Austin Watson had the hats flying at the WFCU Centre tonight.

Watson recorded his first career OHL hat-trick as the Windsor Spitfires beat up the Ottawa 67s 8-5 tonight at the WFCU Centre.

After beating on the Sudbury Wolves on Monday, the Spitfires struggled out of the gate. A minor penalty to Adam Wallace had the 67s on the first power-play of the game. Anthony Nigro put the puck past goaltender Troy Passingham at 5:23 to make it 1-0 Ottawa. While Windsor had the majority of the shots in the period, by a 10-8 count, they didn’t get anything past goaltender Chris Perugini. In fact, the 67s made it a two-goal game near the end of the frame. Dalton Smith scored his sixth of the season at 17:35 and it was 2-0 Ottawa after one.

Something was missing in Windsors game. Whatever it was, they found it between periods. Just 29-seconds in, Scott Timmins skated in and put it low on Perugini while short-handed, cutting the lead to one. Watson then got in on the act, finding the puck at the side of the net at 5:57 to tie it up at two. Watsons goal hadn’t even been announced yet when Austen Brassard put a shot on net and it found its way past Perugini, giving Windsor the 3-2 lead. They weren’t done yet. Watson skated to the blocker side of Perugini and put one under the cross-bar, giving Windsor the 4-2 lead at 14:59. Another 40-seconds later, Scott Timmins found the puck in the slot and put it between Perugini’s legs. Windsor was up 5-2. Before the period ended, Greg Nemisz put one past Perugini and it was 6-2. The period ended as Windsor was up 6-2 and had a 28-11 lead on the shot-clock.

Windsor didn’t stop once the third got started. At 10:28, Watson tipped a point shot from Cam Fowler past Mrazek to give Windsor the 7-2 lead. However, Ottawa started a bit of a come-back. The 67s found themselves on a power-play late and Ryan Martindale put his fifth of the season past Passingham at 15:22 to make it 7-3 Windsor. With just over two minutes remaining in the period, Thomas Nesbitt got in on the act and it was 7-4 Windsor. With 40 seconds to go, Jon Carnevale made it a two-goal game. The 67s pulled Mrazek for the extra attacker but it wasn’t meant to be. Adam Henrique found the empty net at 19:34 and Windsor takes this one 8-5. The final shots on net were 41-24 Windsor.

The win brings Windsor to 8-3-0-1 on the year while the 67s fall to 2-6-2-1. Windsor is off until Saturday when they travel to Plymouth to take on the Whalers. Game time is 7:05 p.m.