Spitfires lose to Sting in first game following big trade
After shaky start, goalie Piiroinen makes 37 saves in place of the departed DiPietro
The Windsor Spitfires knew life would be different without goalie Mike DiPietro around. Thursday marked the club’s first game without DiPietro since he was traded to the Ottawa 67’s and it didn’t start well when the first shot rookie goalie Kari Piiroinen faced was tipped past him just 82 seconds into Thursday’s game against the Sarnia Sting. “It’s a big change and I was nervous,” said Piiroinen, who finished with 37 saves. “It was a tough start (with the goal) for me. I’ve got to be used to that because no one’s going to say it to me.” The 17-year-old Piiroinen has the unenviable task of trying to replace a legend in the Windsor crease and while he made some solid saves, he ended up with the loss as the Sting scored a 5-4 overtime win before 4,430 at the WFCU Centre. Piiroinen made 21-straight saves after the Sting ’s Jacob Perreault tipped the first shot past him and allowed the Spitfires to stay in the game on a night where two-time Memorial Cup captain Harry Young returned with the trophy to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the rink.
“I thought Kari stepped up,” Spitfires rookie forward Will Cuylle said.
DiPietro was also on hand to say goodbye to fans, drop the ceremonial first puck with Young and for his charity in co-operation with Ronald McDonald House.
“I don’t even know what
I’m doing,” said DiPietro, who greeted fans as he went from one interview to another. Piiroinen’s strong stretch allowed the Spitfires to get back in the game with back-to-back goals by Daniel D’Amico. He was left unchecked at the side of the net to the game midway through the second period and scored on a two-on-one to give Windsor what would be its only lead at 2-1. “Without a guy like Mikey, a big presence in the room and vocal for us, it felt different,” Cuylle said. “At the same time, we played very well.”
Like the Spitfires, the Sting are also adjusting to life without a star after trading Windsor native Anthony Salinitri to Oshawa for a trio of draft picks.
“It’s not a rebuild by any means,” Sting associate coach David Legwand said. “It’s a trade where (Salinitri) was going to be around four more months. “It’s something you can’t pass up but we’re not changing our mentality. We’re going to try and win every night. We have a good hockey team and kids that want to compete.”
And in a 37-second span in the final two minutes of the second period, the Sting showed some offensive flash with goals by Adam Ruzicka and Ryan McGregor to put Sarnia up 3-2 after 40 minutes.
But the Spitfires were able to rally in the third period to force overtime with a pair of goals from the team’s power play, which came into the game ranked 17th in the 20-team league. Cuylle, who was fed on both goals by fellow 16-year-old rookie Jean-Luc Foudy, sandwiched goals around a power-play goal by Perreault. Cuylle tied the game at 4-4 with just under three minutes
to play in the third period. “We switched up the power play a bit and have been working on it the last two days a lot and did a good job executing,” Cuylle said. In a wild overtime where Spitfires defenceman Connor Corcoran drilled a shot off the post, the Sting got the winner with 41.4 seconds left in three-onthree play with Kelton Hatcher converting a two-on-one, which allowed the Sting to grab an extra point and move to within a point of the Spitfires for sixth place in the conference.
“That’s three-one-three for you,” Cuylle said. “Back and forth and fun to play, but one mistake anditcancostyou.
“Every game were trying to win and we’re never satisfied with one point, especially where it’s one shot from two points. It stings a bit more, but it’s a learning experience.