One out of three isn't going to cut it in this league.
A spirited third period effort didn't make up for 40 minutes of lacklustre play for the Guelph Storm Friday night as they fell 3-2 to the Windsor Spitfires at the Sleeman Centre.
While they had the odd chance off the rush, the Storm had virtually no sustained pressure over the first two periods as they spent much of their time chasing the Spits.
"We hardly touched the puck in the first 40 minutes," said Storm coach George Burnett. "If you're only going to skate for 20 and get into penalty trouble ...," he said, his voice trailing off.
"They're too good, too big and physical and play with too much pace and if we're not ready to skate it's going to be a tough night, and it was."
Burnett said the team's lack of compete in the game can be seen in the fact they only drew one penalty all night.
"Clearly, from a work standpoint, we had one power play tonight. That tells us right there we're not competing hard enough to create power play opportunities."
Guelph trailed 1-0 after the first period, which saw them outshot 12-2. It was 2-0 Windsor after the second period, with Wyatt Johnson responsible for both goals.
The Storm was outshot 28-10 after two periods and 37-19 on the night, with goaltender Owen Bennett keeping it much closer than it probably should have been.
Cooper Walker got Guelph on the board early in the third, but with 4:18 left on the clock Alex Christopoulos made it 3-1 from all alone in the slot.
Newcomer Brayden Guy scored his first goal in a Storm uniform, a redirect of a hard Sasha Pastujov pass while parked on the edge of the goal crease, that made it 3-2 with 26 second left.
The Storm managed to get the puck into the Windsor end in the waning seconds but couldn't get a shot to the net..
Guy said the team had hoped for a better outcome after a week of rest and practice following a spell that saw them play five games in eight days.
"I think so. The conference we're in is real tight. It's difficult for us to come in and kid of sit back for 40 minutes and find our gear in the third period, when it seems like it's too late, essentially," said Guy.
"Obviously we were looking for a better result. Bennett was incredible, he held us in there."
Guy said it's been tough trying to get used to a new team, systems and people after arriving in a trade from Sarnia, given that his old team, then his new team, battled COVID issues. Plus hardly any practice time.
"It was a little bit difficult. I think anyone going through that situation, it's tough," he said. "It was a little bit tougher for me because we had just gone through COVID with my team in Sarnia, then I came here, practiced for three days then it happened here too.
"It's had to stay positive and keep your head up when that stuff's happening. But team's are dealing with it in the league, it's not just us and we're looking to come out of this stronger."
Matt Poitras didn't play the last 10 minutes of the game, but Burnett said not to read too much into that.
"That wasn't anything intentional," Burnett said when asked.
"We're expecting a lot more from a lot of players and I'm sure Potsie (Poitras) would tell you he could be better too. We need more from everybody."
Matt Papais missed his second straight game with a lower body injury.
Cameron Supryka saw time at forward and rookie Jakob MacRae played a few shifts on the blueline.
Guelph plays in Owen Sound Saturday night. Next home game is Feb. 4 against Owen Sound.
