Time isn’t waiting for the Windsor Spitfires. With the final Ontario Hockey League (OHL) Western Conference playoff spot still just beyond arms reach, and the schedule winding down, the club did their best to gain some ground on Wednesday night. Unfortunately, they were on the wrong end of a shootout loss at home to the Brantford Bulldogs.
With fewer than 20 games left in the regular season, the Spitfires are fighting for every point as they scratch and claw their way out of the league’s basement. General manager Bill Bowler made some big deadline moves to rearrange their veterans and interim head coach Casey Torres has instilled a belief that the playoffs are possible. On Wednesday, they welcomed the Eastern Conference’s second-seeded Bulldogs to town. However, despite a back-and-forth contest and some definite positives, the Spitfires fell just short. Here are three takeaways from the Valentine’s Day game.
A Strong Effort is Still a Positive
After losing to the Bulldogs 5-1 on the road in January, the Spitfires had a golden chance to make up ground on their 10-point deficit to the Flint Firebirds for the eighth seed.
Spitfires’ forwards A.J. Spellacy and Ryan Abraham each tallied one in the first for a 2-0 lead at the intermission. However, that’s where the visitors took over. Torres’ club hit penalty troubles in the second and, while the Bulldogs didn’t capitalize with the extra man, they got a pair in the period and out-shot the Spitfires 23-9.
The visitors kept it going in the third, grabbing an early power play goal for a 3-2 lead. However, that’s when Abraham took over. He planted his second and third of the night for the hat trick and a brief lead. Unfortunately, Bulldogs’ forward Florian Xhekaj scored his second late in the third to tie it 4-4 before the visitors finally took a 5-4 win in the shootout.
While the Bulldogs dominated the shots 54-26, that was partially from the shot barrage in the second on Spitfires’ goaltender Joey Costanzo.
After the game, Torres said he was happy with the effort and appreciated Costanzo’s performance. However, the ice was tilted for a bit and it was generally self-inflicted.
“Our first periods have been real strong,” he said. “We got a stellar performance (from Costanzo) with 49 saves. The game tilted in the second period, primarily due to the penalties we took. We got into some penalty trouble … and their power play really hemmed us in. The penalty killing did a pretty good job; we spent a lot of time in our zone, they put a lot of shots on net, and we got some big saves. That tilted the ice. We had a hard time getting the ice back level.”
Abraham Has His Groove Back
One of the Spitfires’ biggest weapons at both ends of the rink is the 5-foot-8, 168-pound Abraham. The Livonia, MI native was the club’s first-round pick in 2020 and his abrasive, offensive style reminds some of Boston Bruins’ forward Brad Marchand.
Abraham suffered an injury last season that kept him out for much of the second half. This season, he struggled to get his game back, going as many as 12 games without a point before Christmas. However, since then, he has put a tidy 12-game point streak together. With the hat-trick on Wednesday, he has points in seven of his last nine games and 44 points in 48 games. Torres said that he’s a kid that rides the momentum and, as long as he’s focused, he’s a huge asset.
“He’s very competitive,” Torres said. “When pucks go in for him, he seems to ride that wave and continues to find ways to get more pucks in the net. He’s a real important part of our team and he can certainly drive a lot offensively. We just have to make sure he’s fighting in that positive direction.”
Abraham’s had numerous two-goal games in the OHL but never grabbed the hat trick. When was the last time he planted three? “When I was 15,” he said, laughing.
Abraham was given an alternate captain’s “A” and, as long as he keeps his emotions in check, he’s a huge positive for the club. Every team needs that gritty, do-anything-to-win type of guy and, with a rebuilding club, he can impart some wisdom to the younger players.
Spitfires Have No Time to Rest
While getting the point against a top contender was nice, there’s little time to rest. The Spitfires now get ready to complete this seven-games-in-11-days stretch with three games in three days.
On Saturday night, they head up to Flint, MI to take on the Firebirds. Then, they return home for a Sunday afternoon tilt against the Soo Greyhounds. It’s the annual Mickey Renaud Game where the Spitfires honour their “Captain Forever”, who passed away suddenly on Feb. 18, 2008, from undetected Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. They play every season on that date.
Finally, the team heads up the 401 for a Family Day (Monday) matinee against the London Knights. The Knights took a convincing 5-1 win between the clubs earlier in February so Torres’ team is out for revenge.
Related: Windsor Spitfires’ Remember Captain Mickey Renaud
It’s a busy stretch but one the Spitfires need points with. Time is ticking down on the regular season and they can’t afford to give up anything. Torres said it’s going to be about playing the right way. When you’re a young team, consistency isn’t always there, but they have to find a way.
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“(On Wednesday) we had some players play with urgency but we’re a young team and there’s some growing pains that go with that,” he said. “When you have a young team, you’re not going to get A+ performances every night. You gotta try to find ways to win games and get points when you don’t have your best effort.”
It’s not quite make-or-break but if the Spitfires want any chance at a post-season berth, getting points this weekend is as close to necessary as they might get.
