Konecny leads 67’s to an 8-3 win over the Spitfires

Despite trading away their leading scorer, the Ottawa 67’s did not struggle putting pucks in the net in an 8-3 drubbing over the Windsor Spitfires tonight.

Joseph Blandisi was a point-per-game player and led the team in scoring with 21 goals and 37 points in 37 games.  Blandisi was traded to the Barrie Colts in exchange for Erik Bradford and two 3rd round picks.  Bradford, cousin of former 67’s Jamie and Tye McGinn, made an immediate impact scoring the insurance goal and picking up an assist in his 67’s debut.  But Bradford was overshadowed by a familiar name.

After a disappointing 5th place finish in the World Under-17 Championships, Team Ontario captain Travis Konecny scored 2 goals and added 2 assists in his first game back.  Linemate Ryan Van Stralen also had a strong performance tallying a goal and 4 points for the win.

The game didn’t start off favorable for the 67’s.  Taking advantage of a bad line change, Brady Vail opened the scoring at the 1:04 minute mark for the 1-0 lead – an early lead the 67’s have given up far too often this season.  The goal set the pace for the next 5 minutes where the 67’s struggled to maintain possession and stay out of their own zone.

The 67’s regrouped and the tables turned on the Spitfires.  A game tying highlight reel goal from Konecny got his team back into the game.  After stripping Patrick Sanvido of the puck, Konecny raced down the ice and beat goaltender Alex Fotinos in the slot with a hard wrist shot.

Vail would add his second of the game to regain the Spits lead just 1:24 after Konecny’s goal.

The 67’s would continue to press and capitalize on their chances scoring 5 straight goals (Jonathan Duchesne, Brendan Bell x2, Erik Bradford and Konecny) in a 22 minute time frame.

Vail, who now has 7 points in his last two games against the 67’s, added his third goal of the game to make it 5-3 midway through the third but it was too little too late.  The 67’s would rub more salt into the wounds after Ryan Van Stralen and Connor Brown combined for a pair of late goals.

Spitfires head coach to the official Spitfires twitter account that it was the "Top 3 worst games in [his] 8 years."

The win improves the 67’s streak to two games and hands the Spitfires their third straight loss and only their sixth loss all season on home ice. 

The 67’s prepare for the OHL Trade Deadline tomorrow at noon before travelling to Saginaw to take on former 67, Sean Callaghan and his Saginaw Spirit that night.

Game summary here.