Spitfires show why they’re No. 1
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies
PHOTO GALLERY | GAME HIGHLIGHTS
A slick individual effort by Ethan Belchetz, and superior special teams work made all the difference for the Windsor Spitfires on Saturday.
The top team in the OHL’s overall standings stopped the Soo Greyhounds 4-1 in front of 3,676 at GFL Memorial Gardens.
“I think we made a lot of mistakes that killed us,” said winger Jordan Charron, whose club played the last half of the game with just four defencemen.
“We got outworked more often than we outworked them,” added forward Carson Andrew, who notched his first goal of the OHL season.
Belchetz, expected to be an early selection in the 2026 NHL draft, scored what proved to be the winner on a wrap-around in the opening period.
With the visitors leading 1-0, Belchetz stole the puck in the neutral zone, sped down the left wing and had his shot stopped by Soo netminder Noah Tegelaar.
But the Windsor standout grabbed his own rebound and held off Hounds defenceman Chase Reid as he circled the net. Belchetz beat Tegelaar to the other post and made it 2-0 at the 13:47 mark.
Later, with the score 2-1 in the second period, the Spits flexed their power play like a well-conditioned muscle.
Anthony Cristoforo scored twice with the man advantage – his first two goals of the season – less than eight minutes apart.
With a 4-1 lead, the OHL’s best defensive team clamped down and actually held the Hounds without a shot in the final period.
The visitors, who own the top power play in the league, finished 2-for-4 with the man advantage. The Hounds were 0-for-5.
“I think special teams definitely let us down. They were the difference in the game,” said Hounds head coach John Dean, whose club was coming off of a 5-4 overtime victory over Kitchener on Friday night. “They bailed us out yesterday, but that’s the story of a 68-game season.”
Dean, whose team fell to 6-4-0-0 heading into Wednesday’s 7:07 p.m. home game against Saginaw, spoke of how work on special teams never ends.
“Back to the drawing board here on Monday,” he said.
As for their failure to generate a shot in the third, Charron said he and his teammates, who were outshot 29-17 overall, are to blame.
“That’s on us. We should have had more of a shot mentality.”
“We got off of our game,” added Andrew. “We didn’t stick to the game plan in the third.”
Dean talked about the Spitfires ability to play defence. En route to a 9-1-0-0 start, Windsor has surrendered just 16 goals against.
“We looked like a frustrated team in the third, one that didn’t expect to make a comeback, while playing an individual game,” the coach said. “We looked a little defeated.”
Part of that could be due to a depleted bench.
The team learned earlier on Saturday defenceman Jakub Winkelhofer would be day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Midway through the second, another rearguard, Hunter Solomon, got sandwiched between two Spits and left the contest with an upper-body injury.
Callum Croskery (upper body) and Brodie McConnell-Barker (illness) have yet to play this season.
That forced forwards, notably rookie Noah Laus, to take shifts on the blue-line.
“I don’t want to give our guys excuses, but that also plays into it,” Dean said of what happened to his group in the final period.
Over the first two periods, he said he thought his players both battled and competed hard.
Winkelhofer’s injury was the result of a cheap shot delivered by Kitchener’s Matt Hlacar on Friday.
The Rangers winger is under league suspension, pending a review.
Meantime, Andrew’s goal was the result of a nifty redirection of a Keegan Gillen point shot. Cruising in front, Andrew’s tip beat Joey Costanzo high to the glove side.
“I’m very happy to get my first goal, but I’d rather do it in a victory,” said the St. Louis native.
Stationed in the slot, Cristoforo’s first power-play goal came after he fanned on a shot from the slot and the puck trickled into the Hounds net.
That made it 3-1 at 5:35 of the middle frame, following a questionable holding call on Spencer Evans.
Asked about the call, Dean said his team’s approach is “nothing bothers us. Those things happen over the course of 68 games.”
Cristoforo’s second goal came on a redirection that went over Tegelaar’s pad at 13:04.
“Special teams were the difference and we have to stay disciplined,” Charron said. “Especially against a team with a good power play.”
“Those were two huge goals for us,” said Windsor head coach Greg Walter, whose power play is connecting at a 32.4-per-cent clip. “They were the difference in the game.”
Connor Hicks opened the scoring for the winners when his shot from the left circle beat Tegelaar high to the glove side.
The Soo netminder may have got a piece of the shot, which made it 1-0 at 8:23 of the first.
Notes:
Following the Saginaw tilt on Wednesday, the Hounds are slated to visit Sudbury on Friday (7:05 p.m.), before playing host to the Wolves on Saturday (7:07 p.m.) at the Gardens.
