It took some time, but the Windsor Spitfires managed to give the London Knights a run for their money in game one of the 2019 OHL Playoffs Friday.
Windsor didn't really wake-up until the third period of a 4-3 loss. After being outshot 16-10 over the first two periods, the Spitfires put London in the hot seat in the third, outshooting them 16-9.
The young team threw everything but the kitchen sink at Knights' goaltender Jordan Kooy in the final minute of the game, but London held on for the win.
"Resilient is word that we use a lot in our room and I think we've been that team all season. To do it in a tough environment in London, to be resilient like that and not go away, I think it's really important," says Head Coach Trevor Letwoski, who hopes the team will ride Friday's momentum to get off to a quick start in game two.
Tyler Angle kicked off the last minute attack Friday night.
He buried a cross-ice-pass past Knights' goalie Jordan Kooy on the powerplay with Spitfire goaltender Kari Piiroinen on the bench to make it 4-2 — just seconds before Connor Corcoran pulled the Spits within one.
"We've shown that we can play with them. Losing by one with a couple seconds left isn't the result we wanted, but I think going into game two we'll get that start we needed," he says.
Windsor faces London in game two on Sunday, puck drops at 2pm.
Tune into AM800 for all the action.