They trailed by two with 20 minutes to go against one of the Ontario Hockey League’s top teams.
A team that has found ways to be successful away from home, the Soo Greyhounds did it again on Thursday night as they opened a tough stretch of games with a matchup against the Western Conference-leading Windsor Spitfires.
Christopher Brown was the hero as he scored 73 seconds into overtime, lifting the Greyhounds to a 4-3 win over the Spitfires at Windsor’s WFCU Centre.
“It was great,” Brown said of getting the winner. “I didn’t even know it went it. I saw (Jordan) Charron put his arms in the air and I got excited too. I kind of blacked out there for a little bit.
“It’s always nice to see all the guys come out and cheer you on,” Brown added, calling it his biggest OHL goal to date.
After a turnover near the Greyhounds blueline, Brown skated the puck through the neutral zone before cutting into the slot and beating Spitfires goaltender Joey Costanzo stick side to give the Greyhounds the victory.
Brown said the decision to take the shot on the overtime winner stemmed from a broken play earlier in the game in a similar situation.
“I learned from my mistake in the first period from passing and (on the winner) I thought to cut to the middle and find the shot,” Brown said. “(in the first period), the guy slid and I tried to pass and hit him. (In overtime) he slid and I cut to the middle.”
Asked about Brown’s winner, Greyhounds coach John Dean credited the poise of the veteran forward on the play.
“He shows absolutely incredible poise, which is the nature of his game,” Dean said. “It’s one of the areas of his game that he excels at.”
Brown’s overtime winner came after the Greyhounds came back from a two-goal deficit heading into the third period.
Discussing the comeback in the final period, Brown spoke of the Greyhounds character in battling back.
“We’ve shown a lot of character the last couple games,” Brown said. “That shows we can stay with the big boys and compete with them and get some points.”
“It shows that we can be in the top of the league,” Brown added.
“We have a group that’s determined and of extremely high character,” added Dean.
Dean also credited a critical power play goal early in the third and killing off a long two-man advantage for the Spitfires in the final 20.
“Our power play steps up and scores an absolutely massive goal and then our PK gets a ridiculous five-on-three kill.”
“It’s pretty impressive stuff,” Dean added.
The Greyhounds coach also spoke of attention to detail and swagger as being important parts of the third period comeback.
Windsor opened the scoring when Ethan Belchetz skated into the high slot and took a short pass from Liam Greentree before proceeding to beat Greyhounds goaltender Landon Miller stick side 5:52 into the opening period.
The Spitfires made it a 2-0 game at 12:34 when A.J. Spellacy took a breakaway pass from Cole Davis at the Greyhounds blueline and then beat Miller with a backhand stick side.
Travis Hayes pulled the Greyhounds to within one just 1:31 later when he found himself alone in the slot and took a pass from Marco Mignosa down low. Hayes proceeded to beat Costanzo glove side.
Belchetz scored his second of the night 90 seconds into the second period when he redirected a pass from Jack Nesbitt toward the goal. The redirection hit a body in tight and slipped past Miller to make it a 3-1 game.
The Greyhounds cut the Windsor lead to 3-2 thanks to a power play goal 1:38 into the third period. Skating the puck below the goalline, Chase Reid hit Marco Mignosa with a pass and the overage forward beat Costanzo stick side with a one-timer from the low slot.
The visitors tied the game at 12:49 when Charron took a shot from the top of the right circle that beat Costanzo high stick side on a one-timer off a pass from Brown, setting the stage for the overtime winner.
Brown and Mignosa finished the night with a goal and an assist each for the Greyhounds while Miller made 24 saves.
At the other end, Costanzo stopped 24 shots as well.
In addition to the two-goal night from Belchetz, Carson Woodall assisted on a pair of Windsor goals in the loss.
For the Greyhounds, the road trip continues on Friday night as the team faces the Kitchener Rangers before wrapping up the three-game trip on Sunday afternoon in London against the Knights.
The Greyhounds improve to 13-8-1-0 with the win while the Spitfires fall to 15-3-2-1.
Thursday’s contest saw the Greyhounds short a pair of players following suspensions from Saturday’s home game against the Barrie Colts.
An incident post-game led to one-game suspensions for forward Blake Arrowsmith and defenceman Spencer Evans.
The Colts were also hit with a pair of suspensions. Defenceman Kashawn Aitcheson was hit with a two-game ban from the league after an altercation with a fan while leaving the ice following the game. Gabriel Eliasson was also suspended for a pair of games after receiving a major penalty for a cross check on Hayes late in the game.
Callum Croskery, Carson Andrew, and Ryan Kaczynski also missed Thursday’s game for the Greyhounds while they remain out due to injuries.
With three forwards out of the lineup, the Greyhounds brought up 2025 draft pick Karsten Barbeau. Thursday was the first OHL game for the fourth round pick.
Notes: The OHL announced Thursday afternoon a return to an in-person draft format.
The event will be held at Kingston’s Slush Puppie Place on June 12-13, 2026.
Draft week will also include the OHL’s annual meetings that feature OHL governors, general managers, and the business operations staff from the 20 teams.