Guelph Storm fall behind early in loss to Windsor
GUELPH – The Guelph Storm surrendered four goals in the first 13 minutes of the game to fall too far behind the Windsor Spitfires in a 7-4 loss in OHL play Friday night at the Sleeman Centre.
The Storm, who secured a playoff berth Wednesday when the Sudbury Wolves hammered the Soo Greyhounds 9-2, did cut the gap to 5-3 by the end of the second period.
Windsor Spitfires 7 Guelph Storm 4
Max Namestnikov scored a pair of goals for the Storm to give him points in 11 of his last 12 games. Jett Luchanko and Valentin Zhugin added single goals while Jake Murray had two assists and Zhugin, Braeden Bowman, Matthew Poitras and Luchanko had one apiece.
Alex Christopoulos had a hat trick for Windsor while single goals were added by Oliver Peer, Matthew Maggio, Jacob Maillet and Shane Wright. Maillet collected three assists while Wright had two and Rodwin Dionicio, Michael Renwick, Anthony Cristoforo, Liam Greentree, Daniil Sobolev and Jacob Holmes each had one.
The Storm outshot the Spitfires 29-24, holding the visitors to three shots in the third period. They scored on two of them. The locals went 2-for-10 on their power play while Windsor went 1-for-6.
Patrick Leaver started in net for the Storm, but was replaced at 12:16 of the first after Windsor’s fourth goal. Brayden Gillespie played the rest of the way and he yielded two goals. Leaver finished with seven saves while Gillespie had 10.
Joey Costanza had 25 saves for Windsor.
The Storm is in a tie for fifth place in the Western Conference with the Flint Firebirds following their third consecutive loss. The locals are at 30-27-4-1 while Flint has a game in hand at 30-26-4-1. Kitchener Rangers are a point behind in seventh at 30-26-4-0 while the Owen Sound Attack are eighth at 29-26-4-1. Both Kitchener and Owen Sound have two games in hand. The Rangers have clinched a playoff berth, Owen Sound hasn’t.
London Knights (42-17-2-0), Windsor (39-16-4-2), Sarnia Sting (35-17-5-3), Saginaw Spirit (33-24-2-2) and Flint have also secured their spots in the playoffs.
With six games to go in their regular season, the Storm can finish anywhere from fourth to eighth in the conference.
The Storm are to host London Wednesday at 7 p.m.
- Guelph Sports Journal
Guelph Storm fall behind early in loss to Windsor
GUELPH – The Guelph Storm surrendered four goals in the first 13 minutes of the game to fall too far behind the Windsor Spitfires in a 7-4 loss in OHL play Friday night at the Sleeman Centre.
The Storm, who secured a playoff berth Wednesday when the Sudbury Wolves hammered the Soo Greyhounds 9-2, did cut the gap to 5-3 by the end of the second period.
Windsor Spitfires 7
Guelph Storm 4
Max Namestnikov scored a pair of goals for the Storm to give him points in 11 of his last 12 games. Jett Luchanko and Valentin Zhugin added single goals while Jake Murray had two assists and Zhugin, Braeden Bowman, Matthew Poitras and Luchanko had one apiece.
Alex Christopoulos had a hat trick for Windsor while single goals were added by Oliver Peer, Matthew Maggio, Jacob Maillet and Shane Wright. Maillet collected three assists while Wright had two and Rodwin Dionicio, Michael Renwick, Anthony Cristoforo, Liam Greentree, Daniil Sobolev and Jacob Holmes each had one.
The Storm outshot the Spitfires 29-24, holding the visitors to three shots in the third period. They scored on two of them. The locals went 2-for-10 on their power play while Windsor went 1-for-6.
Patrick Leaver started in net for the Storm, but was replaced at 12:16 of the first after Windsor’s fourth goal. Brayden Gillespie played the rest of the way and he yielded two goals. Leaver finished with seven saves while Gillespie had 10.
Joey Costanza had 25 saves for Windsor.
The Storm is in a tie for fifth place in the Western Conference with the Flint Firebirds following their third consecutive loss. The locals are at 30-27-4-1 while Flint has a game in hand at 30-26-4-1. Kitchener Rangers are a point behind in seventh at 30-26-4-0 while the Owen Sound Attack are eighth at 29-26-4-1. Both Kitchener and Owen Sound have two games in hand. The Rangers have clinched a playoff berth, Owen Sound hasn’t.
London Knights (42-17-2-0), Windsor (39-16-4-2), Sarnia Sting (35-17-5-3), Saginaw Spirit (33-24-2-2) and Flint have also secured their spots in the playoffs.
With six games to go in their regular season, the Storm can finish anywhere from fourth to eighth in the conference.
The Storm are to host London Wednesday at 7 p.m.
- Guelph Sports Journal