Friday Highlights: Spits stun Storm with late comeback

Windsor Spitfires 8 vs. Guelph Storm 7 – OT

Trailing 5-1 midway through regulation and 7-4 with five minutes to go in the third, Windsor rallied for four unanswered to take an 8-7 win in Guelph
Ryan Abraham, AJ Spellacy and Liam Greentree scored in the final five minutes of the third period to force overtime before Carson Woodall scored with 1:13 left in overtime
Greentree (1-4–5) and Abraham (2-2–4) led the charge for the Spitfires while Anthony Cristoforo and Jack Nesbitt each had a goal and an assist
Guelph’s Jett Luchanko (2-2–4) enjoyed a four-point showing while Vancouver Canucks prospect Vilmer Alriksson scored twice
Windsor went 4-for-9 on the power play to Guelph’s 0-for-6; the Spits outshot the Storm 38-35
The Spitfires improve to 18-30-4-3, handing the Storm a third straight loss as they fall to 26-23-5-1

Sudbury Wolves 3 vs. Peterborough Petes 2 – OT

Tommy Purdeller and Caden Taylor put Peterborough up 2-0 after one period, but the Wolves rallied for three unanswered to take it in overtime
Nathan Villeneuve scored midway through the third and again again 3:01 into OT for the deciding marker
OHL scoring leader David Goyette netted his 34th of the season to tie the score at two with 5:49 left in the third period
Petes netminder Zach Bowen stopped 45-of-48 in the loss as Sudbury outshot Peterborough 48-25
Sudbury improves to 33-16-3-3, six points up on North Bay for first in the Central Division
Peterborough falls to 17-31-6-1, six points behind Barrie for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference

Brantford Bulldogs 3 vs. Flint Firebirds 2

Montreal Canadiens prospect Florian Xhekaj extended his point streak to eight games, scoring the winner with 1:41 left in the third period
Zakary Lavoie scored his 24th and 25th goals of the season for the Bulldogs while Jake O’Brien and Patrick Thomas each recorded two assists
Tristan Bertucci and Jimmy Lombardi scored Flint goals
Matteo Drobac was the game’s first star, stopping 35-of-37 shots as the Bulldogs were outdone 37-21 on the shot clock
Brantford wins their sixth straight, improving to 32-16-6-2 atop the East Division
The win marks the Bulldogs’ first-ever regulation win at Flint; the two previous Hamilton victories at the Dort Financial Center were in overtime
Flint falls to 24-27-3-1, leading ninth place Sarnia by four points in the Western Conference

Kitchener Rangers 7 vs. Sarnia Sting 3

Seattle Kraken prospect Carson Rehkopf led the way with six points (2-4–6), reaching 47 goals on the season
Kitchener led 4-2 after two periods, tacking on three more in the third to become the fourth Western Conference team to clinch a spot in the 2024 OHL Playoffs
Matthew Sop scored goals 36 and 37 on the campaign while Filip Mesar finished the night with a goal and two helpers
The Rangers outshot the Sting 48-32 and went 2-for-3 on the power play
Sting forward Kai Schwindt left the game with an injury and didn’t return
Jackson Parsons made 29 saves for the win opposite Sarnia’s Nick Surzycia, who stopped 41
The Rangers have won five in a row, improving to 36-19-2-0, one point back of third place Sault Ste. Marie in the Western Conference
Sarnia has lost four in a row, falling to 22-30-3-1

North Bay Battalion 6 vs. Saginaw Spirit 3

Florida Panthers prospect Sandis Vilmanis buried a hat-trick, giving him 27 goals on the season and 17 in as many game since joining the Troops
Anthony Romani scored his 45th goal of the season for the Battalion, also adding an assist
Dallas Stars prospect Justin Ertel scored the deciding goal shorthanded with 13 seconds to go in the second period
Spirit defenceman James Guo scored his first goal of the season
Winnipeg Jets prospect Dom DiVincentiis stopped 34-of-37 for the Battalion while Nolan Lalonde made 26 saves in the Saginaw crease seeing his run of 16 consecutive wins come to an end
North Bay climbs to 29-18-6-2, good for third in the Eastern Conference
The Spirit fall to 40-15-0-1, sitting six points up on Sault Ste. Marie for first in the West Division
The Spirit retired Brandon Saad’s #22 uniform prior to puck drop at the Dow Event Center

London Knights 5 vs. Kingston Frontenacs 0

London led 2-0 after one period before adding three more goals in the third frame
Michael Simpson stopped all 18 shots he faced for his third shutout of the season, the ninth of his OHL career
Easton Cowan scored his 28th goal of the season with 8:29 remaining, extending his point streak to 25 games and into a tie for the second-longest in Knights history
Philadelphia Flyers prospects Oliver Bonk and Denver Barkey each had a goal and an assist for London
London outshot Kingston 30-18, winning a third straight contest to improve to 41-12-0-3
The Frontenacs fall to 26-27-2-0 for seventh in the Eastern Conference

Mississauga Steelheads 7 vs. Niagara IceDogs 2

Mississauga lead 3-2 after 40 minutes, but scored four unanswered in the third to pull away for the 7-2 win
Dallas Stars prospect Angus MacDonell joined Mason Zebeski with two goals while Luke Misa chipped in with three assists
Niagara managed to outshoot Mississauga 40-33 as 2024 NHL Draft prospect Ryerson Leenders made 38 saves
IceDogs forward Ryan Roobroeck scored his 22nd goal of the season, establishing a new club mark by a rookie
The Steelheads have points in seven consecutive games, sitting in a tie for fifth in the Eastern Conference with a record of 29-20-6-0
Niagara has lost three in a row, falling to 16-33-6-1

Ottawa 67’s 5 vs. Oshawa Generals 0

Collin MacKenzie returned to the Ottawa crease, recording a 33-save shutout in his first start since Jan. 25th
Ottawa defenceman Samuel Mayer scored his 20th goal of the season
Kimi Korbler, Jacob Maillet, Chris Barlas and Jack Dever rounded-out the Ottawa scoring
The 67’s have won three straight, sitting tied for fifth in the Eastern Conference with a record of 29-19-5-1
Oshawa falls to 28-19-7-2, sitting one point up on Ottawa