The Windsor Spitfires will have to earn every point they rack up during the final month of the 2025-26 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) season. They started on the right track Thursday night, earning a big win at home over an Eastern Conference foe.
With less than a month left in the regular season, the Spitfires are battling several teams for first place in the Western Conference. If they want the top seed, they can’t afford to lose many (if any) points with only eleven games left. They welcomed the fourth-seeded Peterborough Petes of the Eastern Conference to town on Thursday night. That’s a club that bought at the January trade deadline and wasn’t about to be cast aside. Here are four takeaways from the WFU center.
Shots, shots and more shots!
After scoring just one goal on 48 shots in a pair of games last weekend, Spitfires head coach Greg Walters wanted to see how they worked to get shots and bodies into the net. It was mission accomplished.
The Spitfires put everything they could on Petes’ goaltender Easton Rye. They shot from all angles, every chance they had, and it worked. Defenseman Jakub Fibigr (Seattle Kraken) scored his 10th of the season and was quickly followed by captain Liam Greentree (New York Rangers) for a 2-0 lead after the first period.
However, the Pieten did not leave. They forced the Spitfires outside, cutting the second period shots in half. After a lot of hard work they potted two, including one from deadline acquisition, veteran Kieron Walton (Winnipeg Jets), to even it. However, Greentree added his second of the night before the period ended to make it 3-2 after 40 minutes.
While the Spitfires got more shots at Rye in the third, it was the Petes who forced overtime thanks to a goal midway through the period. The extra time decided nothing, so the clubs went to a shootout. That’s where Greentree beat Rye, followed by three big stops from Spitfires’ goalkeeper Joey Costanzo, for a 4-3 home win.
After the game, Walters said that although they reverted to old habits halfway through the game, the first period one of their better periods over a long time.
“I thought the first period was probably the best period we’ve played in a long, long time,” he said. “(Getting) 16 shots, we talked about getting pucks to the net and the ‘shoot first’ mentality. For whatever reason, in the second period we went back to our old ways. We played well and a lot of zone time, but everything was on the outside.”
Greentree led by example with a pair of goals and the shootout winner. He said they have great defensive play, but their offensive zone stats aren’t good enough. The message was to get pucks and bodies on net. It makes the game a lot easier if you start like this.
“We started very well today,” he said. “We got a lot of shots on net. They played a big role in our success. We’ve struggled to start games that well, and it makes the game a lot easier when you do that.”
Costanzo makes it work
Although attack and defense are important, the Spitfires might not have achieved the two points without Costanzo. The 20-year-old Toronto native came into the game as one of the best in the OHL with a 2.11 goals-against average (GAA) and a .910 save percentage (SV%). Additionally, he was 2-0 in shootouts.
Costanzo didn’t see many pucks early on, but was able to maintain his focus and stop 25 shots, plus three more in the shootout. He credited his teammates and his trump card with helping him.
“It was a bit messy,” he said. “I thought I did a good job with my athleticism. That was actually my trump card today. The defense helped me move forward, got guys moving and showed me the puck.”
Although going to the shootout can be stressful for fans, the club was keen to participate. Costanzo said he feeds off the crowd’s energy, and he has enjoyed the concept since he was a child.
“I’ve always loved shootouts, even in minor hockey,” he said. “Greentree had a big goal for us, which definitely helps. Of those three (shootout wins), two of them were at home, and I think we really feed the crowd in those moments… There’s a little bit of strategy in there, but ultimately I try to use my athleticism.”
The Windsor #Spitfires got two goals from captain Liam Greentree, plus 25 saves (and a further three in the shootout) from goaltender Joey Costanzo, in a 4-3 shootout win over the Peterborough #Pieten on Thursday at the WFCU Center. #OHL pic.twitter.com/sjNcpeyze8
— Dave Jewell (@DaveJewellOHL) February 27, 2026
Greentree said you can’t ask much more from Costanzo between overtime and the shootout. This was a confidence boost.
“Joe was great for us today,” he said. “Save all three recordings in the shootout you can’t ask for more than that. He had a very solid game, especially in overtime. They had the most puck possession and he played very well. I think this is a good confidence-builder for him, especially this weekend.”
With the win, Costanzo has 103 in his OHL career and 98 as a Spitfire. However, he continues to say that it is not only he who deserves credit for their victories.
“The team is doing so well for me,” he said. “It’s a team sport, and it’s kind of a team statistic. I’m just happy that (general manager) Bill (Bowler) let me stay here for so long to do that. It was a lot of fun and I wouldn’t trade the experience for the world.”
Walters holds Spitfires responsible
Since the trade deadline, the Spitfires have risen to near the top of the OHL in one frustrating statistic: penalty minutes. It’s not something they’re necessarily proud of. Standing up for teammates is one thing. Taking unnecessary penalties and putting your team at a disadvantage is something else.
Walters didn’t want to let them get away with unnecessary punishment. He holds them accountable and as a result, several veterans have been sidelined for a period or more in recent weeks. This includes newcomers Nathan Villeneuve (Kraken) and Alex Pharand (Chicago Blackhawks).
Related: Spitfires acquire Villenevue and Pharand from Wolves in Blockbuster
On Thursday, veteran forward Jack Nesbitt (Philadelphia Flyers) took a cross-checking penalty in the third period for the Petes’ goal. The Pieten scored on the power play. Nesbitt was then benched by Walters. After the game, the coach said they had to set this standard for the playoffs.
“We took away the guys’ ice time with penalties,” Walters said. “They have to get the message. It’s Villeneuve, Pharand and Nesbitt. If those guys get caught, you know everyone will. This is all about the bigger picture of them, understanding that we can’t do that when it comes time for the play-offs. I’m just trying to get the message across. It’s worked because our penalties have been reduced way down as soon as we started doing it. Jack is feeling bad and hopefully the guys keep their emotions in check.”
People sometimes get emotional. However, if it’s going to cost you two points or, in the play-offs, a series, it hurts the team. If you learn now, you will benefit when everything is on the line.
Piets are not a hassle
Coming into the game, the Spitfires were 3-0 against the Petes over the past two seasons, including a 6-3 win in Peterborough in December.
Now the Petes are battling the North Bay Battalion for the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference (now three points ahead) and trying to make as long a run as possible. With Rye, Walton, plus forward Adam Novotny (first round 2024 Canadian Hockey League (CHL) Import Draft) and its 59 points in 49 games, this is not a team you can ignore.
These Petes’ club is a different club than the Spitfires in December. They are hungry and confident, and Walters said they have already defeated serious competitors.
“They also made some trades at the deadline to get better,” he said. “(They) brought a big piece to Walton. They’re a good hockey team. They beat the Rangers, Ottawa (67’s), and Brantford (Bulldogs) where they had 53 shots on net. It’s a very good team.”
Costanzo played with the Niagara IceDogs in 2021-2022 before becoming traded to the Spitfires. He said that the Pieten in the East play a different style.
“I think it’s a big, strong club that is well coached,” he said. “Every time the East teams come here, it’s a little bit different. Maybe dumping the puck a little bit more instead of carrying it in in a hurry. I played a season in the East, so I know a little bit about that hockey. They have strong forwards up front, and I think their defense is underrated.”
The win gives the Spitfires some nice momentum heading into the weekend. They won’t have time to rest when they head out on the road to play the London Knights on Friday before returning home to take on the London Knights on Saturday CHL’s fifth-seeded Barrie Colts.
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