Spitfires top Spirit in first outdoor game in OHL history

By Matt Mackinder –

DETROIT – Both teams had to endure a nearly two-hour delay to start the game, but once the Windsor Spitfires and Saginaw Spirit dropped the puck Sunday outdoors at Comerica Park, the visiting Spitfires eked out a 6-5 win.

The delay was attributed to the sunlight affecting the players’ safety on the ice, but Steven Janes provided the bright end for the Spitfires, netting an unassisted shorthanded goal at 14:37 to seal the deal.

Still, even in defeat Saginaw coach Greg Gilbert was able to laugh after the game.

“It was a great experience for our kids and something they’ll never forget,” said Gilbert. “It’s probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a lot of these guys. The experience was great, but the outcome was pretty typical of what we’ve been doing lately.”

On the game-winner, Janes came into the Saginaw zone, did a 360-degree spin on a Spirit defenseman and put what looked like an innocent shot on goalie Nikita Serebryakov (23 saves) from the boards that beat Serebryakov far side.

Windsor coach Bob Boughner said getting the win, especially late, was a roll of the dice.

“Obviously, we took a lot of penalties and couldn’t stay out of the box,” Boughner said. “At that point in time, you’re looking down your bench and you don’t want to put someone out who’s cold, and I had rotated four or five (penalty) killers, and Janes made a great effort on the move and just battled a shot and it found its way in.”

The Spitfires opened the scoring at 5:47 of the first period on a power-play goal from Calumet native Ben Johnson.

On the ensuing shift, Saginaw’s Cody Payne came off the bench prematurely to engage Ty Bilcke in a fight near center ice. Payne lost the fight and Saginaw lost Payne as he was given a game misconduct.

Saginaw evened up the game with a power-play goal of its own at 9:44 as captain Eric Locke beat Windsor goalie Alex Fotinos from a sharp angle and then Daniel De Sousa made it 2-1 Spirit at 18:02.

For the start of second period, Dalen Kuchmey replaced Fotinos in goal for Windsor and after Jeremiah Addison pushed Saginaw to a 3-1 lead at 1:47, Windsor rattled off four straight goals from Cristiano DiGiacinto, Slater Koekkoek, Remy Giftopoulos and Brody Milne.

In the third, Justin Sefton (6:20) and Brandon Prophet (11:40) tallied power-play goals to tie the game before Eric Diodati was handed a double-minor for a checking from behind penalty that saw Locke lay on the ice for several minutes.

That set the stage for Janes’ game-winner.

“It was a good time out there and you obviously want the two points, but we came up a little short,” said Locke. “All in all, it was a fun game. I think I’ll remember the atmosphere – the lights and being able to wear the eye black and the throwback jerseys. It’s always going to be a good memory.”

Kuchmey finished with 21 saves for the win after Fotinos stopped 11.

“It comes down to character,” Prophet added. “The most important thing is to stay together as a team and we had a good comeback there (in the third period), but couldn’t get the game, but it’s definitely something to build on for the future.”