Again, the Windsor Spitfires got the best of the Kitchener Rangers.

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Once again, the Windsor Spitfires got the best of the Kitchener Rangers.

It wasn’t as dominant as Windsor’s double-digit win over the Rangers at the end of September, but Friday’s 3-1 win by the Spitfires before 6,958 at the Memorial Auditorium was no less sweet.

“It was a great hockey game,” said Spitfires’ head coach Greg Walter, whose team is ranked No. 10 in the Canadian Hockey League with the Rangers at No. 7.

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It was a rough start to Friday’s game for the Spitfires, who were outshot 16-3 in the first period and trailed 1-0 on a goal by Kitchener’s Alexander Bilecki.

“We had a really bad first period and (backup goalie Carter) Froggett was awesome for us and kept us in the game until we got going,” Walters said. “We knew they were coming after what we did the last game (a 12-2 win by Windsor over Kitchener on Sept. 28). They forechecked hard and we couldn’t find a way out.”

But as dominant as the Rangers were in the opening period, the Spitfires were just as formidable over the final 40 minutes with a 37-14 edge in shots over the final two periods and 40-30 overall.

“We just kept going, forechecking hard, going through the body and our guys did a lot of the little details,” Walters said.

Captain Liam Greentree finally got Windsor even at 1-1 in the final minute of the second period with the Spitfires on the power play.

With seven minutes left in regulation, overager Noah Morneau put the Spitfires ahead with A.J. Spellacy sealing the win with an empty-net goal.

The Spitfires return home on Saturday to play the Ottawa 67’s at the WFCU Centre. Game time is 7:05 p.m.

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Game Summary

Friday Result

Spitfires 3 Rangers 1

Windsor 0 1 2 – 3

Kitchener 1 0 0 – 1

First period: 1. Kitchener, Bilecki 1 (unassisted) 11:58. Penalty: Protas W (tripping) 19:27. 

Second period: 2. Windsor, Greentree 11 (Prots, Morneau) 19:25 (pp). Penalties: Walton W (hooking) 4:19, Andonovski K (slashing) 11:51, Reid K (boarding) 18:29. 

Third period: 3. Windsor, Morneau 8 (Nesbitt) 13:00, 4. Windsor, Spellacy 6 (Davis) 18:43 (en). Penalties: Davis W (high sticking), Bilecki K (cross-checking major, game misconduct) 6:21, Morneau W (hooking) 10:51, Nesbitt W (hooking) 14:42. 

Game stats – SOG – Windsor 3 20 17 – 40 Kitchener 16 6 8 – 30 Goal (shots-saves) – Windsor: Froggett (W,3-1-1-0) (30-29). Kitchener: Parsons(L,12-5-1-0) (39-37). Power play (goals-chances) – Windsor 1-3. Kitchener 0-4. Referees: Danny Emerson and Dave Lewis. Linesmen: Brett Heaman and Spencer Knox. Att.: 6,958 at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.

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