Game Stories: Storm take down the Spitfires
On Sunday afternoon, the Guelph Storm traveled to Windsor to face the Spitfires to close out the three-game road trip. Coming off a big road victory on Friday night, the Storm continued with the hot hand in Liam Herbst for his fourth straight start. Windsor countered with their backup goaltender Mario Culina to make his first start against the Storm this season. The Storm would come out on top with a 4-2 win to close the week on a high note.
The opening frame was off to a slow start as both teams felt each other out for the first part of the period. As the period continued the pace of play picked up with both teams having quality chances but were unable to beat the goaltenders.
With just over two minutes to go, Nate Schnarr won a faceoff inside the Spitfires zone back to Nolan Makkonen, the rookie defenceman then sent a blast towards the net, beating Culina, for his first career OHL goal.
Through 20 minutes of play, the Storm led 1-0 while being outshot 12-8.
The Storm entered the second period with all the momentum and had some early chances but was unable to beat Culina who was equal to the task.
As the period continued Windsor would have some quality chances of their own but Herbst would defuse any threat.
At the 16:02 mark of the period Dmitri Samorukov sprung James McEwan on a breakaway and he would make no mistake, beating Culina to give the Storm a 2-0 lead.
Windsor would not take long to answer, cutting the lead just 23 seconds later on a goal from Connor Corcoran.
The second period would come to a close with the Storm leading 2-1, despite being outshot 25-18.
With momentum appearing to shift for the home team, the Spitfires tied the game up just over seven minutes into the final frame, on Aaron Luchuk’s 18th of the year.
With a tie game heading into the dying moments of the game, the Storm were looking for more late heroics from their team. Which is exactly what they got when Isaac Ratcliffe went top shelf from one knee, for his 22nd goal of the year.
In the final minute of the period, Garrett McFadden would score an empty net goal to make it 4-2 for the Storm.
When the final buzzer rang, the final score was 4-2 for the Storm with the Spitfires leading in shots 39-26.
With the win, the Strom improve to 17-25-2-2, while the Spitfires streak is snapped and they fall to 29-9-5-2.
Next, the Storm returns home for a Friday night cross-conference match-up against the Oshawa Generals. Puck drop is slated for 7:30 pm at the Sleeman Centre. Fans can purchase tickets by visiting the Storm Box Office located on the second floor of the Old Quebec St. Shoppes, or calling (519) 837-9690 or online here!
GAME NOTES
- The Storm earn their first victory against the Spitfires, now trailing 2-1 in the season series. The fourth and final game takes place February 18, in Windsor.
- James McEwan extended his point streak to five games.
- Nate Schnarr extended his point streak to six games.
Guelph Storm 4 at Windsor Spitfires 2 – Status: Final
Sunday, January 22, 2017 – WFCU Centre
Guelph 1 1 2 – 4
Windsor 0 1 1 – 2
1st Period-1, Guelph, Makkonen 1 (Schnarr), 17:53. Penalties-Smith Gue (tripping), 1:42.
2nd Period-2, Guelph, McEwan 9 (Samorukov), 16:02. 3, Windsor, Corcoran 4 (Angle, Purboo), 16:25. Penalties-No Penalties
3rd Period-4, Windsor, Luchuk 18 (Knott, McEneny), 7:51. 5, Guelph, Ratcliffe 22 (Merkley, McFadden), 16:48. 6, Guelph, McFadden 9 18:39 (EN). Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-Guelph 8-10-8-26. Windsor 12-13-14-39.
Power Play Opportunities-Guelph 0 / 0; Windsor 0 / 1.
Goalies-Guelph, Herbst 11-15-2-1 (39 shots-37 saves). Windsor, Culina 7-3-1-1 (25 shots-22 saves).
A-5,938
Referees-Quincy Evans (7), Brett Montsion (11).
Linesmen-David Cianfrini (45), Geoff Rutherford (62).
3 STARS
- GUE Isaac Ratcliffe
- GUE Liam Herbst
- WSR Connor Corcoran
Upcoming Events…
- Tuesday, February 21: Served by the Storm is back! Just us as the Storm players trade in their sticks for plates as they act as servers throughout the night to meet and greet fans at Bobby O’Brien’s and Opus in downtown Guelph, in support of the Adopt-A-School program. For more information and to purchase your ticket, click here!
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The 2016-17 Season is proudly presented by RBC
