Windsor Spitfires Respond Well to Adversity
Perhaps motivated by turning in one of their worst performances of the season, a 6-2 loss at home to the Sarnia Sting on February 6, the Windsor Spitfires responded with a pair of back-to-back victories as the team continued its four-game home stand last week.
Four days after the lethargic effort against the Sting, the Spitfires responded with one of their most complete games of the season with a 4-1 win over the Saginaw Spirit.
Right-winger Matthew Maggio set the tone early in the game for the Spitfires by notching his 19th goal of the season just 57 seconds into the first period. After Matyas Sapovaliv tied the game with what turned out to be the Spirit’s only goal of the contest, Maggio put his team back on top with his second goal midway through the opening period.
Alex Christopoulos scored for the home team with the only goal of the second period before Maggio rounded out the scoring in the contest by scoring his 22nd goal of the season and completing his hat-trick with his third goal of the contest with just over 90 seconds left in the game.
Xavier Medina made 18 saves for the Spitfires to pick up the win in net while Andrew Oke made 32 stops at the other end.
After having a rare Friday night off The Spitfires returned to action on Saturday night by hosting the London Knights, then ranked eight in the Canadian Hockey League ratings, at the WFCU Centre. The Spitfires were looking to gain a measure of revenge against the Knights, their arch rivals who handily defeated them 5-1 the previous just over a week prior at the Budweiser Gardens.
Centre Wyatt Johnston paced the Spitfires offensively by scoring once and adding two assists while Michael Renwick, Daniel D’Amico and Maggio all scored once while Liam Gilmartin scored both goals for the Knights. The Spitfires capitalized on two of their six powerplay opportunities while the Knights failed to score on any of their three times playing with the man advantage.
Xaxier Medina made 21 saves to pick up the win in net, lowering his goals against average to 2.83, the fifth best mark for puckstoppers in the Ontario Hockey League. Tilbury’s Brett Brochu, whose 2.57 goals against average is second overall in the OHL, made 25 saves in a losing cause for the Knights.
Wyatt Johnston continued his stellar play for the Spitfires by scoring twice and adding three assists in the wins over Saginaw and London and was named the first star of the game in the win over the Knights. The 18-year-old centre, who was the first round pick of the Dallas Stars in the 2021 National Hockey League Entry Draft, currently sits in second place among the OHL’s leading scorers in the 2021-22 season with 26 goals and 50 assists in 40 games.
After hosting the Flint Firebirds this Friday night, February18, the Spitfires take to the road to finish the home and home series with the Firebirds at the Dow Financial Center in Flint the following night. Windsor then again hosts the Spirit in a Family Day matinee at 2 pm on Monday, February 21.