Spits crush Spirit
Windsor Spitfires forward Brady Vail (foreground) fires a shot on goal between the legs of Saginaw Spirit defenceman Brandon Prophet. Spirit goaltender Nikita Serebryakov made the save. The Spitfires won 6-1 and Vail had two goals. (Photo by/Mitchell Brandner)
by Rob Benneian
The Windsor Spitfires shook off a sluggish first period to beat the Saginaw Spirit 6-1 Nov. 15 at the WFCU Centre.
Kerby Rychel led the way offensively for the Spitfires with two goals and three assists, running his team-leading goal total to 14. Rychel scored 41 times last season and is a projected first round pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. Fresh off an appearance for Team OHL in the Subway Super Series against Russia, the Spitfires winger was primed for a big performance.
“I really respect the skill level of the Russian team. That was a real fast game and you just had to do the little things,” Rychel said. “Doing the little things tonight helped and I just converted them into some points.”
The win snapped a three-game losing streak. After the third loss, Windsor general manager Warren Rychel said changes would be coming for the under-performing Spits squad.
“We needed two points. We talked about how important this game was with (Saginaw) that was one point ahead of us going into tonight’s game,” said Spits head coach Bob Boughner. “You could tell we had a lot of rust, we had a lot of defensive breakdowns but as the game went on we got better. It was the perfect way to win a hockey game.”
The turning point of the game came courtesy of the shoulder of Spits defenceman Patrick Sieloff. He delivered one of his now trademark blows to an unsuspecting David Perklin, sending the Saginaw forward flying. Spirit defenceman Jacob Ringuette came to his teammate’s aid and fought Sieloff, drawing an instigator minor penalty for his trouble.
The Spitfires scored their fourth goal of the game on the ensuing power play and Saginaw did not present much of an offensive threat the rest of the way.
After the game, Saginaw head coach Greg Gilbert was steamed at how that series of events unfolded.
“I think it was a farce,” Gilbert said. “Our guys are getting sticks ripped out of their hands with no call, our guys are breaking around guys and gets held up with no call. We lost (defenceman Steven Strong) to a five-game suspension on the same hit Sieloff did to Perklin. The one thing is they’re consistently inconsistent.”
The teams combined for 56 minutes in penalties, including five misconducts, two fights and a check from behind.
The Spitfires and Spirit will do battle again in one week’s time, Nov. 23 at the WFCU Centre.
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