Spitfires hold off Troops

 Liam Greentree scored two rapid-fire goals late in the second period to spark the Windsor Spitfires to a 4-3 victory over the North Bay Battalion in one of three Ontario Hockey League games Thursday night.

Anthony Cristoforo and Caden Harvey each provided one goal, while goaltender Joey Costanzo made 24 saves before a crowd of 5,011 at the WFCU Centre.

Windsor improved its won-lost-extended record to 31-10-6 for 68 points, two more than the idle Flint Firebirds, for first place in the West Division and Western Conference.

Lirim Amidovski had one goal and one assist for the Battalion, which got its other goals from Nick Wellenreiter and Sebastien Gervais. Goaltender Jack Lisson made 24 saves as the Troops opened a three-game road trip.

North Bay is 24-20-2 for 50 points, tied for second place in the Central Division with the Niagara IceDogs, who downed the visiting Soo Greyhounds 6-3.

Windsor, which trailed 1-0 after 20 minutes, tied it at 1:42 of the second period when Cristoforo, a defenceman playing right wing, tipped home a right-point drive by Carson Woodall. Ethan Garden had the other assist on Cristoforo’s 15th goal of the season.

Amidovski redirected a Kaden Pitre shot from the top of the right circle on the power play at 17:36, with Kent Greer drawing the second assist on Amidovski’s team-leading 18th goal, but Greentree had two quick answers.

Greentree scored unassisted 45 seconds later, moving down the right wing, slipping to the centre and snapping the puck past Lisson.

Greentree then gave Windsor a 3-2 lead from a muddled play at 19:57, reaching for the puck and swinging it into the net from between the hash marks for his 22nd goal. Woodall, who had the lone assist, leads OHL defencemen in scoring with 51 points.

With 297 career points, including 132 goals, Greentree leapfrogged Blair Barnes into third place in franchise points, behind only Bill Bowler and Ryan Ellis.

Harvey cashed his own rebound at 7:12 of the third period on assists by Ethan Belchetz and A.J. Spellacy before the Troops, skating six on four with Wyatt Kennedy off for slashing, pulled within a goal on Gervais’s tally at 15:54. Assists went to Cam Warren and Amidovski.

It was the 15th goal for Gervais, a Windsor resident, and his third in nine games since a trade from the Saginaw Spirit.

Wellenreiter connected at 12:00 of the first period, taking a short pass from Parker Vaughan and wiring the puck through a screen from the left circle for his 15th goal.

It came after the Battalion applied sustained pressure in Windsor territory, with Wellenreiter and Ethan Procyszyn among those who had solid chances at the goalmouth.

The Troops killed the only penalty of the frame, a crosschecking call on Ryder Cali at 17:47, despite the Spitfires spending the entire two minutes in the offensive zone.

The Battalion visits the London Knights at 7 p.m. Friday. The game can be seen live in North Bay on YourTV Channels 12 and 700.

BATTALION BULLETS: It was the first game between the teams, who complete the season series next Thursday night at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens … Greentree and Ryder Carey scrapped at 10:14 of the final frame, with Carey acquitting himself well. Each received a fighting major … Gervais and Greentree led their respective teams in shots on goal with five apiece … Spellacy dumped linesman Phil Nadeau in a first-period collision along the boards … The Battalion went 2-for-4 on the power play against the OHL’s top-ranked penalty killers. Windsor, with the second-rated power play, was 0-for-1 … Opening lines featured Procyszyn centring left winger Wellenreiter and right winger Vaughan, Pitre centring left winger Gervais and right winger Amidovski and Cali pivoting left winger Shamar Moses and right winger Warren. Evgeny Dubrovtsev centred left winger Nolan Laird and right winger Carey … Defence pairings were Bronson Ride with Brandt Harper, Aaron Enright with Hayden Barch and Adrian Manzo with Greer … The Battalion was without Mike McIvor, Jonathan Kapageridis, Alexander Karmanov, Carter Kunopaski and Arseny Pronin … Cole Vreugdenhil backed up Lisson … Among the missing for Windsor were Jack Nesbitt and Nathan Villeneuve … Kennedy, traded to Windsor on Jan. 9, 2025, for four OHL Priority Selection picks, including two second-rounders, faced his former Battalion teammates for the first time … Blake Beer and Hillary Brennan were the referees.