Jeremiah Addison provided the go-ahead goal and insurance as the Windsor Spitfires closed 2016 with a 4-2 win over the Flint Firebirds Saturday afternoon at the WFCU Centre.
With the win on their traditional New Year's Eve matinee, the Spits conclude the 2016 portion of their season in second place in the OHL's West Division, with 51 points, five behind the division leading Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, who beat Guelph in a shootout Saturday. Windsor holds a record of 23 wins, seven losses, four overtime losses and one shootout loss.
Luke Boka put the Spitfires on the board first with his seventh goal of the season, at 8:28 into the opening period. That period would end, however, with Flint's Ryan Moore tying it up with his first of two goals during the game.
Moore would score again at 4:17 in the second period, on the power play, for his 19th goal of the season. Kole Sherwood and Mathieu Henderson would have assists on both of Moore's goals, which would be the only scoring Flint would do in the game. Windsor's Aaron Luchuk would tie the game up at 6:02 in the frame. Addison's goals would punctuate the remainder the second period, and it would be all the scoring Windsor would need.
Penalties were kept to a minimum in the game, with Flint going on the power play four times throughout the contest, converting only once.
Windsor put a tandem in goal for the game, with Mario Culina taking the win, stopping 18 out of 20 shots he faced. Michael DiPietro would be inserted into the crease for less than four minutes in the third period before Culina returned to complete the game. The Spits threw 24 shots at Firebirds goalie Garrett Forrest, who turned away 20 of them.
The Spitfires return after the New Year's long weekend to host the London Knights Tuesday night. The Firebirds travel to Sarnia Wednesday to face the Sting.
