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A slow start and a four-goal third period for the home side did in the Spitfires on Friday night, in a lopsided, 9-4 loss in Sarnia.
The win landed the Sting two big points, on a night when the London Knights - the team they are chasing for eighth in the Western Conference - were drubbed 8-0 by the visiting Brampton Battalion.
On the other side, the loss was Windsor's fifth straight; one that made a season-high six-game winning streak just before Christmas seem like a distant memory.
Kenny Ryan had a pair of goals in a losing cause for the Spitfires (21-15-1-1) who are now tied with the Plymouth Whalers for fourth in the conference.
Jack Campbell gave up eight goals before being pulled in favour of rookie Josh Malecki.
The Spits took a 2-1 lead early in the first period, but gave up three goals in a span of eight minutes and trailed 4-2 after 20 minutes.
Alderson made it 5-2 early in the second, before goals by Ryan and Tom Kuhnhackl pulled them to within one heading into the third period.
But goals by Sarnia's big three - Nail Yakupov, Kale Kerbashian and Alex Galchenyuk - sealed the Spits fate in the final frame.
Despite a shaky start, Troy Passingham made 29 saves to win his first start as a member of the Sting, after being traded earlier in the day.
SHOTS ON GOAL
WINDSOR - 35
SARNIA - 33
SCORING
FIRST PERIOD
WSR Khokhlachev, (19) (Kuhnhackl, Ebert), 5:37 (PP)
SAR Ritchie, (15) (Alderson, Broussard), 6:23
WSR Ryan, (11) , 7:09
SAR Alderson, (9) (Broussard, Kerbashian), 10:01
SAR Ritchie, (16) (Kerbashian, Rogalski), 11:42
SAR Peters, (15) (Yakupov), 18:04
SECOND PERIOD
SAR Alderson, (10) (Galchenyuk), 2:47
WSR Ryan, (12) (Rychel, MacQueen), 13:23
WSR Kuhnhackl, (18) (Ellis), 16:24
THIRD PERIOD
SAR Kerbashian, (23) , 1:28
SAR Galchenyuk, (13) (Yakupov), 4:49
SAR Yakupov, (26) (Peters, Donati), 5:39
SAR Peters, (16) , 14:05 (SH)
