1 week Ago By [email protected] (Josh Brown)
Firepower. The Windsor Spitfires have it in spades. At least, at the top.
Just glance at the Ontario Hockey League playoff scoring leaders and you’ll find their deadly duo of Liam Greentree and Ilya Protas tied for top spot with 15 points apiece in just five games. Noah Morneau, the third member of the potent top line, isn’t far behind with 11 points. “Everybody can see the stats,” said Kitchener Rangers coach Jussi Ahokas, whose club takes on the Spits Thursday in Game 1 of their western conference best-of-seven semifinal at the WFCU Centre.
“Their first line has been really good for them. Our defensive details have to be on. It has to be a team defence on those guys.
” Windsor went from worst in the west last season to third overall in the OHL with a record of 45-17-4-2. But Kitchener had a surprising run too. The Rangers came into the season as a team on the rebuild but surpassed expectations and hit the 100-point mark for just the fourth time in franchise history with an impressive 47-15-4-2 record to place second overall in the league.
The Spits got the second seed in the conference for taking the West Division title, even though the Rangers, seeded third, had more points. There isn’t much separating the clubs, which means it should be a long series. The teams split their season series 2-2.
Windsor thrashed Kitchener 12-2 in the second game of the season, but the Blueshirts were battling a flu bug. Kitchener won the last two meetings, one in a shootout. It’s all about the big three — Greentree, Protas and Morneau — who combined for 18 of the team’s 28 goals (second most) in the first round.
Ryan Abraham potted 29 goals in the regular season and had three points in the west quarterfinal clincher against the Soo while Cole Davis, A.J. Spellacy and Jack Nesbitt have some pop.
Kitchener has its own terrific troika in Trent Swick, Christian Humphreys and Jack Pridham. The all-NHL-drafted top unit potted nine of the Rangers’ 17 goals against Flint. The second line takes a hit with regular season scoring leader Adrian Misaljevic (lower body) listed as day-to-day and Luke Ellinas (suspension) out for the first two games.
Windsor Windsor’s blue line is down a pair with Tanner Winegard and Tnias Mathurin injured. Anthony Cristoforo missed a pair of games in the opening round but is back and leads the rush. Carson Woodall left Game 5 against the Soo after taking a high stick to the face but should be good to go.
The soon to be 19-year-old leads the Spits in playoff scoring in the back end with four points. Cameron Reid is day-to-day with an unknown injury but returned to practice in a non-contact sweater for the Rangers Wednesday. Rookie Jacob Xu has stepped up in his absence to join an already deep core that includes captain Matthew Andonovski, veteran Carson Campbell, up-and-comers Max Dirracolo and Andrew MacNiel and import Jakub Chromiak, who is tied for third in team scoring in the playoffs.
Kitchener Spits starter Joey Costanzo had mixed results in the second half of the regular season and allowed five or more goals in four of his final eight games. But he has been steady in the playoffs with a tidy 2.15 goals-against average and .
915 save percentage in the first round. Jackson Parsons wasn’t tested that much by Flint but made the big saves when he had to. He has continued his career year by leading all goalies with a minuscule 1.
58 goals-against average and .939 save percentage in the playoffs. The overager is keenly aware this is his swan song and is motivated to go out with a bang.
Kitchener Windsor’s power play is humming along at a 38.5 per cent clip (fourth best) while scoring a league-high 10 goals with the man advantage in the playoffs. The Spits had the eighth-ranked penalty kill (75 per cent) in the first round.
Kitchener was a league best 21-for-21 on the penalty kill and it was a big reason the team ended its series against Flint in five games. Ironically, the team also had 21 power plays and cashed on five of them — 23.8 per cent — which ranked 11th out of 16 playoff teams.
Even Health improves, key players return to form and the team’s ability to pump in goals continues. Windsor’s stars impose their will — especially on the power play — and prove to be too much for the Rangers. Costanzo continues to be stable — but not spectacular — and that’s enough.
Kitchener’s top line keeps on sizzling but youngsters Luca Romano and Tanner Lam, among others, take some of the scoring pressure off the big guns. The Rangers stay out of the box and the team’s lockdown defence and penalty killing stifles the Spits. When Windsor does get its chances, Parsons is there to shut the door.
In points, Windsor is the underdog. In seeding, Kitchener is the underdog. When it’s that close, you take the team that is healthier, deeper and has the better goalie.
To me, that’s Kitchener. Rangers in seven games. London over Erie, Oshawa beats Brantford and Kingston takes care of Barrie.
My first-round predictions record: 7-1. Download The Record mobile app for or to stay up to date on coverage of the Kitchener Rangers. In the app, you can enable notifications to receive updates on game coverage, big trade moves and player profiles.
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