Game Preview: Saginaw Spirit at London Knights
OHL Saginaw Spirit

Game Preview: Saginaw Spirit at London Knights

Published on December 12, 2025 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release


London, Ont. - The Spirit (9-14-3-3) begin a two-game weekend on the road at Canada Life Place against the London Knights (16-11-3-0) on Friday, December 12th, after an exciting home-and-home matchup between the teams two weeks ago.

Today's Game:

Puck drop is at 7:00 pm.

Broadcast:

Radio: 100.5 FM WSGW, WSGW.com

TV: FloHockey

Last Game:

The Spirit fell 4-1 in their last game against the Brampton Steelheads on December 6th. Kaleb Papineau had a season-high 35 saves in his fifth start this year. Nikita Klepov scored his team-leading 16th goal of the season to tie the game at 1-1 in the first period, but no other Spirit skaters could find the back of the net.

The Knights played last night in a matchup against the Niagara IceDogs. The IceDogs held a 4-1 lead by the end of the second period. The Knights pushed back to make it a one-goal game thanks to goals from Braiden Clark and Henry Brzustewicz, but fell 4-3. Clark and Evan Van Gorp each had two-point nights with a goal and an assist.

This Season:

This game marks the third of four meetings between the Spirit and the Knights. The teams played a home-and-home series in late November. In game one, Brody Pepoy, Carson Harmer, and Jacob Cloutier combined for eight points to lead the Spirit in a thrilling 4-2 comeback win.

Game two, the Knights took an 8-5 win at the Dow Event Center, thanks to three-point nights from Braiden Clark, Jared Wooley, and Jaxon Cover. Egor Barabanov and Sebastien Gervais each had two-goal games looking for another third-period comeback effort, but fell short.

Players to Watch:

Both teams had players announced for the 2026 Connor McDavid OHL Top Prospects Game, giving this matchup ample opportunity to see some of the top OHL skaters.

On Saginaw's roster, Nikita Klepov and Egor Barabanov join the Western Conference forwards, while Stepan Shurygin joins Zachary Jovanovski (Guelph) to make the West's goaltending tandem. Klepov has points in his last three games (2G-1A-3P), leading the Spirit with 36 total points on the season (16G-20A). Klepov also leads all rookie skaters in the OHL with his 16 goals.

Barabanov sits just behind Klepov with 35 points (13G-22A). He has been hot as of late with six points (3G-3A) in his last three contests. Shurygin has been a huge factor for the Spirit all season. He leads all OHL netminders with 719 saves and 1444 minutes on the ice. The Spirit will be without Dima Zhilkin (3 games) and Hayden Barch (2 games) as they serve the first game of their respective suspensions incurred Dec. 6 at Brampton.

On London's roster, Jaxon Cover and Braidy Wassilyn join the Western Conference forwards. Cover sits at third on the team with 24 points, tied for the team lead with 16 assists. He sits fourth among OHL rookies in both points and assists. Cover had a goal and two assists in London's win against the Spirit two weeks ago.

Wassilyn sits at 21 points on the season, his 11 goals already surpassing his eight scored in his rookie OHL season with the Niagara IceDogs. After being traded earlier this season to London from Niagara, Wassilyn has 16 points in 18 games as a Knight (9G-7A).

Saginaw's NHL Drafted Players:

Jacob Cloutier (WPG)

London's NHL Drafted Players:

Sam O'Reilly (TBL), William Nicholl (EDM), Henry Brzustewicz (LAK), Linus Funck (COL), Jared Woolley (LAK), Aleksei Medvedev (VAN)

Check out the Saginaw Spirit Statistics

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from December 12, 2025


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