If the Windsor Spitfires could play more games at the GFL Memorial Gardens, they might not be opposed to the idea now.
Scoring four times in each of the first two periods, the Spitfires skated to a 10-4 Ontario Hockey League win over the Soo Greyhounds on Friday night at the GFL Memorial Gardens.
For the Greyhounds, hard work wasn’t an issue in the contest.
“You would be shocked, but I thought our guys worked really hard for 40 minutes,” Dean said. “Every mistake we made was huge and gave them a grade A opportunity to score and they put it in the back of our net.”
Dean would also say he “didn’t see much dominance.”
Daniel D’Amico held the hot hand for the Spitfires, scoring five times in the win, which included three of Windsor’s four goals in the opening period.
“We were opportunistic, and they couldn’t seem to get a save early,” said Windsor coach Trevor Letowski. “We were sitting at 8-3 after two periods and they outshot us, so it was just one of those games that everything went it for us.”
“From a coaching perspective it was a really loose game for us defensively,” Letowski also said.
The game is one Dean plans to put in the rearview mirror quickly.
“Turnovers were an issue,” Dean said
“The chances we gave up were significant,” Dean added. “I’ve already forgotten about the game.”
D’Amico’s five-goal performance tied a Spitfires team record.
“He’s really come a long way for us this year,” Letowski said of the veteran forward. “He’s becoming a very good player in this league. You see the type of goals he scored tonight; they were nice. He can score. He’s taken a big step for us. We have a lot of guys like that and it’s why we’re a little bit ahead of schedule.”
Will Cuylle also had a big night for Windsor with three goals, giving him 13 goals in his last 20 games, a stretch that started in early November in a 10-2 Windsor win over the Greyhounds at the GFL Memorial Gardens.
“Cuylle’s starting to feel it too,” Letowski said. “He’s playing well.”
Egor Afanasyev had a goal and an assist for Windsor while Wyatt Johnston also scored.
Jean-Luc Foudy assisted on three Windsor goals. Tyler Angle, Connor Corcoran, Louka Henault, and Luke Boka assisted on two goals each.
Goaltender Xavier Medina made 30 saves for the Spitfires.
Billy Constantinou had a goal and an assist for the Greyhounds. Jaden Peca also had a two-point night with a pair of assists.
Robert Calisti, Zack Trott, and Joe Carroll also scored.
Ethan Taylor got the start for the Greyhounds, stopping 10 of 14 Windsor shots in the opening period. Bailey Brkin played the final two periods, stopping 16 of 22 shots.
With the game opening up a stretch of five consecutive games on home ice, the Greyhounds fall to 18-18-2-0 with Friday’s loss. The team will return to action on Saturday night against the Sarnia Sting with puck drop at the GFL Memorial Gardens set for 7:07 p.m.
Windsor improves to 22-8-4-0 with Friday’s win and moves two points ahead of the Saginaw Spirit for top spot in the OHL’s West Division.
On Friday the OHL announced that London forward Cole Tymkin has been suspended for eight games after a hit on Isaac Langdon of the Kitchener Rangers on Dec. 28.
In other league news on Friday, Greyhounds rookie defenceman Jacob Holmes was named one of four academic players of the month for December.
The league names an academic player of the month for each division with Holmes earning the honour in the West Division.
The other academic players of the month for December were London’s Stuart Rolofs in the Midwest Division, Sudbury’s Giordano Biondi in the Central Division, and Ottawa’s Cameron Tolnai in the East Division.
On Thursday the league honoured its performers of the month for December.
Mississauga forward Cole Schwindt was named the player of the month after posting 12 goals and nine assists in 12 games in December.
Ottawa’s Noel Hoefenmayer was named the defenceman of the month. The veteran blueliner posted five goals and 13 points in seven games in December.
The rookie of the month for December is Peterborough’s Mason McTavish, who scored nine goals and 11 points in the month.
Kitchener goaltender Jacob Ingham earned the goalie of the month honours after posting a 9-1-0-0 record with a 1.69 goals against average and a 0.948 save percentage.
In other action around the league on Friday night, in Flint, Dennis Busby scored 1:27 into overtime to give the Flint Firebirds a 5-4 win over the Oshawa Generals. Evgeny Oksentyuk had a goal and two assists for the Firebirds.
In Kingston, Danial Singer had two goals and an assist while Yetman assisted on three goals as the Erie Otters beat the Kingston Frontenacs 6-3. Maxim Golod also had a pair of goals for Erie.
In Sarnia, Matthew Struthers scored at 3:16 of overtime to give the Owen Sound Attack a 5-4 win over the Sarnia Sting. Struthers had a pair of goals for Owen Sound, which included the game-tying goal in the final minute of regulation time.
In Sudbury, Blake Murray had a goal and an assist as the Sudbury Wolves beat the Barrie Colts 4-2. David Levin assisted on a pair of goals for the Wolves.
In Guelph, five unanswered goals lifted the Guelph Storm to a 5-2 win over the Peterborough Petes. Cam Hillis and Pavel Gogolev had two goals and two assists each for the Storm, who fell behind 2-0 after the Petes scored twice in the opening 1:28 of the contest.
In Kitchener, Greg Meireles had a pair of goals as the Kitchener Rangers beat the Saginaw Spirit 4-2.
In London, goaltender Brett Brochu made 40 saves as the London Knights beat the Mississauga Steelheads 3-1. Jonathan Gruden had a goal and an assist for London.