Late Push Not Enough as Rangers Down Spitfires 6-3 in Game 4
WINDSOR, ON — The Windsor Spitfires showed signs of life in the third period, but it wasn’t enough on Wednesday night as the Kitchener Rangers skated away with a 6-3 victory in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals at the WFCU Centre, taking a 3-1 series lead in the battle for the Wayne Gretzky Trophy.
Rangers Capitalize Early, Build Insurmountable Lead
Kitchener wasted little time making their presence felt, converting on two of their three power play opportunities in the first period to take a 2-0 lead. Dylan Edwards opened the scoring at 12:34 with Sam O’Reilly and Jack Pridham adding assists, before O’Reilly potted one of his own at 13:47, with Pridham picking up his second helper of the frame. Windsor was held off the scoresheet despite generating chances, as Christian Kirsch turned aside all seven first-period shots he faced.
The Rangers kept their foot on the gas in the second, with goals from Andrew MacNiel and Campbell pushing the lead to 4-0. Joey Costanzo made 16 saves in the middle frame.
Spitfires Refuse to Quit
To their credit, Windsor came out flying in the third period and made things interesting. Nathan Villeneuve got the Spitfires on the board at 1:45, assisted by Jakub Fibigr, before Anthony Cristoforo made it 4-2 at 5:23 off a pretty setup from John McLaughlin and Liam Greentree. Caden Harvey rounded out the Windsor comeback attempt with a goal at 18:33, assisted by Alex Pharand and Beksultan Makysh.
But the Rangers answered every push. Luca Romano snuffed the momentum with a shorthanded marker at 12:59, and Gabriel Chiarot added an empty-net shorthanded goal at 17:04 to seal it.
By The Numbers
Kirsch was steady all night for Kitchener, stopping 25 of 28 shots to earn the win. Costanzo took the loss for Windsor, finishing with 22 saves. Romano was named first star, O’Reilly second, and McLaughlin earned third star honours for Windsor.
The announced attendance at the WFCU Centre was 5,398.
Series Summary: Kitchener Rangers lead Windsor Spitfires 3-1. Game 5 moves to Kitchener on Friday night.
