Windsor Spitfires Move on to Second Round of 2022 OHL Playoffs
The Windsor Spitfires defeated the Sarnia Sting 3-1 at the Progressive Auto Sales Arena on Sunday night to win their best-of-seven Ontario Hockey League Western Conference quarter final series in six games.
The series win by the the top-seeded Spitfires (4-2) over the eight-seeded Sting (2-4) marks the first time in over a decade that the club has advanced past the first round of the OHL post-season. The last time the Spitfires won a playoff series was in the spring of 2011 when they bested the Erie Otters in a seven-game series.
Even when the Spitfires won their third Memorial Cup in a decade in the spring of 2017, they did not win their opening round, losing in seven games to the London Knights in a series that pitted the Western Conference’s fourth-seeded Knights against the fifth-seeded Spitfires. While the Knights did win the series against the Spitfires, they were quickly bounced in the next round by the Erie Otters. The Spitfires, meanwhile, rested up for over a month after being eliminated from the OHL playoffs on April 4 and that time allowed numerous Windsor players who were either injured in the London series or who were hurt before it to fully recover in time for the start of the 2017 Memorial Cup that opened at the WFCU Centre on May 19. The Spitfires ran the table in the event, going undefeated in four games by beating the OHL champion Otters, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champion Saint John Sea Dogs and the Seattle Thunderbirds, champions of the Western Hockey League. The Spitfires defeated the Otters 4-3 in the championship game on May 28 on a third period goal by Aaron Luchuk.
Last Sunday, the Spitfires bounced a young and feisty Sting team after the young and feisty team from Bluewater country stopped the Spits winning streak at the WFCU Centre at 16 games the previous night with a 3-2 win in overtime. Nolan DeGurse scored twice and Ty Voit had the overtime winner while Gaudreau was sensational with a 43-save performance. Will Cuylle and Andrew Perrott replied for the Spitfires while Matt Onuska had0 stops.
In the sixth and final game of the series, Josh Currie, Cuylle and Wyatt Johnston all scored for Windsor with Onuska turning in a 25-save effort. Nolan Dann had the only goal for the Sting and Gaudreau stopped 29 Windsor shots.
While Onuska faced far fewer shots than Gaudreau over the course of the six game-set, he was perhaps the Spits’ most value player against the Sting, and was solid in all six games, compiling a .923 Save Percentage and a 1.64 Goals Against Average. He also recorded his first career OHL shutout in a 3-0 win in the first game of the series on April 22.
The Spitfires now wait to find out who their second round playoff opponent will be, although it is expected that they will host that team with games this Saturday (May 7) and Sunday (May 8) at the WFCU Centre.