Spitfires sputter in shutout loss
Bulldogs goalie stops 23 shots for shutout as top guns Luchuk, Brown fire blanks
The Windsor Spitfires’ dynamic scoring tandem of Aaron Luchuk and Logan Brown went silent on Sunday and no one picked up the slack against the Hamilton Bulldogs.
In the previous four games, Luchuk and Brown had been in on 15 of Windsor’s 20 goals and combined for 11 goals and 25 points.
But with a short turnaround after a Saturday road game, the duo had little spark in a 2-0 loss to the Bulldogs before 2,936 at FirstOntario Centre.
“We expect to contribute every night and I think today we were a little gassed,” Brown said. “We didn’t have much for legs. We still had a lot of chances, but it just wasn’t our night.”
The Spitfires outshot the Bulldogs by a 10-5 count in the opening 20 minutes, but could not put a puck past Bulldogs’ goalie Nick Donofrio.
“The first period was pretty good,” Spitfires head coach Trevor Letowski said. “I really liked it. I felt we should have been ahead. We just couldn’t score. The rest of the game was kind of mucky. They didn’t have much. We didn’t have much.”
Windsor’s top-rated power play could not produce on two chances while the Bulldogs got a power-play goal from Brandon Saigeon to take a 1-0 lead after 40 minutes.
“Our power play, it didn’t look as sharp as it’s been and they scored the power-play (goal) and that was the difference,” Letowski said. “It’s one of the few times we’ve lost that and it cost us the game today.”
Letowski juggled lines in the third period trying to find a combination that could provide a spark, but Windsor produced just three shots in the final 20 minutes.
“You hate losing, but you’re not going to win everyone you play,” Brown said. “With a young team, and the start we’ve had, it’s not bad. Tonight just wasn’t our night.”
BAIER ‘WAS GOOD’
The Spitfires did get a positive in net where Brock Baier got the start for just the second time in 18 games this season.
“Brock was pretty good,” Letowski said. “He played well. I think that was an important game for him.”
In his only previous start, Baier allowed nine goals in less than 38 minutes of work in Owen Sound.
“Obviously, the first outing wasn’t as planned and I wasn’t too happy with the result,” said the 18-year-old Baier, who stopped 15 of 16 shots. “Getting
back on the horse meant a lot to me. The team played great in front of me and that was a step in the right direction for me, personally, for sure.”
Arthur Kailyev added an empty-net goal for the Bulldogs and Donofrio made 23 saves to earn the shutout.
“We’ll learn from this,” Baier said. “We don’t get shutout many times, but we’ll bounce back for sure.”