Five Points from Zhilkin Leads Spirit Past Sting 7-3
OHL Saginaw Spirit

Five Points from Zhilkin Leads Spirit Past Sting 7-3

Published on March 15, 2026 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release


Sarnia, Ont. - Still in the hunt to place as high as sixth place in the West Conference, a special teams, high intensity and high emotion showcase ended with a 7-3 Saginaw victory over the Sarnia Sting at the Progressive Auto Sales Arena on Sunday.

The game ended with multiple players ejected, but also a five-point day for Dima Zhilkin and a perfect penalty kill for the Spirit.

In the first ten minutes of the game, the Spirit scored four goals. The Spirit top line of Egor Barabanov, Nikita Klepov and Dima Zhilkin, combined for nine points before the halfway point of the first period.

The teams played some early 4-on-4 hockey after Jacob Cloutier and Kaden Aucoin received matching roughing penalties. On the first shot of the game, Barabanov skated through defenders and got a backhand shot over the glove of Kale Osipenko. Klepov and Zhilkin recorded the assists.

The Sting responded five minutes later during a rare five-on-five moment in the first period. Beckham Edwards sent the puck to the slot for a Tyler Challenger one-timer past Shurygin to tie the game.

Less than a minute after Challenger's goal, the Spirit went on the power play a minute later, then another call on the Sting put the Spirit on a 5-on-3 man advantage.

The Spirit saw a flurry of high quality chances, and in front of the net Carson Harmer, getting shoved into the net, was able to poke the puck past Osipenko. Still on the power play exactly a minute later, a delayed penalty gave the Spirit an extra skater. Barabanov found the puck in front of the net and got an open look at the backdoor.

Two minutes later, as the Sting finally got back to full strength, Dima Zhilkin got the puck from Harper on a broken play and stuffed the puck into the net for a 4-1 Spirit lead.

The Spirit saw some penalty trouble as the period went on, but killed off all three penalties they saw, with a big thanks to Stepan Shurygin.

After 1: SAG: 4 - SAR: 1 (Total Shots: 8 - 14)

The special teams played an important part of the first period and that remained the same in the second period.

The period started with a Sarnia power play that was shut down by some key Shurygin saves. The Sting were able to get on the board at the five minute mark after Shurygin's view was blocked and Mitch Young fired the puck past him. Edwards picked up his second point of the day with the assist.

Cameron Aucoin was called for cross-checking, and patience was a virtue for the Spirit during the man-advantage. Many high-quality chances for Saginaw couldn't get past Osipenko, but in the final seconds of the Aucoin penalty, Zhilkin found Jacob Clouiter to quickly tap the puck into the back of the net for a 5-2 lead.

After that, the teams slowed down a bit, trading some penalties, but no one got on the board. A lot of stop-and-go action slowed momentum building too much for either side.

The Spirit's second line joined in on the scoring, with a great passing sequence set up by Ryan Hanrahan and Gensen Geldart to Brody Pepoy for the Spirit's sixth goal of the day.

However, the Sting continued to persist, and just 12 seconds later, Easton Walos got the puck past Shurygin before the teams went into the second intermission.

After 2: SAG: 6 - SAR: 3 (2nd period shots: 13 - 15 Total shots: 21 - 29)

The Sting saw three straight power play opportunities, and some time on the 5-on-3 early in the third period. Shurygin had to come up big to keep the pressuring Sting attackers and stepped up to the challenge, with ten saves over the penalty kill.

Tensions flared at the halfway points and quickly sent things sideways. Two back-to-back scraps left multiple players ejected. The Sting finished the game with eight players left, while the Spirit had nine remaining. As the puck dropped, more ejections followed and benches thinned out, but neither team planned to slow down.

After it was all settled, the Spirit found themselves on a 5-on-3 power play. More scraps left each team with even fewer players.

After all the chaos, Dima Zhilkin scored his second of the game for his fifth point to finish out the game for the Spirit victory.

Final: SAG: 7 - SAR: 3 (3rd period shots: 9 - 13, Total shots: 42 - 30)

Powerplays: SAG: 4/8 SAR: 0/7

Goaltenders: SAG Stepan Shurygin (39 saves, 42 shots), SAR Kale Osipenko (23 saves, 30 shots)

The Spirit are back in action at the Dow Event Center for a midweek matchup against the Soo Greyhounds for the season's final 989 Connect Night. Puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m.

Check out the Saginaw Spirit Statistics

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from March 15, 2026


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