Kyle Auger and Luke Boka scored their first OHL goals as part of a Windsor Spitfires onslaught against the Saginaw Spirit Sunday afternoon.
Both scored their first goals during the Spits' 7-1 drubbing of the Spirit at the WFCU Centre. It was a game where 15 different Spitfires players scored at least one point. Christian Fischer scored two goals and added an assist. Hayden McCool and Cristiano DiGiacinto also contributed three points apiece.
Auger, who celebrated his 17th birthday Saturday, said it was nice to finally push past the barrier of the maiden goal of his OHL career.
"It was pretty amazing but I think Junior B helped me obviously and coming up with the guys was just a positive impact," said Auger, a Thunder Bay, Ontario native. "I'm glad I got it, that's for sure."
Boka, who also scored an assist in the contest, expressed relief as well.
"I've been getting more confident as the season's gone on," said Boka, from Plymouth, Michigan. "Every game's gotten a little better. And I finally popped it in today."
Windsor scored their first two goals in the first period, beginning with Fischer's first one of the game with 9:40 gone in the opening stanza. Gabriel Vilardi made it 2-0 with his 11th goal of the season almost three minutes to the second later. Auger's goal came with 7:50 elapsed in the second period with Aaron Luchuk and Patrick Sanvido assisting.
The Spitfires put the offense into overdrive in the third period by scoring three more unanswered goals, from Fischer, then DiGiacinto, then Hayden McCool, all within the first seven minutes of the period. Saginaw then avoided the shutout with Dylan Sadowy's tally at 7:29 in the period, his 19th of the year. Boka's goal came with 1:51 left in the game with McCool and Vilardi on assists.
The win pushed the Spitfires to 2-0 in 2016 and gave them an eight-point cushion over the Sarnia Sting in the OHL West Division standings. The Spirit is in fourth place in the division.
The game competed for attention with news of a trade involving the Spitfires. Winger Luke Kirwan was traded Sunday afternoon to the Flint Firebirds for forward Connor Chatham and a second and fourth round draft pick in 2017.
The Spitfires next host the Owen Sound Attack Thursday night.