the first period, courtesy of Vladislav Namestnikov. The first-year Russian forward was left alone at the side of the Spitfire net to bang in a Daniel Erlich pass.
The Knights took their 1-0 lead into the dressing room.
And once again, the Spits had a rough time in the second period.
Jared Knight’s great individual rush off the wing put the Knights up 2-0 at the 3:05 mark. Then, the Spits got into some penalty trouble, and paid for it.
Chris DeSousa tipped home Knight’s point shot to increase the lead to a comfortable 3-0 near the midway point. Jack Campbell’s night came to an abrupt end about three minutes later, when Michael MacDonald's floater from the top of the circle beat him glove side.
Troy Passingham came on in relief of Campbell at the 13:10 mark. And the move seemed to spark the Spitfires.
Derek Lanoue finished off a broken play that put the Spitfires on the board, at 17:23. Then rookie Tom Kuhnhackl - who had been held pointless in his first seven games - bounced one in off Houser’s foot with just 11 seconds left in the frame, to make it 4-2.
The Spitfires inched closer when Alexander Khokhlachev finished off a rebound at 11:31 of the third period.
The home side dominated the final minutes of regulation. And their persistence would pay off. With the Windsor net empty, Zack Kassian sent the crowd into a frenzy, scoring from in front of the Knights net, at the 18:36 mark, to even the game at 4-4.
The Spits had a golden chance to win the game in overtime - which they began with 1:29 of power play time. Despite hemming London in its own zone for more than three minutes, they were unable to beat Houser on any of a half dozen excellent chances.
Michael MacDonald scored the winner for London (4-2-0) in the shootout, beating Passingham on the backhand.
NOTES
Campbell made 21 saves in just over 33 minutes of work and allowed four goals. Passingham made 13 saves and didn't allow a goal in regulation. The Spitfires have allowed six second period goals in their last two games and a whopping 20 on the season. The Spitfires were 0-for-4 on the power play. London went 1-for-3 with the man advantage. The Spitfires went with seven defencemen again tonight. Derek Lanoue, Tom Kuhnhackl, and Nick Czinder recorded their first points of the season. Andrew Clouthier served the third of his five-game suspension. He’s eligible to return on October 16th. Other Spitfire scratches include Brady Vail, Brendan McCann, Josh Malecki and Cam Fowler, who made his NHL debut last night in Detroit with the Anaheim Ducks, logging more than 21 minutes of ice-time. Attendance at tonight’s game was 6,494.
SHOOTOUT RESULTS
Round 1: WSR – 6 Ryan Ellis – No Goal
Round 1: LND – 97 Jared Knight – No Goal
Round 2: WSR – 19 Zack Kassian – No Goal
Round 2: LND – 26 Colin Martin – Goal
Round 3: WSR – 89 Alexander Khokhlachev – Goal
Round 3: LND – 27 Michael MacDonald – Goal (GWG)
SHOTS ON GOAL
WINDSOR 39, LONDON 39
THREE STARS
1. WSR – 19 Zack Kassian
2. WSR – 89 Alexander Khokhlachev
3. LND – 29 Michael Houser
