OHLTG
Registered User
I think most of us figured Windsor would take it in four or five, so Sarnia winning at home isn't surprising. Grab a win on Thurs and then take the series at home on Saturday.
They missed Sobolev, I would argue he is the best defensive d-man on the team.
This sort of reminds me of the Canadiens vs. Leafs series last year. Leafs were clearly the better team and led the series 3-1, but all of a sudden their PP couldn't deliver and Montreal was cashing in on their power plays. Montreal was outshot every game but had better goaltending than the Leafs, similar to Sarnia with Gaudreau, and the Habs won that series. This series could come down to special teams as that one did.
5 on 5 Sarnia only has 1 goal in this series. But playoff series' are won with strong goaltending and special teams. Sarnia has the better goaltending so the Spits need to win the special teams battle or it could all be over soon. So far, Sarnia is somehow winning the special teams battle which is unacceptable.
Sarnia is a team that few expect to do anything with a top tier goaltender who has played Windsor pretty even all year.
Windsor is a team that is learning how to play team defense and take individual responsibility defensively, at the cost of their high powered offense and has struggled with adversity much of the year.
Windsor arrived in Sarnia expecting to win after a couple of good defensive showings while Sarnia showed up at home willing to put in the work, doing all they can to fight for a win.
Plain and simple
On the ice Windsor is struggling when Sarnia is putting pressure on them while Sarnia is learning to believe in themselves and starting to get results.
Show up, do the work, put in the effort combined with the talent and there's nothing Windsor can't accomplish. Just ask Sarnia.
Go back to Onuska, he didn't cost them the game.
The PP has been the same all year, it's way too predictable.
The team needs to realize they have to play both sides of the puck, not just one or like tonight, neither much of the night.
60 minute effort plus talent will win games, not simply talent alone.
Our worst D has been our worst D. The first two games there was effort even if the defensive play was pretty sketchy. Tonight there was very little effort and a lot of poor play period.
It's one loss in a game Sarnia had to win. How Windsor responds Thursday is all that matters right now.
Kudos to Maggio for somehow coming back in what appeared to be an extremely unlikely and very painful situation.
Get things back on track Thursday.
Coach changed it.What in the world has happened to the Spits power play? One of the best in the O all season, connected on 60% of their PP's against Sarnia in the regular season and they can't do anything on the PP in this series? You're not gonna win many playoff games with a non-existent power play. (1 for 17 in this series)
On top of it all, the penalty kill is now all of a sudden a complete joke. This series could get ugly if they don't wake up on special teams. Also, need a lot more from the first line.
I think I speak for all Sting fans when saying we would trade organizational success in a fricken heartbeat even with the decade without a series win haha. I was genuinely shocked though to read you guys haven't won a series in that long. I thought Flint was gonna be a real issue for u guys but if they get upset by Owen Sound which is a real possibility I think y'all got the west fairly comfortably.As a fan of both teams it's funny how many similarities they share. Streak of not getting past the 1st round, having the best player in the league on their team, playing down to their opponents and having the bottom feeder teams give them fits, now this... hope this is the year both break through but no matchup is a comfortable thing until they pull it off
I think I speak for all Sting fans when saying we would trade organizational success in a fricken heartbeat even with the decade without a series win haha. I was genuinely shocked though to read you guys haven't won a series in that long. I thought Flint was gonna be a real issue for u guys but if they get upset by Owen Sound which is a real possibility I think y'all got the west fairly comfortably.
Issues all around.I don't see Medina starting unless Onuska really does something bad on Thurs. He's been your rock so far and we all know it was the PP/PK's issue tonight.
Any team thats physical plays Windsor tough. They just dont like it.Owen Sound is going to be a serious challenge. They play the Spitfires really well. That said, let's get through the next few days, first, haha.
Soft players.Any team thats physical plays Windsor tough. They just dont like it.
And like I said the coach is an idiot. They scored 4x on th pp and they didn’t make any changes. I think Cuylle and Johnston were on for all of them.I agree with much thats said. Forwards need to be willing to get into that hard to play area, not sure if they dont like to or thats not the plan. Whatever it is it needs to change. I wouldnt call this team soft, i believe coach has them playing to skills, which can look like Soft but its not the case here. Certainly not tough as the old days but thats todays game. I predict X starts because i think theyve chose to rotate after an off game. Loss not on O but he coulda been better. Still think windsor wins this series but it only gets tougher, they need to be more flexible with how each team will attack. This is coaching 101 lets see how these coaches react!