Despite worst record at OHL, Otters outscore Spitfires in victory 7-4

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The Windsor Spitfires just didn’t do the work it took to beat an Erie Otters team with the worst record in the Ontario Hockey League.

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The Spitfires never held an advantage in the game and after two quick goals early in the third period to tie the game, Windsor quickly took two minor penalties that Erie converted en route to a 7-4 victory before 2,664 at the WFCU Center. Thursday.

“It’s very frustrating,” said Spitfires head coach Marc Savard. “Obviously, you try to prepare your team all week and tell them that you can’t just throw your sticks on the ice and hope to win.

“I thought we took too much time off and it wasn’t the youngsters, it was the veterans.”

The game did not have two minutes when Brendan Hoffmann fought his check in front of Windsor’s goal to put the Otters up 1-0.

“I don’t think we take them lightly,” Spitfires defender Michael Renwick said. “We didn’t have our foot on them for 60 minutes.”

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For the most part this season, the Spitfires have shown sparkles. Kyle McDonald bounced off an Erie skid pass to tie the game and after the Otters came back up on an Elias Cohen goal, the Spitfires were able to shoot even after 20 minutes on a Wyatt Johnston goal.

“These (Erie) guys work hard and we had to be prepared,” Savard said.

Taeo Artichuk and Cameron Lowe, each with their first career OHL goal, had the only goals of the second period to take a 4-2 lead over the Spitfires after 40 minutes.

“I think it’s several things,” said Johnston, whose team has lost back-to-back games. “It’s the details of the game. Focus on keeping disks off the network. It is a combination of many things. We haven’t really played a full 60 minutes too many times this year. “

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In a 93-second blitz to start the third period, the Spitfires equaled goals from Johnston and McDonald.

However, that advantage lasts less than two minutes. Louka Henault, majority defender, took a bad play after the whistle and Brendan Sellan put the Otters on for good with a power play goal.

After McDonald was whistled for a high stick, Brett Bressette added another power play goal off a Windsor penalty that is the last in the OHL at 67.3 percent.

“It just seems like the penalty is our Achilles heel,” Savard said. “Again, that’s just not making it.”

Despite a 43-27 shooting lead, the Spitfires simply didn’t generate enough traffic in front of the Erie net or enough high-quality opportunities to get back into the game when Christian Kyrou closed the scoring for Erie with his first OHL goal.

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“We showed a very good start in the third period, but we can’t put ourselves in that situation to be two goals down,” Johnston said. “We have lost too many times this season.

“We did a very good job of getting back in and tied up, but we can’t let games like that get away from us. We have to kill in the third (period) and we cannot accept stupid penalties. “

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Game Summary

Thursday result

Spitfires

Erie 2 2 3 – 7

Windsor 2 0 2-4

First period: 1. Erie, Hoffmann 5 (Artichuk, Sauder) 1:57, 2. Windsor, McDonald 6 (Miedema, Abraham) 8:23, 3. Erie, Cohen 7 (Kyrou, Lockhart) 9:02, 4. Windsor, Johnston 7 (Cuylle, Henault), 13:12. Penalties: Ladd W (cross-check) 4:15, Cohen E (interference) 5:43, Saganiuk E (fight), Ribau W (fight) 12:04, Abraham W (rudeness) 17:28,

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Second period: 5. Erie, Artichoke 1 (Johnston, Lockhart) 8:52, 6. Erie, Lowe 1 (Ross) 12:37. Penalties: None.

Third period: 7. Windsor, Johnston 8 (Ribau, Miedema) 1:07, 8. Windsor, McDonald 7 (unassisted) 1:33, 9. Erie, Sellan 4 (Sedore, Sova) 3:32 (pp), 10. Erie , Bressette 8 (Hoffmann, Kyrou) 6:31 (pp.), 11. Erie, Kyrou 1 (Sellan, Terrance) 10:03. Penalties: Henault W (roughing) 2:07, McDonald W (high tack) 5:44.

Game Statistics – SOG – Erie 7 12 8 – 27 Windsor 11 16 16 – 43 Goal (shot-saves) – Erie: Lalonde (W, 4-6-1-0) (43-39). Windsor: Downey (L, 2-3-0-0) (27-20). Power play (goals-chances) – Erie 2-4. Windsor 0-1. Referees: Mac Nichol (33) and Alex Ross (29). Linesmen: Kyle Flood (66) and Tristan Peacock (70). For: 2,664 at the WFCU Center.