Spitfires lose, but clinch playoff spot
Windsor strafed by powerhouse Hounds, but can start making post-season plans
It was not the way the Windsor Spitfires had hoped to celebrate the accomplishment. Despite a 5-2 loss to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds Sunday before 4,094 people at the Essar Centre, the rebuilding Spitfires still clinched a playoff spot. The Erie Otters ran out of games to earn points to catch the Spitfires with a 7-2 loss to Mississauga, which ensured a young Windsor squad a spot in the playoffs with two weeks still to play in the season. “We’re very happy with where we’re at,” Spitfires head coach Trevor Letowski said. “I think we’re ahead of where we thought we would be, for sure, and especially after some deadline deals. “We went through a tough stretch and this time of schedule with this young a group, we’re not hanging our heads by any means. We’re very proud of that and we just have to keep pushing.”
A road loss to the Greyhounds, who are the No. 1-ranked team in the Canadian Hockey League, is not something unique to the Spitfires or anyone else in the OHL.
Sault Ste. Marie has won 26 straight at home and after losing its home opener and another in overtime in October, the club boasts a 29-1-1-0 home record. “It’s a real tough place to play and they have a really good team,” Spitfires forward Luke Boka said. “Maybe one of the best in (league) history.”
Boka had the Spitfires on the board first, but Rasmus Sandin scored twice to put the Greyhounds up 2-1 after 20 minutes despite being outshot 9-8 by Windsor.
“We came out and our first period was pretty good, but we just kind of faded away,” Letowski said. “They got better and we faded away.”
Jack Kopacka made it 3-1 for the Greyhounds just 18 seconds into the third period. From there, the Spitfires struggled to generate any offence. The club was held to two shots in the second period, which tied a season low. “We pushed them hard in the first period, but they got a few and we just kind of went away and we can’t have that,” Boka said. “When we’re playing our game, we have the puck down low and we’re cycling and doing the right things around the net and getting pucks to the net and I don’t think we had enough of that.”
Windsor’s offensive struggles continued in the third period with the Greyhounds outshooting the Spitfires 20-3 in the final period and 44-14 overall. “It’s hard to get into scoring
areas against this team and we didn’t (play) our game, so we made it a little too easy for them,” said Letowski, whose team had a quick turnaround after winning 4-0 in Saginaw on Saturday. “We looked tired and didn’t have a lot of pushback when we gave up a couple of goals.” Keeghan Howdeshell and Ryan Roth closed the scoring for the Greyhounds in the third period. The Spitfires know they have two weeks left in the season and now the playoffs to look forward to.
“It’s always good to be in the playoffs, but we’re aiming higher and we’re trying to get the best seed as possible,” Boka said. “We’re looking forward to these last two weeks to try and get better and get our game at the highest level possible going into the playoffs.”
I think we’re ahead of where we thought we would be, for sure, and especially after some deadline deals.