By Brad Coccimiglio
SooToday.com
Saturday, October 31, 2009

The Soo Greyhounds got their first look at the 2009-10 Windsor Spitfires on Friday night.

The Greyhounds dropped a 7-4 decision to the Spitfires on Friday night and tied a team record in the process. A tough first period saw the Greyhounds give up 28 shots, the most the team has given up since Dec. 9, 1982 against the Oshawa Generals.

“The area I thought we were really poor in was defensive-zone coverage,” said Greyhounds coach Denny Lambert. “We gave up so many shots and so many rebounds. I don’t know how many grade A chances (Windsor) had. It was probably the most we’ve had here in a long time.

“We lost the one-on-one battles and we were getting beat to the net. (Windsor) was just moving the puck around and we started running and panicking a little bit. We’ve got to learn from that.”

Eric Wellwood, younger brother of Vancouver Canucks forward Kyle, scored four goals to pace the Spitfires to the victory. Harry Young, Kenny Ryan and Scott Timmins also scored for the Spitfires. Greg Nemisz set up three goals while Cam Fowler added a pair of helpers.

Jake Carrick, James Livingston, T.J. Battani and Brett Thompson scored for the Greyhounds. Greyhounds goaltender Robin Lehner stopped 59 shots in the loss.

Lambert added that there was no thought of pulling Lehner at any point during the game and called the loss a learning experience.

“Is there a learning curve for our young kids against a great team like this? Of course there is,” said Lambert. “You have to respect how good they are.”

The Spitfires victory came 24 hours after they dropped a 5-4 shootout decision on home ice to the Owen Sound Attack on Thursday night.

The Spitfires are back in action on Saturday night when they travel to Saginaw to take on the Spirit. The Greyhounds complete their short three-game homestand on Sunday night when they host the Kingston Frontenacs.