3 Takeaways From Spitfires’ 6-3 Loss to Spirit

Froggett was replaced after the fourth goal by veteran Joey Costanzo but it wasn’t enough. While defenceman Wyatt Kennedy scored a neat breakaway goal shorthanded to make it 5-3, Misa hit the empty net for the 6-3 win. Andrew Oke made 37 saves in the win.

Spitfires’ captain Liam Greentree said losing on defensive mistakes is tough to swallow when you focus on that in practice.

“We didn’t play the worst game of the season, but, obviously, not our best game also,” he said. “It was just a couple of things we got outworked in front of our net. We didn’t execute well … They had two goals in front of our net and just outworked us. Those are hard to swallow when we’ve been working so hard in practice.”

Kennedy, the Spitfires’ newest defenceman, was a part of two playoff runs for the North Bay Battalion. He said games like this are a lesson to the younger players.

“It was just one of those nights where the one team executed better than the other team,” he said. “Games like tonight, we’re not going to win every game. You have to learn to lose and learn to win.”

Spitfires Need Goaltending and Defence Consistency

Two of the biggest issues on Wednesday were the Spitfires’ lack of defence from start to finish and allowing three goals in four minutes in the second period. From deflections to a lack of blocking and an inability to clear the crease, the Spirit forwards had more opportunities than they should have. Froggett earned the start after his performance on Sunday against the Knights. However, allowing four goals on 15 shots isn’t ideal for anyone. Head coach Greg Walters said the four-minute outburst hurt.

“We needed a save there for sure,” he said. “We were getting the same chances down at the other end and weren’t able to capitalize.”

That doesn’t mean Froggett or Costanzo were the reasons for the loss. The defence let them down on multiple occasions, including a pair of deflected goals and a crease scramble late in the game. Despite the issues, Walters said this doesn’t change their confidence in either goaltender.

“Joey was easily, until the Christmas break, our best player,” he said. “We have a lot of belief in him. Froggett has had some real good games for us and we believe in both of them. Sometimes, it’s just momentum things (the switch) that we pull guys and, to their credit, we haven’t had to. We’ll get back.”

The Spitfires have now allowed 156 goals through 49 games (3.18 per game). That’s a vast improvement on 360 through 68 games (5.29 per game) last season. Froggett and Costanzo have both shown that they can steal games. However, Wednesday night showed a weakness where players can’t be allowed to deflect at will, put home garbage goals, or pick whatever spot they want. The Spirit had multiple Grade-A chances and it was a defensive wakeup call.

West Division Won’t be Easy to Win

Given the Spitfires finished 10th in the conference last season, leading the division (second in the conference) so far this season has been a pleasant surprise. It’s also proven to be a very tough place to stay and Wednesday was a prime example. The Spirit came into the game 19 points back of the Spitfires for the top divisional seed and, with multiple players returning from the 2024 Memorial Cup championship, they’re not ready to give anything up. Guys like Misa, Oke, the newcomer Chernyshov, and Zayne Parekh are proving that the Spirit are going to battle until the very end.

The Spitfires boast 16 players who are just 18 years old or younger. As successful as they’ve been, they’re still fairly inexperienced, especially with a big playoff push like this. Part of the reason for Wednesday’s loss is that the wounds were self-inflicted, showing this is still a learning process. Walters said expectations have become very high but you have to look at the bigger picture, too.

“We have to understand what this team is,” he said. “Our expectation level is very high, too, because of what those players have been able to go out and accomplish. We’re still a very young team that’s learning how to win and compete. I don’t have any issue with how they go about their business and compete. We’ve lost against very good teams and there are other good teams than just us.”

While the Spitfires’ lead is now at 17 points with around 20 games left, you can’t ignore the Spirit or anyone else in the rearview mirror. If you do that, or take any of this success for granted, that’s when you fall. The Spitfires now get ready for the Sarnia Sting on Friday and the Brantford Bulldogs on Saturday, both at the WFCU Centre.