OHL Round 3: 3 Takeaways From Spitfires’ 6-3 Game 4 Loss vs Rangers – The Hockey Writers – OHL

The Windsor Spitfires find themselves in unfamiliar territory. A frustrating Game 4 loss at home on Wednesday night to the Kitchener Rangers puts them on the brink of elimination for the first time in the 2025-26 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) Playoffs.

It was no secret that this was going to be a tough series. The Western Conference’s second-seeded Spitfires had rolled over the Guelph Storm and Flint Firebirds before facing the top-seeded Rangers in the conference championship. However, the Rangers gave them issues all season, and this series has been no different. These are two defensive clubs who love that tight-checking style. While the favourites won Games 1 and 2 at home, the Spitfires took Game 3 in their barn. Unfortunately, Game 4 didn’t pan out the way they wanted. Here are three takes from the WFCU Centre.

Rangers Flex Offensive Muscles

After three defensive-minded games in this series, the Spitfires and Rangers found a way to create more offence.

The clubs played their patented defensive styles to start. However, midway through the first period, the offence started. The Spitfires failed on a power play and quickly found themselves on a 5-on-3 disadvantage. The Rangers pounced with goals from Dylan Edwards and Sam O’Reilly (Tampa Bay Lightning) for a 2-0 lead.

In the second, the Rangers continued to press. They kept the Spitfires to just five more shots thanks to some outstanding shot-blocking and added two more goals for a 4-0 lead after two periods.

The Spitfires played desperate in the third, firing everything on goal. It worked as Nathan Villeneuve (Seattle Kraken) and Anthony Cristoforo cut the lead to 4-2 with 15 minutes left. However, while the Spitfires saw two more power plays late, the Rangers’ Luca Romano and Gabriel Chiarot each scored shorthanded off turnovers to make it a 6-2 game. Caden Harvey added one for the Spitfires late as the Rangers took the game 6-3 and lead the series 3-1.

After the game, Rangers’ head coach Jussi Ahokas said they did the little things properly.

“I thought the boys played hard, battled hard,” he said. “All of these games are hard. You have to compete and I thought our guys did a great job. Our boys were blocking shots. I’m happy we scored six goals; that’s big in the playoffs. We’re happy on this game, but 15 minutes you feel good, and we move on for Friday’s game.”

After the loss in Game 3 on Monday, Ahokas said they didn’t change anything, just executed better.

“I thought we played our game how I want,” he said. “We didn’t really change; we just executed things better. We got pucks to the net, had guys in front of the net. We want to play our game. The small details, you execute them better.”

Spitfires’ head coach Greg Walters said it was two strong teams, and the Spitfires just had to be better at the finer details.

“It’s two really good teams going at it,” he said. “They scored two power-play goals, they scored three point shot goals that were tipped, and it’s four nothing. It’s definitely not from a lack of effort. Our execution has to be better to create more offence, and we have to block shots.”

Special Teams Bury Spitfires

All season, special teams have been the Spitfires’ pride and joy. They were second in the OHL on the power play at 28.4 percent and first on the penalty kill at 82.8 percent.

Coming into Game 4, the Spitfires’ playoff power play was inconsistent, sitting seventh in the OHL at 23.5 percent. They were just one-for-10 against the Rangers. Their penalty kill was third at 83.3 percent, including just seven-for-10 this series. Both were behind the Rangers, who sat fifth and second, respectively.

The Rangers executed both areas to near perfection on Wednesday. Their two early power-play goals were from a tic-tac-toe play and a tipped point shot. On the shorthanded side, Romano intercepted a pass in his own zone and broke in to beat goaltender Joey Costanzo. On a later power play, a drop pass went to Chiarot who sent it down the ice into the empty net. They scouted the Spitfires and knew what to expect.

The Windsor #Spitfires are on the brink of elimination in the Western Conference Final after a 6-3 loss to the Kitchener #Rangers in Game 4 at the WFCU Centre on Wednesday. They’re down 3-1 in the series with Game 5 in Kitchener on Friday. #OHL pic.twitter.com/mYFQF7DME1

— Dave Jewell (@DaveJewellOHL) April 30, 2026

Combine two power-play goals for the Rangers, plus two shorthanded goals, and the Spitfires failing to score on seven power-play attempts, and you’ve got a tough recipe for the home side. After, Romano said having that effect on special teams is a confidence booster.

“It builds a lot of confidence in our group and drives momentum for the guys watching”, he said. “We did a good job tonight. They have a good power play, so we’ve been focused on that.”

Walters seemed perplexed with his power play. On one hand, they moved the puck around, had chances, and seemed efficient. On the other hand, going zero-for-seven and giving up two shorthanded goals is going to cost you almost every time.

“Our power play is a struggle,” he said. “It’s tough to say right now; we were zero-for-seven, they scored two shorthanded goals, but it’s the best it’s looked. We had our looks, just our execution (was off).”

Walters added that you can’t give a team like the Rangers a 5-on-3 advantage and pointed to poor execution in multiple areas.

“Our inability to block shots,” he said. “They scored three point shots that were tipped. I thought they did a lot better job than us with the shot blocking. Their first two goals (on the power play) came off one of our players not being faceoff-ready. The margin is so narrow when you get to this stage in the game.”

One Game at a Time Now

The Spitfires now find themselves down 3-1, and history is peeking its head around the corner, wondering if it should say hello. In the 2010 Western Conference Championship, they found themselves down 3-0 to the Rangers. A win at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium in Game 4 set off a series of four-straight wins and a reverse sweep. The Spitfires went on to take the series, win the OHL, and earn their second-straight Memorial Cup.

This season is going to be a tougher task, though. While the 2009-10 Spitfires found some success in the old Auditorium, this Rangers team has beaten the Spitfires in six-straight home meetings, including four times this season. However, Walters said they knew what the situation was coming into the series.

“It’s one game at a time,” he said. “It’s happened a lot. We have to win one (at the Auditorium), we knew that from the start of the series. That one has to be on Friday.”

Villeneuve is in his final OHL season before heading to the Kraken’s system next season. He’s been eager to get an OHL title before he graduates and said that the room is full of players who know what’s on the line.

“We have a lot of graduating players this season, so I think we all know what’s in front of us,” Villeneuve said. “If we lose a game, our OHL careers are over. There’s a lot on the line here, so I don’t think anyone’s going to take it lightly.”

Romano, who had a goal and an assist, said the Rangers aren’t celebrating this win for too long because anything can happen in a series like this.

“It’s exciting,” he said. “This was a big win tonight, and we take 15 minutes (to enjoy the win), then focus on Friday. We’ll try to end it (at home), but we’re ready for seven games if needed.”

Game 5 is scheduled for Friday at 7:05 p.m. at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.