Winless in Windsor
WINDSOR, ON – The Steelheads fell short to the West Division-leading Spitfires. A three-point night from Ilya Protas and Liam Greentree propelled Windsor to the victory.
Both teams had an opportunity on the man advantage early when Josef Eichler and Vilmer Alriksson were each called for penalties in the first minute. Neither side had much time to set up with just 23 seconds each of power play time.
Just five minutes into the game, the Spitfires pushed for the tiebreaker. Ryan Abraham burst down the right wing where he sauced a pass to the middle for Jean-Cristoph Lemieux. The rookie got a stick on the feed to chip it on goal, but it rang off the iron.
The Spitfires duo were not discouraged, as they found the scoresheet on their next shift. After winning a board battle, the puck squirted to Lemieux. The rookie snuck a backhand feed to Abraham who slid back into the slot. The overager picked his spot, sniping the puck to the top right corner to give Windsor the icebreaker
With eight minutes to play in the first period, the Steelheads went to the power play looking to tie the game. The first unit pressured with Angus MacDonell finding Vilmer Alriksson in the slot. The big Swede redirected the puck on goal, but Carter Froggett slid over to make the save. The Steelheads continued to press in the dying seconds of the kill. In a similar play, Luke Misa found Carson Rehkopf out front, who jammed a flurry of shots on Froggett, but he could not beat the Thorndale native.
In the final minutes of the frame, the Spitfires doubled their lead. Tnias Mathurin intercepted a Brampton pass in his own zone, before carrying it up the ice. The big defenceman weaved at the Trout blueline before finding Luke McNamara at the goal mouth. The deadline addition dropped a pass to the slot for Noah Morneau who rifled it past Jack Ivankovic to make it 2-0.
After a scrum at the end of the opening period, the Steelheads started the second on the man advantage. The Steelheads struggled to set up before the power play was cut short due to a Lucas Karmiris double-minor for high sticking.
The Steelheads had a tough task ahead of them with a four-minute penalty kill following the Karmiris call. The Trout battled hard, not allowing Windsor to get any quality looks to kill off the double-minor.
Around the halfway point in the frame, the Spitfires pressed again. Tnias Mathurin continued to fly all over the ice with a pair of slot shots that were stopped by Ivankovic, before he made a spectacular soccer pass to Liam Greentree at the side of the net. The Los Angeles Kings prospect tried to elevate the puck to the corner, but Jack Ivankovic was there to shut the door.
With just under eight minutes left in the second period, the Steelheads had their best chance of the afternoon. With an extra attacker on the ice for a delayed penalty, Luke Misa sprung in on a breakaway. The Oakville native snapped a shot on goal, but it was snared by Froggett.
Following a scrum at the Windsor goal, the Steelheads went to a man advantage. The Trout took advantage of the extra attacker. Lucas Karmiris picked up the loose puck, and snapped a shot on goal from behind the dots. A good screen from Mason Zebeski took away the eyes of Carter Froggett as the puck sailed past him. Karmiris’ sixth of the year brought Brampton within one.
Just before the final minute, Windsor pressed to regain their two-goal lead. Liam Greentree worked in from the wall and found Ilya Protas cutting to the net. The Belarusian cut quickly from the backhand to the forehand but he could not tuck it past Ivankovic.
In the dying seconds of the second period, the Steelheads found the equalizer. Luke Misa deflected the Carson Rehkopf dump into the zone, before beating the Spitfires to the puck. Misa chopped the puck around the net for Jack Van Volsen who quickly snapped a pass to the slot. Carson Rehkopf picked up his feed and roofed it top shelf to tie the game at 2-2.
Following the Rehkopf goal, there was a long review which resulted in a Spitfires penalty, and a Trout man advantage. With just 13 seconds to work with, the Steelheads quickly pressed into the Windsor zone, but they could not find the back of the net before the buzzer.
The Brampton power play carried over into the third period, but it was the Spitfires who took advantage. Liam Greentree disrupted the puck in the Windsor zone before breaking out with Ilya Protas. The duo crisscrossed at the Brampton line before Greentree dropped it for Protas to skate into. The Washington Capitals prospect deked the puck through his legs before making a power move on goal, jamming it past the outstretched Ivankovic to put the Spits back in front.
Just six minutes later, the Steelheads went to another power play, but again it was the Spitfires who struck shorthanded. After Ilya Protas stripped Karmiris of the puck behind the Windsor net, Tnias Mathurin cleared the puck toward the Steelheads’ zone. Liam Greentree turned on the jets, speeding by the Trout defenders to break in on Ivankovic. Greentree faked a shot on the forehand before deking to the backhand and burying it to double the lead.
Tensions flared in the final minutes when the Steelheads were called for roughing. The Spitfires capitalized on the man advantage to put the game out of reach. Liam Greentree worked blueline where he sent a cross-ice feed to Ilya Protas. The Belarusian stepped in from the left dot and rifled one over the shoulder of Jack Ivankovic to bring us to a final score of 5-3.