The Windsor Spitfires took one on the chin Sunday afternoon, but the result wasn't all bad.
The Spitfires fell to the first-place Greyhounds 5-2 in Sault Ste. Marie, but still clinched a playoff spot with the Erie Otters' loss to Mississauga Sunday.
Windsor has 63 points and currently holds the seventh playoff seed in the OHL Western Conference with six games left in the regular season.
The Spitfires did score first in the game. Luke Boka scored his second goal in as many nights at 5:37 in the opening period. The Hounds responded with back-to-back goals later in the frame from Rasmus Sandin.
Sault Ste. Marie stretched the lead to 3-1 when Jack Kopacka scored his 28th goal of the season with just 18 seconds elapsed in the middle period.
The Hounds continued to distance themselves from the Spits with two more goals in the third. Keeghan Howdeshell collected an insurance goal at 4:08, and Ryan Roth scored 46 seconds later. Lev Starikov scored his fourth goal of the season for Windsor soon after.
Brock Baier took the loss in goal for Windsor, stopping 39 shots out of 44 attempts. Matthew Villalta only faced 14 shots in net for Sault Ste. Marie, but got 12 saves.
The two teams meet again in Windsor Wednesday night to complete the home-and-home series.
