OHL Saginaw Spirit

Game Day Preview: Spirit Look to Extend Seven-Game Winning Streak Thursday in Windsor

Published on March 12, 2020 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release


Windsor, ON. - West Division rivals battle on Thursday, March 12, when the Canadian Hockey League's ninth-ranked Saginaw Spirit (41-16-3-2 87 pts. 2nd in Western Conference) travel to the WFCU Centre in Windsor, Ontario to take on the archrival Windsor Spitfires (34-20-8-0 76 pts. 5th in Western Conference) to complete a four-game road swing.  There is a 7:05 p.m. puck drop set for the seventh of eight regular season meetings between the West Division foes.

The teams split the first six meetings of the season however the Spirit are 2-1-0-0 in the three games at The WFCU Centre this season.  Saginaw bested Windsor in a 4-3 overtime victory over the Spitfires back on December 12, 2019. Saginaw Spirit second-round pick Josh Bloom scored on a penalty shot for the game-winner with just 31 seconds left in overtime.

Fans can catch all the action on 100.5 FM Newsradio WSGW and www.wsgw.com with the voice of Saginaw Spirit hockey Joey Battaino on the call.  "Countdown to Face-off" begins 15 minutes prior to puck drop.

Fans can visit the Buffalo Wild Wings location at 2690 Tittabawassee Road in Saginaw and join the official "Watch Party" for all Spirit away games. Admission is free of charge.

The Spirit won their seventh consecutive game with a 4-3 road victory over the Erie Otters on Sunday afternoon.  Saginaw's man-power advantage remained hot with two powerplay goals against the Otters, in the last four games the Spirit have scored nine goals in the past 15 man-power advantages.

Leading scorer Cole Perfetti led the way offensively for the Saginaw Spirit with a goal and two assists over the Otters Sunday afternoon, which extended his point streak to a career-high 12 games.  The Whitby, Ontario native trails only Ottawa's Marco Rossi this season with 111 points, which is already a Saginaw Spirit single season record.  The second year forward Perfetti past Saginaw Spirit alum Eric Locke for ninth in team-history with 185 career OHL points.

2018 Minnesota Wild fifth round draft pick Damien Giroux scored his 44th goal of the season in the victory over the Erie Otters, which is the most goals scored by a Spirit player since Josh Shalla's record 47 goals tallied back during the 2010-11 season.  The Saginaw Spirit captain Giroux brings a nine-game point streak into play Thursday.  On Saturday evening against the Hamilton Bulldogs, Giroux became just the fourth player in Saginaw Spirit team-history to reach the 100 career goals plateau behind teammate Cole Coskey (106), Ryan McDonough (118), and Josh Shalla (119).

Coskey, who was drafted in the seventh round of the 2019 NHL Draft by the New York Islanders, scored his 34th goal of the season on Sunday to extend his point streak to seven games.  With an assist against the Otters, the Zion, Illinois native tied Ryan McDonough and Patrick McNeill for third in Saginaw Spirit team-history with 129 career OHL assists.  The Spirit all-time games leader is second among Saginaw players this season with 80 points, after the right-winger contributed 34 goals and 46 assists in 62 games.

2019 Carolina Hurricanes first round draft selection Ryan Suzuki dished out two assists against Erie on Sunday.  Since Saginaw acquired the London, Ontario native prior to the trade deadline, Suzuki has contributed 12 multi-point games.  The Spirit centerman has 18 goals and 40 assists for 58 points in just 44 games this season.

Spirit center Danil Antropov scored his third game-winning goal since becoming a Saginaw Spirit earlier this season back on November 28.  Twenty-two of the North York, Ontario native Antropov's 35 points this season was scored in a Spirit uniform.

Windsor lost their third straight game with Sunday's 3-2 defeat at the hands of the Midwest Division's Kitchener Rangers.  The Spits gave up two powerplay goals in five Kitchener man-power advantages, while Windsor went zero-for-one on their fifth-ranked OHL power play.

2019 Nashville Predators second round pick Egor Afanasyev contributed one of Windsor's two goals on Sunday versus the Rangers.  The Moscow, Russia native Afanasyev, along with Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Tyler Angle, leads all Windsor players with 67 points in 62 games this season.

Angle, who hails from Thorold, Ontario, opened Sunday's scoring with his 29th goal of the season against the Kitchener Rangers on Sunday.  The 2019 seventh round pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets leads the Windsor Spitfires with 38 assists.

The Windsor Spitfires have four players on their roster drafted by NHL clubs, forwards Tyler Angle (Columbus Blue Jackets), Egor Afanasyev (Nashville Predators-signed), Curtis Douglas (Dallas Stars), and defenseman Connor Corcoran (Vegas Golden Knights).

Windsor has five players listed in NHL Central Scoutings 2020 NHL Draft mid-term rankings in Jean-Luc Foudy (20th), William Cuylle (21st), Ruben Rafkin (72nd), Dylan Robinson (138th), Louka Henault (201st), and Kyle McDonald (216th).

The Saginaw Spirit have a total of six players on their roster with NHL ties.  Ryan Suzuki (Carolina Hurricanes-signed), Blade Jenkins (NY Islanders), Cole Coskey (NY Islanders), Mason Millman (Philadelphia Flyers), Bode Wilde (NY Islanders-signed) and Damien Giroux (Minnesota Wild).

Saginaw has two players listed in the NHL Central Scouting 2020 NHL Draft Mid-term rankings, including fourth ranked prospect Cole Perfetti. Ilya Solovyov is listed as the 119th North American prospect available.

Check out the Saginaw Spirit Statistics

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