![\"160px-Windsor_Spitfires_logo](\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3572\/3351961996_713713c526_o.png\" "\\"Spits'")
<\/a>Go Spits Go!!! I believe! <\/p><\/div>\n
First period:<\/strong> Two early chances for Taylor Hall, then a frantic series in the Windsor zone at about the 3 minute mark in which Engelage is down and out and Adam Henrique collapses to the front of his goal (I think) and makes a terrific block on a sure goal from Riendeau.\u00a0 Drummondville is buzzing;\u00a0 I believe they have the generally superior team speed.\u00a0 If they are able to keep that kind of pace up, Windsor will be in trouble.\u00a0 On the other hand, if the Spitfires are able to keep the pressure on Drummondville over the entire ice surface, disrupting their flow, the Spitfires will win.<\/p>\n Things seem to be settling down a wee bit;\u00a0 the teams are racing back and forth a bit.\u00a0 It is encouraging to see the Spitfires breaking up some of the Drummondville rushes, but these wide open opportunities at the feet of Engelage are obviously not on the menu.\u00a0 As an aside, why the hell are we doing an in-game interview with coach Bob Boughner less than seven minutes in to the game?\u00a0 Is he really likely to have gained a lot of insight into the game at that point?<\/p>\n Dale Mitchell is down and hurt at the Drummondville blue line after a collision with Drummondville defenceman Ryan McKiernan, resulting in the game’s first penalty (for kneeing).\u00a0 Nemisz blasts one wide left from the slot.\u00a0\u00a0The power play\u00a0– for a change – is actually maintaining control of the puck in the offensive zone.\u00a0 The PP is over now, Cousineau wasn’t seriously challenged, but he was required to make a couple of quick saves;\u00a0 the penalty has\u00a0been served.\u00a0 Windsor seems to have begun dictating play once again, but then a loose puck is recovered by Jonathon Brunelle in the Windsor zone and a battle for the puck in the corner leads to a Windsor penalty.\u00a0\u00a0 Engelage makes a huge save on a wide-open Vachon to keep the game scoreless.\u00a0 Timmins and MacDermid manage some good pressure down ice while shorthanded and force a couple of face offs.\u00a0 The penalty is killed successfully.\u00a0\u00a0 A minute or two later, Johnathon Brunelle is trying to do a preview of the Indy 500 in the Windsor zone;\u00a0 he’s carrying the puck around and around the perimeter of the zone, occasionally centring the puck dangerously and – just as often – recovering it himself.\u00a0 Thankfully, that little flurry ends harmlessly.<\/p>\n With four minutes remaining, Taylor Hall finishes off a give and go after a nice feed from Cundari;\u00a0 1-0 Windsor.\u00a0 The Spits follow up that goal with a decent energy shift from MacDermid, Mitchell and Loktionov.\u00a0 Drummondville is forced to ice the puck to relieve the pressure.\u00a0 Nemisz, Hall and Henrique are thrown out for the draw.\u00a0 Another faceoff gets forced and Ben Shutron scores on a nice feed from Loktionov on a wrist shot from just inside the top of the circle.\u00a0 With 1:50 to go in the first, the Spits have a 2-0 lead.\u00a0\u00a0 Windsor goes right back to the attack, cycling the puck effectively in the Voltigeurs’ zone, and the period comes to a close.\u00a0 As it stands, the Spits have the Voltigeurs on the ropes;\u00a0 we need a third goal early in the\u00a0next period\u00a0to crush Drummondville’s will to rally.<\/p>\n Second period:<\/strong> The Hall\/Nemisz\/Henrique unit begins the period.\u00a0 Timmins, MacDermid and Watson follow up;\u00a0 Drummondville is pressing and Samson Mahbod scores a meaningful goal early in the second.\u00a0 The Timmins unit seemed uncharacteristically lackadaisical on the Drummondville puck carrier on that sequence.\u00a0\u00a0 Samson Mahbod and Jessie Blacker are both injured on a play where Mahbod checks the Windsor defenceman from behind;\u00a0 I have no idea how Mahbod injured himself, but he seems to have taken a blow to the knee.\u00a0 Mahbod can’t even go to the box to serve his own minor.\u00a0 A good powerplay opportunity is foiled by Cousineau and Drumondville goes down shorthanded and forces Engelage to make a good stop of his own.\u00a0 Windsor pushes back and Rob Kwiet walks in to the top of the circle and hammers a slapper that Cousineau snares with a nice trapper save.\u00a0 Timmins, Mitchell and Henrique (line change?) are finishing up the powerplay and get another couple of good chances;\u00a0 they force a draw in the Drummondville zone.\u00a0 Windsor controls but loses posession, regains and advances once again into Drummondville territory\u00a0 but can’t get an opportunity.\u00a0 Eric Wellwood rushes the puck up ice but coughs it up at the blueline, and the play heads back in the other direction; that rush is foiled, but there soon follows another that looked like a partial 3 on 1 defensed brilliantly by Mark Cundari;\u00a0 he prevents a clean pass across to the open Levesque until the very last moment, giving Engelage a chance to cheat a bit and get across to make the stop.\u00a0\u00a0 Engelage makes another stop at the top of his crease.\u00a0 Drummondville is definitely carrying the balance of the play at this point;\u00a0 Engelage has come up large so far.<\/p>\n Henrique, Hall and Nemisz get a great chance in the Drummondville zone but can’t convert.\u00a0 Energy is needed, and like clockwork, here comes Timmins’ line.\u00a0 MacDermid drills Ryan McKiernan and knocks him silly; the camera briefly shows one of McKiernan’s teammates trying to grab him and pull him on to the bench as he wobbles in the direction of safety. \u00a0 Here’s a TV timeout:\u00a0 let’s see if that hit gets the Spitfires a little more focussed on the job at hand.<\/p>\n Drummondville coach Guy Boucher looks like he could shoot lasers out of his eyes as he’s interviewed on the bench.\u00a0 Note to self:\u00a0 don’t mess with that guy.\u00a0 Taylor Hall and Dmitry Kulikov draw coincidental penalties as Hall stupidly shoots the puck after a whistle and Kulikov hammers him into the boards after that.\u00a0 Lots of soon to be high-priced NHL talent in the sin bin here.\u00a0 Windsor controls the draw and Nemisz has another great chance in tight on Cousineau that he can’t convert.\u00a0\u00a0 The game is getting decidedly more chippy as the Voltigeurs were ( a few moments ago) treating Ryan Ellis like a paddle treats a pinball and Ellis has now decided to try and intimidate a guy who’s about a foot taller than him.\u00a0 I wouldn’t say it’s working, but I wouldn’t say it’s failing either.\u00a0 Play enters the Drummondville zone, the Spits cycle the puck for a couple of great chances but can’t get a shot, then Loktionov just misses a bouncing puck to the right hand side of a wide open net.\u00a0 The pace is picking up again.\u00a0 TV timeout.<\/p>\n Most of the next sequence is played in the Drummondville zone.\u00a0 Ryan Ellis has a couple of good wrist shots directed at the net through traffic, and Nemisz has a good chance too.\u00a0 The sequence ends as Windsor turns the puck over at the blueline, almost surrenders an odd man rush the other way, but recovers the puck and turns it in to a wrist shot attempt by Taylor Hall.\u00a0 Nice save by Cousineau.\u00a0 On the following shift, Drummondville rushes the puck up ice and Harry Young hauls Riendeau down.\u00a0 Voltigeurs powerplay.\u00a0 Masse just misses Riendeau for a dangerous attempt.\u00a0 Scott Timmins makes a brave shot block off each of the Voltigeurs defencemen.\u00a0 Excellent penalty killing by Windsor leaves Drummondville unable to recover the puck and gain unchallenged possesion in Spitfire territory.\u00a0 Cundari gets a delay of game penalty after making a terrific play to recover the puck, but slapping it over the glass at the other end of the ice<\/em>.\u00a0 Drummondville will be up two men for about twenty seconds.\u00a0 Timmins is out with Nemisz and Ellis (interesting:\u00a0 two forwards and a D-man).\u00a0\u00a0 Yannick Riendeau recovers a loose puck and bangs it home past Engelage before the first Windsor penalty expires, leaving a lengthy Drummondville powerplay still to come.\u00a0 With four and a half minutes to go in the second, it’s tied at two.<\/p>\n Engelage denies Masse and Riendeau in front on a scramble.\u00a0 Henrique makes a nice play to recover a loose puck without his stick and kick it back to a defenceman;\u00a0 the Spitfires look like a lock to kill the rest of this penalty, but there is another mad scramble moments later in front of Engelage as the Spits fail to clear a loose puck. \u00a0 Penalty killed. TV timeout.<\/p>\n Hall and Nemisz have a shift with heavy pressure, ringing one shot off the bar.\u00a0 Boughner follows up with Loktionov and\u00a0 MacDermid, and Loktionov has a chance off the rush that Cousineau has to make a nice save on.\u00a0 Drummondville generates another couple of chances from behind the net.\u00a0 Windsor better close that area up in the third, Drummondville has killed them from behind the goal.\u00a0 As the period ends, Nemisz fires the puck on goal and Riendeau thumps him to the ice afterwards.\u00a0 Henrique foolishly gets involved with Gabriel Dumont in a post-buzzer scrum – we’ll see if he draws a penalty too.\u00a0 The replay shows Taylor Hall was wide open at the side of the net but Nemisz likely didn’t have time to pass to him;\u00a0 he had to shoot in order to have any chance to beat the rapidly expiring clock.\u00a0 Should be a good third period coming up;\u00a0 here’s hoping the Spits start on a power play.<\/p>\n Just checked the Memorial Cup website:\u00a0 according to the gamesheet posted there, the refs have called coincidental minors – two to each team – and the clubs will be at even strength to start the 3rd.\u00a0 Dammit.<\/p>\n Crystal ball department:\u00a0 thus far, Drummondville hasn’t been able to maintain the pace they started the game with, but neither has Windsor been able to keep up the early forechecking pressure.\u00a0 The Voltigeurs were the better club in the second, but they got a couple of lucky breaks, in particular the penalty to Cundari – I don’t think I’ve ever before seen a defenceman shoot the puck out of the opposite end of a hockey rink for such a penalty.\u00a0 If I were forced to lay a bet, I’d lay a wager that before the game is over, Taylor Hall will score.\u00a0 I have a hunch that the Spits are going to pull it out, but this one is very even and may be headed for overtime.\u00a0 The major\u00a0area of defensive concern for the Spits has to be behind their own goal;\u00a0 for some reason the Voltigeurs are recovering pucks there very frequently and centring them for big opportunities.\u00a0 Those of you paying attention will recall that it was just such a play that resulted in the winning goal when these teams met in the round robin.<\/p>\n Third period: <\/strong>Twenty minutes to play for a berth in the finals.\u00a0 Loktionov makes a great play to Wellwood who tries to roof it – and does, but the roof in question is not in the net, but rather the arena.\u00a0\u00a0 On another rush shortly thereafter, Hall has yet another chance, stopped by Cousineau.\u00a0 Masse rushes back in the other direction and walks into the slot unchallenged for a clear chance, stopped by Engelage.\u00a0 The nerves seem to be getting to both teams as there follows a minute or two of play back and forth between the blue lines;\u00a0 both teams seem a little tentative and neither is generating a lot of speed through the middle of the ice.\u00a0\u00a0 Wellwood generates a great chance with outside speed and a good puck recovery;\u00a0 a minute or two later, Dale Mitchell gets a semi-breakaway by splitting the defence and goes in on Cousineau who makes a great pad save, coughs up a rebound that Mitchell retrieves and fires at the net while moving in the wrong direction.\u00a0\u00a0 Moments later, Mitchell has another quasi-breakaway but fires it wide.\u00a0 The Timmins unit is on and ramping up the pressure.\u00a0 Mike Hoffman tries to go wide on Rob Kwiet, who loses his stick as he pokes at Hoffman’s feet;\u00a0 Hoffman goes down like he was shot and Drummondville will go to the powerplay once again.\u00a0 TV timeout, and I won’t be breathing for the next few minutes.<\/p>\n They show the replay of Hoffman’s dive;\u00a0 I am convinced he is related to Dustin Hoffman now more than ever.\u00a0 Windsor wins the draw and clears it out.\u00a0 Timmins, Cundari, Young and Nemisz are on the ice for the Spits.\u00a0 Hoffman the big cheater is out there with Masse, Riendeau, Vachon for Drummondville.\u00a0 A very dangerous Drummondville rush is broken up and Dany Masse takes a hooking penalty to make it four on four.\u00a0\u00a0 Before play is stopped, Windsor has a dangerous three on one but the shot is high over the crossbar.\u00a0\u00a0 Windsor goes to an abbreviated poewrplay with about 11:40 to go in the game.\u00a0 The puck is in the Drummondville zone, then knocked out, then back in again, where it is recovered by Hall and cycled along the wall.\u00a0 Ellis gets it to Kwiet, to Ellis, to Loktionov, to Ellis and tipped by Nemisz on a wrist shot from the point.\u00a0 Nemisz carries it in and is dumped driving to the net, no penalty.\u00a0 Ellis retrieves the puck and drives in deep, Drummondville is barely holding on here.\u00a0 The penalty is over, teams are at full strength.<\/p>\n Lane MacDermid, Scott Timmins and the rookie Austin Watson are out there against Frenette and Couturier for Drummondville (can’t make out the other forward).\u00a0 Windsor is carrying the majority of puck possession here.\u00a0 With 8:47 left, TV timeout.<\/p>\n Right now, the Spits are outshooting the Voltigeurs 7-0 in the third.\u00a0 Loktionov wins a faceoff against Masse in the offensive zone.\u00a0 It’s cleared out, then carried back in by Loktionov, who tries to go five hole on Cousineau but the Drummondville goaler is equal to the challenge.\u00a0 Another draw in the Drummondville zone is won by the Spits.\u00a0 Windsor is owning the puck right now;\u00a0 they need to cash it into a goal and soon.\u00a0 With seven and a half minutes to go, we’re surely approaching next goal wins teritory.<\/p>\n Another draw is won by Windsor in the neutral zone and hammered in to the offensive zone.\u00a0 A Drummondville counter is broken up at centre and MacDermid carries in on the left wing.\u00a0 His shot is blocked, and the Spits fail to recover but break up another counter immediately.\u00a0 Shutron’s pass to Wellwood fails to produce a goal, but it’s a good one.\u00a0 It’s cleared out and recovered by Windsor.\u00a0 Cundari carries in one on four and forces Cousineau to make a terrific glove save.\u00a0 Drummondville is standing around and watching right now.\u00a0 Drummondville\u00a0 wins the faceoff to Cousineau’s right, but can’t get the puck through centre.\u00a0 They recover the puck again and get a rush that fails to produce a shot.\u00a0 Hall gets the puck on a Windsor rush and has a glorious chance to win it, but can’t get good wood on it.\u00a0 On the next foray, the puck lies loose at the feet of Cousineau for a tantalizing second before it’s chipped out and recovered again by the Spits.\u00a0 Ellis clears it deep and Masse mounts a rush that ends with a weak wrist shot from just inside the blueline;\u00a0 that might be the Voltigeurs’ first shot on goal of the period.\u00a0 TV timeout.<\/p>\n I am strangely uninterested in the adventures of the Russell family at Boston Pizza at this time.<\/p>\n Sporstnet shows a clip that indicates Riendeau may have hurt himself in a collision with a teammate.<\/p>\n Austin Watson carries two on one with Shutron, Watson shoots, Timmins follows up and can’t get the rebound past Cousineau. \u00a0\u00a0 Windsor wins another draw, Ellis fires from the point and it’s tipped.\u00a0 Mitchell has an opportunity in the slot, Drummondville penalty coming with 3:55 to go in the 3rd.\u00a0 This, as they say, is it.\u00a0 Windsor has had all the mojo this period;\u00a0 it’s time for the powerplay to put this game in the bag.\u00a0\u00a0 Loktionov, Nemisz, Kwiet, Ellis and Hall are out there.\u00a0 Ellis dishes to Hall who just misses low and to the left of Cousineau.\u00a0 It’s cleared.\u00a0 Ellis shoots it in, Dumont can’t clear, it’s blocked on a shot from the point.\u00a0 Hall carries in, Ellis can’t shoot it in to the corner cleanly and there will be a faceoff outside the zone as the puck goes over the glass.\u00a0 Windsor takes its 30 second time out to keep the number one unit out there.\u00a0 Drummondville has Vachon, Levesque, Kolikov and one other player I can’t make out on the ice.\u00a0 It’s Prokop;\u00a0 he recovers a shoot in and clears it out.\u00a0 Twenty seconds remaining in the PP, just over two minutes in the game.\u00a0 Hall carries up the right wing.\u00a0 Nemisz keeps it onside, dishes deep to Mitchell who feeds it over to Lotionov who fans off the right post.\u00a0 The penalty is killed.\u00a0 Riendeau carries up ice and fires wide off of Cundari, out of play.\u00a0 1:25 remaining.<\/p>\n Wellwood carries up the left wing but is knocked over.\u00a0 Windsor has the puck in the neutral zone and shoots it deep with a minute to go.\u00a0 Wellwood tries to send it back to the point, but it’s turned over, then recovered by Windsor.\u00a0 A pass is deflected over the glass and there are 30 seconds left.\u00a0 Hall faces off against Vachon at centre ice with MacDermid and Nemisz on the ice too.\u00a0 It’s flipped out of play.\u00a0 There’s another draw at centre, Harry Young shoots it from the point and MacDermid has a great chance but seems to kind of fan on the puck.\u00a0 The period is over and it’s official we’re going to overtime.<\/p>\n According to the online scoresheet, the shots were 16-2 in that period for Windsor;\u00a0 the Spitfires dominated and deserved more than they got in that frame.\u00a0 Credit Marco Cousineau for some tremendous work in the Voltigeur net.<\/p>\n Overtime:<\/strong> I am going to bet on Dale Mitchell as the goal scorer for the Spits.\u00a0 I choose to disregard the glaring 41-20 Windsor shot advantage and I tell myself that the history of such shot imbalances leading to the team that got outplayed winning it means nothing.<\/p>\n Windsor wins the draw and Henrique has a drive saved by Cousineau.\u00a0 Shutron can’t hold it in, Drummondville’s rush is broken up at centre and it’s carried in by Hall and shot off Cousineau’s glove and out of play.\u00a0\u00a0 Windsor wins the draw.\u00a0 Carried in by Mitchell and when the Voltiguers reover, they almost clear it over the glass.\u00a0 It’s back in the offensive zone, Hall, Nemisz and Loktionov on the ice.\u00a0 Nemisz carries up the right side, followed by Hall, it’s flipped out and Couturier has it, banged at the net and a scramble in front that’s cleared.\u00a0 Cundari from the point, Nemisz at the side of the net is robbed by Cousineau.\u00a0 MacDermid shoots it in and chases.\u00a0 Watson and Timmins are there with him, to Ellis at the point, over to Young, back in deep.\u00a0 Watson in front sweeps it past the far post.\u00a0 Ellis has a long drive stopped by Cousineau’s pad.<\/p>\n
![\"henrique](\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3368\/3555130773_5a94756f8e_o.jpg\" "\\"Henrique")
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