Windsor Spitfires 2024-25 Season Thread, Part IV

[OHLTG]

A few thoughts...

- I didn't know what to expect coming in because this team dominated Sarnia but we know there have been hills and valleys lately.
- Holding the Bulldogs to eight shots through 40 is damn impressive. That's a team that can score with the best of them and it was a defensive masterclass.
- Costanzo was impressive, despite a couple of goals against. The two goals against... one was an overwhelm around the crease, while the other was Lardis doing Lardis in the slot.
- The Greentree goal was a thing of beauty. Steal, snap, bam. Leenders didn't even move. Cristoforo's goal was a set play where he pinches behind everyone. Great goal. Then Protas... forces the issue, Morneau gets the turnover, rebound to Protas who has an open cage. Nothing to complain about here.
- It felt like a playoff-style game; physical at times, up tempo, and the defensive battle I expected. Leenders probably kept it closer than it should have been but he's Leenders.

There's not a whole lot of bad to say about this. You want physical? You got it. You want defence? You got it. Offence? They had that, too. Brantford is a darn good team and Windsor played the game they needed to for the win.

I believe Windsor needs a win on Thursday OR an Owen Sound regulation loss on Sunday to clinch a playoff spot. It's going to happen eventually, but those are the scenarios.

They get a few days rest now... sort of. Skills competition on Monday, which should be fun. Next game is Thurs against Sarnia to wrap up the home stand, I believe. When it started, I said I'd be happy with 10-12 points out of 14, so if they can go 5-2, that's solid.

 

[ohloutsider]

Impressive win but remember Brantford was short a number of players but Spits have gone through that as well so it works itself out in the end.
Also liked the play of Costanzo especially in the 3rd period. Nice to see a few of those bell ringer type saves. I think Costanzo needs to play. Seems to play better in these b to b scenarios. A 3 in 3 to come where you can squeeze Froggett in but I think you need to run with Costanzo.

I know Spellacy and Davis don't show on the score sheet every night but man oh man do they ever give opposing team's D fits. That really wears them down trying to skate with them. Seen some gasping going on during the game as a direct result of their speed. That pays dividends as the game goes on.

Leenders is the reason it was close. Not sure why he was not a " star" of the game?

Spits need 1 point to clinch a playoff spot and 11 points to clinch the division and at least 2nd in the conference. Hicks interview last night and he pointed that they are playing for 1st in the conference. I like that they have set goals and something to play for rather than coasting to the end of the year.

Sarnia back Thursday and I'm hoping they don't let up on this one thinking ahead to the Saginaw game Friday. Be safe.

 

[Jawk]

Impressive win but remember Brantford was short a number of players but Spits have gone through that as well so it works itself out in the end.
Also liked the play of Costanzo especially in the 3rd period. Nice to see a few of those bell ringer type saves. I think Costanzo needs to play. Seems to play better in these b to b scenarios. A 3 in 3 to come where you can squeeze Froggett in but I think you need to run with Costanzo.

I know Spellacy and Davis don't show on the score sheet every night but man oh man do they ever give opposing team's D fits. That really wears them down trying to skate with them. Seen some gasping going on during the game as a direct result of their speed. That pays dividends as the game goes on.

Leenders is the reason it was close. Not sure why he was not a " star" of the game?

Spits need 1 point to clinch a playoff spot and 11 points to clinch the division and at least 2nd in the conference. Hicks interview last night and he pointed that they are playing for 1st in the conference. I like that they have set goals and something to play for rather than coasting to the end of the year.

Sarnia back Thursday and I'm hoping they don't let up on this one thinking ahead to the Saginaw game Friday. Be safe.

Solid win for you guys last night.
No excuses here, you can only play the team and the roster in front of you. Every time goes through the injuries or weird schedules or whatever.

You are right, we were missing 9 guys last night. 7 the night before. From the Brantford side, im absolutely thrilled they found a way to get a point.

Leenders had been absolutely rolling lately.

 

[hockeylegend11]

Very nice win last night,3 wins in the last 4 and what's impressive Spits in the last 2 against Sarnia and Brantford the last 4 periods of hockey plus OT Windsor allows only 16 shots against the last 4 periods plus OT,1 shot last period vs Sarnia and only 15 all last night,plus in the last 2 games they did not allow 1- 5 on 5 goal,all 4 goals last 2 games scored against were PPG.
Even against London Windsor only allowed 1,5 on 5 goal.
Interesting stat re Dman Mathurin he after last night has missed 9 games and despite imo being their best defensive dman Windsor is 8-0-1 without him.
Only the disappointing loss to Saginaw the only blight the last 4 games.
Game vs Sarnia on Thursday Costanzo deserves the start,hasn't allowed a 5 on 5 goal in 2 straight games.
Hard to believe Greentree 5 points last 2 games yet no star awards.

 

[Cherrydon]

I think the team knows when Mathurin is out they can't rely on him to bail them out. The D took less risks pinching last night. A good tight game to win. I give credit to the Bulldogs. Great goaltending. They seemed disjointed 5 on 5, liklely due to the absence of so many regulars. They never gave up and damm can Lardis can fire the puck quick off his stick. Joey played well with limited action.

 

[DetSpitsFan]

Yeah, you can argue Brantford was out some guys, but Spits were missing their #1 DMan. “Well next time we’ll have ___”, yeah, but this time you didn’t, is always my look at it.

Spits won roughly 60% of faceoffs, doubled Brantfords shots, and then some. Both Bulldogs goals were on the PP, which would concern me more, if one wasn’t a 4 minute we killed 3:45 of, with our best player being the one in the box.

Felt like Playoff style game minus some physicality.

I know “you can’t win em all”, but we’re winning the big games. However, we’d be sitting 2 points back of london if we had just won our home games against the Michigan teams.
Thats asking them to win 7 in row, but beating London, Brantford and Brampton, it feels they should have no problems with Saginaw, Flint and Sarnia.

I do love to hear they’re going for first, because, without it, they’re sitting comfy at #2, with not much to play for. Sure you can set those little milestones like
•Clinching the Playoffs
•Clinching the West Division
But to me, with this team, those are pretty much guarantees as long as we don’t have a monumental collapse

The Magic Number to clinch playoffs is 1
The Magic Number to clinch the division is 9

A combination of 9 Games that Windsor Wins/Saginaw Loses will win us the division. Meaning if all goes in our favor, the division gets locked up 12 days from now in Sarnia. I don’t expect that to happen, but I think we’ll have it by the time we come back from our big trip at the end of February.

I think the team knows when Mathurin is out they can't rely on him to bail them out. The D took less risks pinching last night. A good tight game to win. I give credit to the Bulldogs. Great goaltending. They seemed disjointed 5 on 5, liklely due to the absence of so many regulars. They never gave up and damm can Lardis can fire the puck quick off his stick. Joey played well with limited action.

Lardis has a great shot, but if he picked up his man, Protas wouldn’t have had that OT winner

 

[OHLTG]

The Magic Number to clinch playoffs is 1

Correct me if I'm wrong (I could very well be)... for the 8th playoff seed, it would require a tie-breaker game, so the magic number to clinch right now would be 2?!

Edit: Owen Sound just lost 4-2 to Kingston, which should mean the most they can get is 74 points... and Windsor's at 75.

 

[ohloutsider]

Correct me if I'm wrong (I could very well be)... for the 8th playoff seed, it would require a tie-breaker game, so the magic number to clinch right now would be 2?!

Edit: Owen Sound just lost 4-2 to Kingston, which should mean the most they can get is 74 points... and Windsor's at 75.

The tie breaker for 8th to make the playoffs is a tie breaker game. Can't be eliminated by a tie breaker stat.

And yes that means Windsor is in.

 

[OHLTG]

The tie breaker for 8th to make the playoffs is a tie breaker game. Can't be eliminated by a tie breaker stat.

And yes that means Windsor is in.

That's what I meant with the number being two. You want to "clinch" the playoffs, it would have been 2... though it's now moot.

 

[Cherrydon]

The tie breaker for 8th to make the playoffs is a tie breaker game. Can't be eliminated by a tie breaker stat.

And yes that means Windsor is in.

Windsor's not guaranteed until Guelph loses a game in regulation. They have 2 games in hand on Owen Sound. The earliest windsor can clinch a spot is Wednesday with Guelph losing

 

[TheGremlin]

London could be losing Allen for a few games. This has to bring s suspension doesn’t it.

 

[ohloutsider]

Windsor's not guaranteed until Guelph loses a game in regulation. They have 2 games in hand on Owen Sound. The earliest windsor can clinch a spot is Wednesday with Guelph losing

Ya I guess I didn't think of the Guelph thing but looking at it the best Guelph can do is get to 75 points. It would be a tie. Guelph has to get 2 points, anything less and Windsor is in . Either way it is just a matter of time.

 

[OHLTG]

London could be losing Allen for a few games. This has to bring s suspension doesn’t it.

Thats not going to sit well... or it shouldn't at least.

 

[Cherrydon]

London could be losing Allen for a few games. This has to bring s suspension doesn’t it.

No idea how the league will address it. Off ice incident not being a "physical" attack on someone. Can't remember any comparable cases for a DUI it is a code if conduct infraction. Lockhart got 8 games last year for breaking "code" but I'm still not sure what that was all about.