First Period Outburst Leads to Win Over Spirit

Published on February 8, 2004 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Mississauga St. Michael's Majors News Release


TORONTO, ON – The Toronto St. Michael's Majors defeated the Saginaw Spirit 6-3 this afternoon at the St. Michael's College School Arena. With the win, the Majors' record improves to 28-18-6-2. They are forced to maintain their position in the standings as Central Division rivals Mississauga and Barrie won today as well. Therefore, they remain three points ahead of the Colts and three back of the IceDogs.

The Majors opened up a 3-0 lead in the 1st period with goals going to Cory Vitarelli, Dale Good and Sal Peralta (on the power-play). This was despite the fact that they were outshot 19-10 in the frame. Assists were credited to Scott Lehman, Darryl Boyce, Tim Brent and Evgeny Kadatskiy. Toronto then added two more in the opening half of the 2nd period as Peralta and Vitarelli clicked again, with the latter coming on the power-play. Assists on these goals were provided by Brent, Jamie Vanderveeken and Ryan Wilson. The Spirit got on the board before the period was out as Adam Gibson connected on the man-advantage at 12:09 with helpers going to Nick Lees and Sean Courtney.

The two teams traded goals in the 3rd period as Lees and Adam Sturgeon struck for the Spirit at 8:57 and 15:57 and Ryan Rorabeck provided an unassisted effort for the Majors at 14:33. Assists on the Spirit goals were credited to Gibson and Taylor Raszka.

Overall, the Majors were outshot 46-29, forcing Justin Peters to put together a solid effort in net for the home squad. Eric Pfigler started the game between the pipes for the Spirit but was pulled after the 1st period and replaced by Mike Brown. The game's three stars were Peralta (1st), Vitarelli (2nd) and Gibson (3rd).

The Majors will host the Sarnia Sting on Thursday, February 12th at 7:30 pm and then travel to Ottawa to face the 67's on Friday, February 13th at 7:30 pm. They will be back home to entertain Mississauga on Sunday, February 15th at 2:00 pm. All games are available via webcast on the Majors' web site, www.stmichaelsmajors.com and the latter two contests can be seen in the Toronto region on Rogers television (channel 10). Individual game tickets can be purchased at the St. Michael's College School Arena box office, by calling Ticketmaster at (416) 872-5000 or online at www.ticketmaster.ca.

During the month of February, paper hearts will be sold at Majors' home games for a minimum donation of $2 as part of the Heart and Stroke Foundation's Paint the Town Red campaign. Donors may honour loved ones by writing their names on the hearts, which will be posted throughout the St. Michael's College School Arena during the month-long initiative.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from February 8, 2004


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