The Windsor Spitfires’ waiting game is finally over. On Thursday night, they got their 2025-26 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) playoffs underway, taking an important win in Game 1 of their first-round series.
Since the start of the season, the club has been pegged as a contender in the Western Conference. This is a veteran team who’s ready to put it all together for one final push towards the Memorial Cup. After winning the West Division, placing second in the conference, they opened up their first-round series on Thursday night at home against the seventh-seeded Guelph Storm. While the visitors gave a push, it wasn’t nearly enough. Here are three takeaways from Game 1.
Locking Down the Defence
For the last two seasons, Spitfires’ head coach Greg Walters has preached strong defence that leads to creative offence. Now, they’re going up against a younger Storm club that is looking to gain some playoff experience prior to hosting the Memorial Cup in 2027.
The plan in Game 1 was to press the defensive game and get as much rubber on net as possible. It worked like a charm. The Spitfires allowed eight shots but gave the Storm few quality chances. When the home side got the puck back, they put everything they could on 18-year-old goaltender Zachary Jovanovski. He kept them in the game.
In the first, Spitfires’ forward Nathan Gaymes scored his first playoff goal (and just his second this season in 50 games). He was followed by forward Nathan Villeneuve (Seattle Kraken) in the second, who was making his highly-anticipated return following an injury. While the Storm managed nine shots in the second, they had nothing to show for it.
In the third, the Spitfires clamped down defensively, allowing just three shots on goaltender Joey Costanzo. Despite just five themselves, they added a pair of goals. One was from defenceman Jakub Fibigr (Kraken) while captain Liam Greentree (New York Rangers) added one you might see on the highlight reels well into the summer. That sealed it as they cruised to a 4-0 win in Game 1. The Spitfires also took the shot-clock 26-20.
As the Storm went just 2-8-0 in their last 10 regular season games, this was a chance for the Spitfires to set the series tone. After the game, Walters said this was a team shutout.
“I thought we started well,” he said. “I thought we managed the game well in the first and played unbelievable in the third period. A team shutout for sure.”
The Windsor #Spitfires got four goals from four different players, plus a 20-save shutout from goaltender Joey Costanzo, in a 4-0 win over the Guelph Storm at the WFCU Centre on Thursday during Game 1 of their #OHL first-round series. pic.twitter.com/TVx4075u9s
— Dave Jewell (@DaveJewellOHL) March 27, 2026
Walters also gave credit to the Storm, who are coached by former Spitfires’ great Cory Stillman. He said they’re a hard-working team who will give you battles.
“They play hard, and they’re structured,” he said. “Their coach (Stillman) was in the NHL, so they’re playing a team game. They have four really good lines, six good defence, and good goaltending. It’s going to be a battle.”
Costanzo is in his fourth season with the club and starting his final playoff run. He immediately pointed to the rest of the team regarding the shutout.
“That’s huge for our group,” Costanzo said. “Everybody was really good in front of me today. We were really good at boxing out and sticking to our guy in the d(efensive)-zone. That was a team shutout.”
Spitfires’ New Trio Shines
When Bowler acquired Villeneuve and forward Alex Pharand from the Sudbury Wolves in January, along with Fibigr from the Brampton Steelheads, the idea was to bring in that veteran experience for the playoff run. The trio had over 600 OHL games under their belts. You can’t teach that. However, you can use it to your advantage, and that’s what the Spitfires did on Thursday.
Related: Spitfires Acquire Villeneuve and Pharand From Wolves in Blockbuster
From the opening puck drop, Villeneuve was hitting everything in sight. He threw his 6-foot, 195-pound frame around with no cares in the world, despite having just returned from a lower-body injury suffered earlier in March. He also added a goal, which was his fifth in his last five playoff games dating back to last season with the Wolves. After the game, he said this is what he’s built for.
“I’m a playoff player, so I like to use my body,” Villeneuve said. “When I hear the fans get loud, it gave a second wind there … I’ve been struggling to score, so my game today was just a shoot-first mentality.”
Windsor #Spitfires‘ forward Nathan Villeneuve (89) sends Guelph #Storm defenceman Eric Frossard into the Spitfires’ bench early on Thursday night during Game 1 of their #OHL first-round Western Conference series. pic.twitter.com/UMFNdwBPVS
— Dave Jewell (@DaveJewellOHL) March 27, 2026
Fibigr added a goal on a rebound off a Greentree shot, plus assisted on Greentree’s highlight reel goal in the third where the captain went around the defence and put a one-handed deke glove side on Jovanovski. Pharand had an assist on the opening goal from Gaymes and threw his body around from start-to-finish. Afterwards, Walters said the trio know this league very well.
“The game is getting more intense and physical,” he said. “They’re men, they’re 19-and-20-years-old and they’ve been in the league. They’ve gone through it.”
The Spitfires need their best players to be their best players throughout the playoffs if they want to make a long run. They also need this trio to find the next level in their game. Bowler acquired them for this very reason: that veteran experience at both ends of the rink, in all situations. So far, it’s looking pretty good.
It’s Just One Game
While it’s a good start, the Spitfires have to realize something important – this is just one game. They still need three more wins.
The Storm aren’t going to roll over and forfeit. They didn’t back down and tested Costanzo in the second. With veteran forward Ethan Miedema, newly acquired forward Tyler Hopkins, and Tecumseh native Jaakko Wycisk up front, they can score. While they only put up 28 goals in their last 10 regular season games, there’s no time like this series to turn that around. This is why the Spitfires can’t rest on the 4-0 win. It’s one game. Costanzo said they can’t get ahead of themselves.
“We’re just going to take it one game at a time, one period at a time,” Costanzo said. “One thing (former Spitfires’ captain) Matt Maggio told me when I was young in this league, he said, ‘just play between the TV timeouts.’ I think we did a good job of that today.”
Like Costanzo, Villeneuve is likely in his last OHL playoff run. He said it’s nice to be up 1-0 in the series, but a specific memory is required for this situation.
“We have to have goldfish memory here,” Villeneuve said. “It’s nice to win one, but we just need to keep moving forward.”
Game 2 is on Saturday and, if the Spitfires want to head back to the Sleeman Centre in Guelph up 2-0, they’re going to need to be ready to weather a Storm club that’s eager to fight back. Game time on Saturday is set for 7:05 p.m.
