Windsor Spitfires Dominate Kitchener Rangers in Game 2 of Second Round

The Windsor Spitfires took a commanding lead in their Ontario Hockey League playoff series with a decisive 5-1 victory over the Kitchener Rangers on April 12, 2025, at the WFCU Centre in Windsor, Ontario. The win put the Spitfires up 2-0 in the Western Conference semifinal series before a crowd of 5,699 fans.

Game Breakdown

First Period Dominance

The Spitfires wasted no time establishing control, scoring three goals in the opening frame:

Ryan Abraham opened the scoring at 5:06, assisted by Davis and Kennedy
Conor Walton notched his first career playoff goal at 14:53, with assists from McNamara and Garden
Noah Morneau added a power-play goal at 16:44, with Protas and Cristoforo assisting

Building the Lead

In the second period, Windsor extended their advantage:

Ryan Abraham scored his second goal of the game at 9:29 of the second period, assisted by Davis and Nesbitt, pushing the lead to 4-0
Kitchener finally got on the board when Luca Romano scored a shorthanded goal at 18:32, ending Joey Costanzo’s shutout bid

Closing It Out

The Spitfires added one more in the final period:

Liam Greentree scored a power-play goal at 1:17 of the third period, with assists from Protas and Hicks, cementing the 5-1 victory

Statistical Highlights

The Spitfires outshot the Rangers 27-19 overall, with the shot breakdown by period as follows:

First period: Windsor 10, Kitchener 9
Second period: Windsor 11, Kitchener 5
Third period: Windsor 6, Kitchener 5

Special teams played a crucial role in the game:

Windsor went 2-for-8 on the power play
Kitchener went 0-for-4 with the man advantage

Standout Performances

Several Spitfires players delivered notable performances:

Ryan Abraham scored twice, including the game-opening goal
Conor Walton scored his first career playoff goal, which proved to be the game-winner – remarkably, four of his five career goals have been game-winners
Liam Greentree, a standout forward, continued to pressure the Rangers’ defense and added a power-play goal
Joey Costanzo was solid in net for Windsor, stopping 18 of 19 shots

Key Moments and Implications

The game featured increasing intensity and physicality as the Rangers’ frustration mounted, leading to several penalties. Kitchener’s tactics became more aggressive as they fell behind, but the Spitfires maintained their composure and capitalized on power-play opportunities.

The win puts the Spitfires in an excellent position heading into Game 3 in Kitchener. Windsor’s defense-first approach has limited the Rangers to just one goal in each of the first two games of the series.

The teams will continue their playoff battle with Game 3 scheduled for Monday in Kitchener, where the Spitfires will look to push their advantage to 3-0 in the best-of-seven series.

Photos: Tim Jarrold – In Play! magazine