Game Preview: Saginaw Spirit vs. Erie Otters
OHL Saginaw Spirit

Game Preview: Saginaw Spirit vs. Erie Otters

Published on October 24, 2025 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release


Saginaw, Mich. - The Spirit (2-4-3-2) welcome the Erie Otters (4-8-1-0) to the Dow Event Center on Friday, October 24th to kick off a three-game weekend. The first meeting of the season between Saginaw and Erie also serves as a rematch of the first round of the 2025 OHL Playoffs, a five-game series won by the Otters.

Tonight's Game:

Puck drop is at 7:05 pm.

The Spirit celebrate their second 989 Connect night of the season, honoring local healthcare workers and wearing their 989 Connect warmup jerseys.

Broadcast:

Radio: 100.5 FM WSGW, WSGW.com

TV: FloHockey

Last Game:

The Spirit picked up a point in the third matchup of the Coors Light I-75 Divide Cup series, but fell in the shootout to the Firebirds last weekend. Dima Zhilkin picked up his third multi-point game of the season with an assist and the game-tying goal to send the game to overtime. Stepan Shurygin made his seventh consecutive start, making 27 saves in the 4-3 shootout loss.

The Otters are coming off a 5-2 win against the Greyhounds in Sault Ste. Marie on Wednesday night. Dylan Edwards recorded a three-point night with a goal and two assists, while Brett Hammond had a two-goal night. Wesley Royston also scored his first goal of the season on an empty netter to secure the win for the Otters. Erie goaltender Charlie Burns grabbed his second win of the year with 28 saves on 30 shots.

This Season:

This will be the first of four meetings between the Spirit and the Otters this season. The two teams split last year's season series at two games apiece. In the postseason, Erie took all three games in Saginaw while outscoring the Spirit 23-13 inside the Dow Event Center.

Players to Watch:

Dima Zhilkin has been hot since returning to the lineup on October 11th. In both games against Flint, Zhilkin had multi-point nights and now sits at third on the team with 11 points (6G-5A) despite playing in just six games this season. Levi Harper also had a strong showing against Flint, putting up the first three-point night of his career (1G-2A). Harper is fourth on the team with 10 points and continues to lead OHL rookie defensemen in scoring. Nikita Klepov increased his point streak to four games with an assist on Sunday (1G-4A-5P), leads the Spirit in scoring, and sits second in the OHL with 18 points (8G-10A). NHL Central Scouting released its preliminary rankings earlier this week, ranking Klepov an 'A'-level prospect, Egor Barabanov (6G-9A-15P) a 'B'-level prospect, and Brody Pepoy (1G-1A-2P) a 'W'-level prospect.

Brett Hammond has begun to establish himself as a top scorer for this Erie offense. Over his last four games, he has scored at least one goal, having seven total on the season in just nine games. The Otters are led in scoring by Gabriel Frasca (5G-7A-12P). The former first-round pick had two assists in Erie's 5-2 win over the Soo on Wednesday. Goaltenders Noah Erliden and Charlie Burns have split time in the net, Erliden with three more starts than Burns. Burns started against the Greyhounds in the team's win on Wednesday, saving 28 out of 30 shots. Erliden's last win came on October 17th against Niagara when he stopped 24 of 25 IceDogs shots.

Saginaw's NHL Drafted Players: Jacob Cloutier (WPG), Miroslav Satan (WSH)

Erie's NHL Drafted Players: Ty Henry (CHI)

Check out the Saginaw Spirit Statistics

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from October 24, 2025


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