Windsor came back from a two-goal deficit to win in OT
Even without Ottawa Senators prospect Logan Brown, the Windsor Spitfires can turn it up a notch.
With Brown scratched from the Spitfires’ lineup Sunday and apparently heading to the Kitchener Rangers in an Ontario Hockey League trade, Windsor overcame a two-goal deficit and beat the Ottawa 67’s 4-3 in overtime at The Arena at TD Place.
While the 67’s, who beat the Peterborough Petes 3-2 Saturday (and came away from the weekend with three of a possible four points) played well for much of the first period, then again in the third, it was the in-betweens that were the difference.
“We did positive things early in the game,” said 67’s coach Andre Tourigny. “I didn’t like from about the 12-minute mark in the first until the third period. I thought we were short in our defensive play. We were a little bit loose with our structure and we paid for it. In the overtime, we had a really bad shift.
“The guys tried to cheat a bit offensively. That’s what it makes it harder to accept.”
It wasn’t as if the wheels fell off for the 67’s.
“Nine of our last 12 games, we’ve outshot our opponents. You can’t do that without doing something right,” said Tourigny. “It’s not as bad as it looks sometimes. We’re almost there. We have to realize we need that urgency. (Saturday) we had great urgency. I thought we played a really solid game. Duplicate that every game, that’s what the challenge is in sports.
“Look at the Soo, they won 23 in a row. They had big games and the next day, they were ready to play. It’s our job to do it every day. I’m not negative and down on the way we’re playing. We do a lot of good things.”
Austen Keating scored twice for the 67’s.
“It was pretty frustrating,” said Keating. “We dominated and got up 2-0, then got away from our game plan. We got too greedy, we wanted to score more than play defence. That’s what got us in trouble. We dominated in the third period. In overtime, it was just an unlucky bounce — that’s the game of hockey.”
The 67’s opened the scoring at 2:37 of the opening period when a Peter Stratis blast from the point was tipped in by Keating. It was 2-0 at 5:16 when Merrick Rippon (acquired from Mississauga early
We were a little bit loose with our structure and we paid for it. In the overtime, we had a really bad shift.
in the week) scored his first goal in a 67’s uniform, finishing off a nice give-and-go with Kody Clark.
The Spitfires fought back to tie the game. With 5:32 left in the first period, Igor Larionov wristed a shot past Olivier Tremblay. Then 43 seconds into the second period, Cole Purboo knocked in a rebound. The Spitfires took a 3-2 lead with 1:22 left in the period, on a 2-on-1 rush, with Chris Playfair snapping a shot into the net.
Ottawa tied the game 5:41 into the third period on a Keating goal.
The Spitfires got the winner 2:24 into overtime after a 3-on-1 rush resulted in a rebound that Daniel D’Amico knocked into the net. There was an official review, with a possible offside, but the goal stood.
“I don’t think it was offside,” said Tourigny. “It was really close. When it’s that close, that’s OK. It’s not what made a difference. What made a difference were some mistakes we made. We have to take responsibility for it. Windsor worked extremely hard — they skated hard and played fast. I don’t think we got outplayed, we had our push. But their goalie made a few key saves for them.”
Sitting in sixth place in the OHL’s Eastern Division, with a cluster of teams close behind, the 67’s need to find consistency to move up in the playoff chase.
“Defensively we’re getting better every game,” said Tourigny. “We need more traffic at the net, we need to bury our scoring chances. Definitely our power play has to get going — we force the play and we’re really impatient. Unfortunately, when you don’t score the last goal in overtime, you’re left with a sour taste.”
The 67’s cross the river to play an interleague game against the Gatineau Olympiques Friday. That’s followed by a Sunday afternoon (2 p.m.) home game against the Guelph Storm.