Barabanov Notches Goal, Assist in Friday Night Loss in Guelph
OHL Saginaw Spirit

Barabanov Notches Goal, Assist in Friday Night Loss in Guelph

Published on December 5, 2025 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release


Saginaw Spirit battle the Guelph Storm
Saginaw Spirit battle the Guelph Storm
(Saginaw Spirit)

Guelph, Ont. - The Spirit played in a back-and-forth, hard-fought matchup against the Guelph Storm on Friday night, but a comeback effort fell short in a 5-3 loss at the Sleeman Centre.

The first period presented itself as even a match as these teams could find, and the action started right from the outset. In the first 47 seconds of the game, Rylan Singh mishandled the puck on the blueline, and Brody Pepoy was there for the takeaway and promptly took the puck down the zone and past Zachary Jovanovski to put the Spirit on the board first.

The Storm found their footing after Pepoy's early goal, finding chances in front of Stepan Shurygin. Halfway through the frame, Sebastien Gervais was called for roughing, allowing Guelph the chance to fire back. A strong passing sequence from the Storm found Charlie Paquette on the right circle to fire a shot past Shurygin. Wil McFadden and Alex McLean were credited with the assists, giving both skaters points in their last two games.

Ninety seconds after Paquette's power play goal, Simon Belohorsky was called for boarding, giving the Spirit a man-advantage opportunity. James Guo found the puck off Dima Zhilkin's faceoff at the start of the power play and fed Egor Barabanov, who fired a beautiful toe-drag snipe that put the Spirit back on top, 2-1.

The action of the first wasn't over yet. With under five minutes on the clock, Charlie Paquette brought the puck into the zone, connecting with Leo Serlin. Serlin fired a shot from a distance, and Alex McLean was there to poke it into the back of the net, tying the game. McLean and Paquette each had their second points of the night before 20 minutes passed.

After 1: SAG: 2 - GUE: 2 (Total Shots: 11 - 11)

Nothing gave way until the 14-minute mark in the second period, when Hayden Barch was called for interference and gave the Storm their second power play of the frame. Serlin fed McLean in the corner, and Ethan Miedema was at the back door to poke McLean's shot in to give Guelph its first lead of the night. McLean's assist marked his third point of the night.

While the shot count remained even once again, the Spirit could not find a response for the first time all night. Guelph held the one-goal lead heading into the final frame of a game that had been neck-and-neck for the first 40 minutes.

After 2: SAG: 2 - GUE: 3 (2nd period shots: 13 - 13 Total shots: 24 - 24)

The Storm kept their momentum going to start the third period. In the first 30 seconds, the players who had been connecting all night found the back of the net again, when McLean walked in and slid the puck over to Paquette to give the Storm a 4-2 lead. Serlin was credited with the secondary assist for his third helper of the night.

A costly turnover from Jovanovski with under seven minutes to play found the stick of Barabanov, who quickly found Nikita Klepov in the slot to put the Spirit back within one. The goal marked Klepov's 15th of the season and gave Barabanov his second point of the night as the game stood 4-3.

The Spirit took control of the shot count, looking to even up the game and try to take the back-and-forth matchup. With under a minute to go and Shurygin pulled, the Spirit tried to make a push with the extra skater, but Paquette gathered the puck and fought past Barabanov to secure his hat trick and the Storm victory.

Final: SAG: 3 - GUE: 5 (3rd period shots 9 - 10, Total shots 33 - 34)

Powerplays: SAG 1 /3 GUE 1/4

Goaltenders: SAG Stepan Shurygin (29 saves, 32 shots) GUE Zachary Jovanovski (30 saves, 33 shots)

The Spirit will be back in action tomorrow night for a late afternoon matchup against the Brampton Steelheads at the CAA Centre. Puck drop is set for 4:00 p.m.

Check out the Saginaw Spirit Statistics

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Saginaw Spirit battle the Guelph Storm
Saginaw Spirit battle the Guelph Storm
   



Ontario Hockey League Stories from December 5, 2025


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