It was nothing short of a must-win scenario for the home side: with both Sault Ste Marie and Guelph just two points back in the standings, the Spits needed to take care of business against an Eastern Conference opponent that plays a stifling, defensive style.
And they did just that.
All even at 2-2 after 20 minutes, Johnson went to work in the second.
His 14th goal of the season came as a surprise to Brampton goalie Matej Machovsky, who looked unprepared and out-of-position as Johnson whipped a quick shot from the right-wing halfboards that slid home for the eventual game-winner.
With less than a minute to play in the middle 20, Johnson picked up a deft defensive zone clearing play from Vail, raced in on a 2-on-1 and fed Chris Marchese, who beat Machovsky with a quick wristshot to give the home side a 4-2 advantage.
Johnson added an empty-netter to round out the scoring at 18:59 of the third period.
Jaroslav Pavelka had a rough start but finished strong with 35 saves for the win.
The win pulled the Spitfires (27-28-4-2) within two points of Saginaw for sixth in the Western Conference. The Spirit lost 2-1 in Niagara.
Next up is a trip to Plymouth on Saturday night.
SCORING
1ST PERIOD
WSR CZINDER (15) (RYCHEL, KOKO) 1:28
BRA MILLER (5) (LEWIS, MACLEOD) 1:47
WSR KOKO (25) (EBERT, HOLDEN) 7:20 PP
BRA BELL (4) (MACLEOD, LEWIS) 19:59
2ND PERIOD
WSR JOHNSON (14) (EBERT) 1:27
WSR MARCHESE (18) (JOHNSON, VAIL) 19:11
3RD PERIOD
WSR JOHNSON (15) (POSA) 18:59
SHOTS
WSR 8 - 11 - 4 = 23
BRA 15 - 15 - 7 = 37
PPS
WSR 1-FOR-3
BRA 0-FOR-3
