Attack Take Series Lead Over Windsor

Written by Jesse Michael for The Canadian Press

OWEN SOUND, Ont. — Special teams were the difference for the Owen Sound Attack on Saturday.

Captain Garrett Wilson’s back-to-back power-play goals late in the third period handed the Attack a 6-4 win over the Windsor Spitfires as Owen Sound takes a 2-1 lead in their Ontario Hockey League Western Conference final.

Windsor’s Zack Kassian was the focal point, as he went off for high-sticking at 16:11 of the third period. Wilson took advantage, snapping a shot from the low side boards which somehow found its way between Spitfires’ goaltender Jack Campbell’s legs.

“If you’re a desperate hockey club, and you have a power play at that time in the game, you expect your best players to be able to go there and make something happen,” Owen Sound coach Mark Reeds said after the game.

“You’re looking for them to step up at key times.”

Wilson — who now has seven goals this post-season — echoed his coach’s sentiments, and said he believed his team would make a comeback.

“We were playing desperate hockey the last ten minutes of the game,” he said. “We have guys who can put the puck in the net. When they took their two penalties, it gave us an opportunity to score, and we took advantage of it.”

Andrew Shaw and Mike Halmo both scored and added an assist for Owen Sound. Liam Heelis had a marker, while Robby Mignardi put the puck into an empty net and Scott Stajcer made 17 saves.

Craig Duininck, Jeff Brown, Zack MacQueen and Alexander Khokhlachev supplied the offence for the Spitfires.

Owen Sound started strong, as Shaw made it 1-0 with his sixth of the playoffs just 6:56 into the game. After a nice pass from Halmo to get him over the blue-line, Shaw cut across just above the hash marks, and lifted a backhand over Jack Campbell’s glove.

Windsor responded shorthanded less than three minutes later, as defenceman Duininck deflected a Saverio Posa point shot past the Attack’s Stajcer to tie the game.

The Spitfires couldn’t capitalize on the momentum shift however, as Shaw and Halmo went back to work, with the latter scoring his first of the post-season, restoring the one-goal lead for the Attack at 11:01.

A brain cramp by Stajcer let Windsor back in the game early in the second, as he missed the shoot around behind his goal. Brown picked off the puck in the corner, and fired it into the empty cage at 1:14, tying the game 2-2.

Both teams then traded goals a few minutes later, as Owen Sound’s Heelis scored his fifth of the playoffs, and Windsor’s MacQueen beautifully tipped a point shot by Adrian Robertson on the power play.

At 4:17 of the third period, a breakdown in the Owen Sound defensive zone left Khokhlachev wide open in front of Stajcer. He made no mistake, firing a shot low blocker side and into the net.

But again, it was the undisciplined play of the Spitfires which let the Attack back into the game, as Wilson found the back of the net on a great look from the corner by Joey Hishon, tying the game at four’s.

“Coming up to the last ten minutes, we took some penalties that I wish we could go back on,” Posa said. “We gave up a one-goal lead like that, and emotions started to get the best of us.”

Mignardi scored the insurance marker after Wilson made it 5-4, on an empty net with 43 seconds left in the third period to secure the victory.

Campbell made 29 saves on 34 shots in the loss.

Notes… Kassian received a match penalty late in the game, and faces an automatic one-game suspension, pending review by league officials. Attack defenceman Jesse Blacker left the ice in some discomfort after the play, and coach Mark Reeds said he would be re-evaluated before game three on Monday.