Gutsy effort in 2-1 67’s shootout loss to Spitfires

Two weekends down, one to go. 

The Ottawa 67’s earned their first point in the team’s 9-game road trip with an honest effort against the Windsor Spitfires.  Missing six regulars from the lineup, the 67’s only dressed 15 skaters and missing two of their three top scorers including Sean Monahan and Brett Gustavsen.

The Spitfires put a lot of pressure on the 67’s in the opening frame outshooting them 19-7, but Jacob Blair stood on his head and gave his team a chance to win.  His play continued to be strong throughout the game (final shot count 42-23 for Windsor).  It wasn’t until the 11:11 mark of the first period that Chris Marchese would knock in a rebound on the powerplay resulting in a shower of teddy bears for the club’s annual Teddy Bear Toss.

Taylor Fielding would respond for the 67’s late in the second period after his line of Dante Salituro & Brendan Bell outworked the Spitfires defense.

The 67’s effort continued to improve as the game progressed catching some of the Spitfires by surprise.  However, nothing would be resolved in neither regulation nor overtime.

After the first four shooters were denied, it was Kerby Rechel that put Windsor in the position to win.  However, Cody Ceci would have other plans and forced round 4.  Marchese & Remy Giftopolous continued the scoring battle and the teams moved on to the next round.  Finally, Spits assistant captain, Brady Vail emerged as the shootout hero after being the lone scorer in round 5.

The 67’s drop their 7^th straight game and improve to a 5-0-0-1 record on the road.  The 67’s close out their grueling 9-game roadtrip this weekend starting with a double header in Niagara (Thursday) and Erie (Friday) and ending in Kitchener on Sunday afternoon.