Spirit Dog Hounds in 4-3 Overtime Win
January 2, 2016 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release
SAGINAW, MI. - On Saturday night, the Saginaw Spirit played host to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds for their fourth of eight meetings this season. Saginaw's Connor Brown lead the way in an impressive overtime performance en route to a 4-3 Saginaw Spirit victory. Saturday night's win over the Soo Greyhounds pushed the Spirit into third place tie with the Hounds in the West Division.
In the first period, the Saginaw Spirit were eager to get the scoring started as they showcased some of their offensive ability against the Soo Greyhounds. At 8:08 of the first period the Spirit headed to the power play, as Bobby MacIntyre sat in the box of interference. As the power play was winding down, Spirit forward Mike Davies capitalized on the man advantage to give the Spirit a 1-0 lead at 9:39 of the first period. Kris Bennett and Markus Niemelainen both had a hand in the play. The Soo responded at the 14:39 mark, as Zachary Senyshyn tied it 1-1. Boris Katchouk pushed the Soo up and over the Spirit with 4:30 left to go in the first period. The 2-1 score held until the buzzer sounded marking the end of the first period. Despite the one-goal deficit, Saginaw outshot Sault Ste. Marie 11-9 in the first period.
The second period provided an opportunity for the Saginaw Spirit to even things up with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. The Soo reinforced their lead 4:20 into the middle frame, as Jack Kopacka pushed the Hounds ahead 3-1. At 5:51 the Spirit put an end to the Soo scoring, as Matthew Kreis lit the lamp on his ninth goal of the season. Dylan Sadowy and Artem Artemov picked up the assists on the play. Spirit captain Connor Brown evened things up on a breakaway opportunity, sniping his team-leading 16th goal of the season at 8:22 of the second period. Line mate Jesse Barwell assisted the play. Shots in the second period favored the visiting Greyhounds 13-7.
In the third period, Saginaw's Evan Cormier and Sault Ste. Marie's Joseph Raaymarkers stood tall and kept the score held at three apiece. The Spirit and the Hounds headed into three-on-three overtime, with each team eyeing a win. 3:43 into overtime, Spirit captain Connor Brown fired the puck past Raaymakers and notched a 4-3 overtime victory for the Saginaw Spirit. Final shots on net favored Saginaw, 35-34.
Applebee's Three Stars
Connor Brown - (2G) SAG
Matthew Kreis - (G) SAG
Evan Cormier - (31 SVS)
On Sunday, the Saginaw Spirit head to the WFCU Centre as they faceoff against the Windosr Spitfires for a 2:05 p.m. game. The Spirit are back in action at The Dow on Friday, January 8th as they play host to the Niagara IceDogs and Saturday, January 9th when the Sarnia Sting come to town. Game time for Friday and Saturday is set at 7:05 p.m. For tickets call (989) 497-7747 or visit us at saginawspirit.com. Be sure to catch every Spirit game on FM Talk and Sports 100.5 WSGW, with the voices of Spirit hockey, Joey Battaino and Dennis Desrosiers.
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