Campbell Makes 28 Saves, Windsor Takes Game One 3-0

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windsorspitfires.com reports

Jack Campbell earns shutout in second round action.
Photo by Joe Lemire / In Play! Magazine

Coming off the most exciting series in the OHL’s first round, Windsor travelled to the Dow Event Center, facing off against the Saginaw Spirit in game one of the Western Conference Semi-Finals Friday night.  From the opening bell, Windsor forced the action and controlled play, securing a 3-0 win and a one game lead in the series.  Jack Campbell registered his first career shutout with Windsor, making 28 saves to lead the Spits.

The first period saw a workmanlike effort put forth by Windsor, with the Spits controlling puck possession as they outshot the Sprit 13 to 5.  Spits netminder Jack Campbell and Spirit goalie Mavric Parks held a clean sheet for each side and both teams headed the dressing room in a 0-0 deadlock.

Windsor came out with purpose in the second period and dominated play in the early stages of the middle frame, keeping the Spirit in their end for the first ten minutes.  Stephen Johnston drew a tripping penalty from Saginaw rearguard Dalton Prout at the 7:15 mark, and O’Connor took a penalty after taking Khokhlachev down just after the first penalty ended but Parks stood tall for the Spirit and kept the game tied.

At 14:06 of the middle stanza, Kenny Ryan won a draw clean in Saginaw’s end and Stephen Johnston unleashed a rocket that found the back of the net to put Windsor up 1-0, extending Johnny’s point streak to eight games in the post-season.  After Jake Carrick drew a penalty from the home side, Spits rearguard Nick Ebert netted his first of the playoffs after banging in a Taylor Carnevale carom off the backboard to give Windsor a 2-0 lead with just over a minute left in the period.  Windsor outshot Saginaw 17 to 4.

Chances continued to pile up for the Spits early on in the third, but with Adrian Robertson drawing his second penalty of the game, Saginaw took to the power play.  Equal to the task, Jack Campbell made several key saves to deny the Spirit and preserve Windsor’s lead.  Midway through the third, Windsor’s forecheck created a scoring chance that Parks turned aside but Kenny Ryan banged in the rebound to give Windsor a three-goal edge. 

A Saginaw shot from the offensive blue line almost fooled Campbell with five minutes left in the contest but that’s as close as the Spirit came. 

Game two of the series will be played at the WFCU Centre Windsor on Sunday, April 10^th at 2:05 pm.  The Windsor Spitfires are currently selling tickets for this game and home game two on April 14^th. 

Fans are encouraged to wear red for each Spitfire home game as part of the Spits “Mission 9-10-11” theme for the 2011 OHL Playoffs.

#2 Saginaw vs. #4 Windsor – OHL Western Conference Semi-Final Series (Round Two), 2011 OHL Playoffs

Game 1 – Friday, April 8^th @ Saginaw – 7:11 pm (Windsor 3-0)

Game 2 – Sunday, April 10^th @ Windsor – 2:05 pm

Game 3 – Tuesday, April 12^th @ Saginaw – 7:11 pm

Game 4 – Thursday, April 14^th @ Windsor – 7:05 pm

*Game 5 – Saturday, April 16^th @ Saginaw – 7:11 pm

*Game 6 – Sunday, April 17^th @ Windsor – 7:05 pm

*Game 7 – Monday, April 18^th @ Saginaw – 7:11 pm

* If necessary

SCORING

FIRST PERIOD

No scoring

SECOND PERIOD

WSR Johnston, (5) (Ryan), 14:06,

WSR Ebert, (1) (Carnevale, Ellis) 18:43 (PP)

THIRD PERIOD

WSR Ryan, (2) (Johnston, Kassian), 10:24

SHOTS ON GOAL

WINDSOR: 13 – 17 – 13 = 40

SAGINAW: 5 – 9 – 14 = 29

POWER PLAYS

WINDSOR 1-FOR-3

SAGINAW 0-FOR-2

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