Spitfires Face Elimination Tuesday against Rockets
Rimouski, QC – The Windsor Spitfires and Kelowna Rockets faceoff Tuesday night at 7:00 pm in a must-win game for the Spitfires at the 2009 MasterCard Memorial Cup. The game can be seen live on Rogers Sportsnet and RDS.
The OHL Champion Spitfires (0-2) finish their round-robin tonight after losing their opening game Saturday to the QMJHL Champion Drummondville Voltigeurs (1-1) followed by a loss on Sunday 5-4 to the host Rimouski Oceanic (1-1). The WHL Champion Kelowna Rockets (2-0) secured a spot in Sunday’s Championship Final after beating the Voltigeurs 6-4 Monday night. Their first win came Friday night in the opener when they defeated the Oceanic 4-1.
Rockets’ forward Jamie Benn has been the top performer after four days of MasterCard Memorial Cup competition. He will look to stay hot and build on his tournament leading eight points including five goals and three assists. In addition to the scoring threat provided by Benn, the Rockets boast five other players in the top-10 rankings for tournament scorers. Defenceman Tyson Barrie has four points, with fellow defenceman Tyler Myers not far behind with three points. Forwards Colin Long, Cody Almond, and Mikael Backlund each have three points.
Adam Henrique and Andrei Loktionov lead the way for the Spitfires with two goals each. Top playoff scorer Taylor Hall has been held to just two assists in two games, and speedy forward Dale Mitchell has just one goal and one assist. Scott Timmins and defenceman Mark Cundari have each chipped in a pair of assists for the Spitfires. OHL Defenceman of the Year Ryan Ellis has been held to just one goal in two games played.
After two games, the Rockets have the best power play operating at 33.3% against the Spitfires who have a tournament-best penalty killing rate of 87.5% with a shorthanded goal.
Mark Guggenberger will tend the net for the Rockets with a tournament-best goals-against-average of 2.50 and save percentage of .881 against Andrew Engelage of the Spitfires who has a goals-against-average of 3.76 and save percentage of .862.
A win by the Spitfires tonight would secure them a place in the tie-breaker game Thursday night against the loser of the game Wednesday between the Drummondville Voltigeurs and the Rimouski Oceanic.
The Spitfires held a full practice session this morning, while the Rockets skated with a very limited squad.
Photo by Aaron Bell/CHL