Windsor forces seventh game with third straight win

The pesky Windsor Spitfires just won't go away for the Soo Greyhounds.

After the Greyhounds grabbed a 3-0 series lead and prepared for a sweep, the locals have watched the Spitfires climb all the way back into the series.

In game six on Sunday night in Windsor, the Spitfires beat the Greyhounds 4-3 to tie the best-of-seven Ontario Hockey League western conference quarterfinal at 3-3.

Game seven will go on Tuesday night at Memorial Gardens beginning at 7 p.m.

Brett Liscomb and Cal O'Reilly on the power play gave the Spitfires a 2-0 lead by the 13:02 mark of the first period.

The Greyhounds scratched their way back into the game before the end of the frame as Blair Jarrett scored his first of two goals at 17:58 before Jason Pitton's power play goal with 19 seconds left pulled the Hounds into a 2-2 tie.

At 4:02 of the second period, Jarrett's second goal of the game and sixth of the series gave the Hounds a short lived lead as Liscomb replied with his second goal 1:41 later on the power play to the game for Windsor.

Greyhounds' nemesis Steve Downie scored the game winner for the Spitfires early in the third period.

The Greyhounds started veteran goaltender Jakub Cech in game six after Cech made his first appearance of the series in relief of Kyle Gajewski in game five. Cech stopped 22 of 26 shots in defeat.

Spitfires goaltender Kyle Knechtel had another solid game and made several big saves as the Greyhounds peppered the Windsor net with 39 shots.

Pitton added an assist for the Greyhounds while Liscomb set up one and Paul Giallonardo two for the Spitfires.

The Greyhounds will get a lift for game seven as Tyler Kennedy will return to the Greyhounds lineup after serving a three-game suspension for a stick swinging incident in game three.

Should the Greyhounds go on to defeat the Spitfires, they will face the Owen Sound Attack in the western conference semi-finals beginning next weekend at Memorial Gardens.

*** MAJORS ELIMINATE TOP SEEDED ICEDOGS:

The Toronto St. Michael's Majors have pulled off the biggest upset of the playoffs thus far by eliminating the eastern conference's top seeded Mississauga IceDogs in five games.

On Sunday afternoon in Mississauga, Tyler Haskins scored the game winner with under two minutes remaining to break a 1-1 tie and lift the Majors to a 2-1 victory.

The Majors will now face the second seeded Peterborough Petes in the second round of the playoffs while the winner of the Barrie/Ottawa series will face the winner of the Sudbury/Brampton series in the other eastern conference quarterfinal.

*** GAME PHOTOS:

To view reader submitted photos from Rick Lacell from games three and four of the series in Windsor, click here.

*** OHL PLAYOFF SUMMARY:

EASTERN CONFERENCE

1. MISSISSAUGA vs. 8. TORONTO

(Toronto wins series 4-1)

Game 1 - Toronto 3 Mississauga 1 Game 2 - Mississauga 6 Toronto 2 Game 3 - Toronto 3 Mississauga 2 Game 4 - Toronto 3 Mississauga 1 Game 5 - Toronto 2 Mississauga 1

2. PETERBOROUGH vs. 7. BELLEVILLE

(Peterborough wins series 4-1)

Game 1 - Peterborough 5 Belleville 0 Game 2 - Peterborough 3 Belleville 2 Game 3 - Peterborough 4 Belleville 1 Game 4 - Belleville 4 Peterborough 3 (OT) Game 5 - Peterborough 4 Belleville 1

3. BARRIE vs. 6. OTTAWA

(Ottawa leads series 3-2)

Game 1 - Ottawa 5 Barrie 4 Game 2 - Barrie 4 Ottawa 1 Game 3 - Ottawa 3 Barrie 2 Game 4 - Ottawa 6 Barrie 4 Game 5 - Barrie 3 Ottawa 2 Game 6 - Mon. April 4 at Ottawa, 7:30 p.m. Game 7 - Tues. April 5 at Barrie, 7:30 p.m. *

4. BRAMPTON vs. 5. SUDBURY

(Sudbury leads series 3-2)

Game 1 - Sudbury 3 Brampton 2 (OT) Game 2 - Sudbury 4 Brampton 1 Game 3 - Brampton 4 Sudbury 3 Game 4 - Sudbury 2 Brampton 1 Game 5 - Brampton 4 Sudbury 2 Game 6 - Mon. April 4 at Sudbury 7:30 Game 7 - Tues. April 5 at Brampton 7:30 *

WESTERN CONFERENCE:

1. LONDON vs. 8. GUELPH

(London wins series 4-0)

Game 1 - London 3 Guelph 2 Game 2 - London 2 Guelph 1 Game 3 - London 5 Guelph 1 Game 4 - London 5 Guelph 2

2. SOO GREYHOUNDS vs. 7. WINDSOR

(Series tied 3-3)

Game 1 - Soo 5 Windsor 0 Game 2 - Soo 3 Windsor 1 Game 3 - Soo 2 Windsor 1 Game 4 - Windsor 4 Soo 3 (OT) Game 5 - Windsor 6 Soo 5 (OT) Game 6 - Windsor 4 Soo 3 Game 7 - Tues. April 5 at Sault Ste. Marie, 7:00

3. OWEN SOUND vs. 6. PLYMOUTH

(Owen Sound wins series 4-0)

Game 1 - Owen Sound 1 Plymouth 0 Game 2 - Owen Sound 6 Plymouth 1 Game 3 - Owen Sound 5 Plymouth 0 Game 4 - Owen Sound 7 Plymouth 2

4. KITCHENER vs. 5. ERIE

(Kitchener wins series 4-2)

Game 1 - Erie 2 Kitchener 1 (2OT) Game 2 - Erie 4 Kitchener 2 Game 3 - Kitchener 4 Erie 3 (OT) Game 4 - Kitchener 3 Erie 2 (OT) Game 5 - Kitchener 3 Erie 2 (OT) Game 6 - Kitchener 3 Erie 2

(* if necessary)

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