Game Preview: Saginaw Spirit vs Sarnia Sting
OHL Saginaw Spirit

Game Preview: Saginaw Spirit vs Sarnia Sting

Published on March 21, 2026 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release


Saginaw, Mich. - The Saginaw Spirit (26-34-3-4) host the Sarnia Sting (20-38-8-1) on Saturday, March 21st, for the final game of the 2025-2026 regular season.

Today's Game:

Puck drop is at 7:05 pm.

The Spirit will honor overage defenseman James Guo, his billets, and his family prior to Saturday night's game against the Sting.

Broadcast:

Radio: 100.5 FM WSGW, WSGW.com

TV: FloHockey

Last Game:

The Spirit dropped a 5-1 game in Sault Ste. Marie on Friday night, 5-1 to the Greyhounds to snap their two-game winning streak. Nikita Klepov scored Saginaw's lone goal, tying Cole Perfetti's Spirit rookie goal scoring record of 37 goals, originally set in 2018-19. Kaleb Papineau made ten third period saves in relief of Stepan Shurygin.

A pair of powerplay goals helped the Sting to a 4-3 win over the Kitchener Rangers on Friday, their second straight win. Mitch Young scored twice in the game and Jack Van Volsen scored the late game-winner with 17 seconds left in the third period. Evan Maillet (31 SV/33 SH) and Patrick Quinlan (12 SV/13 SH) split goaltending duties for the win.

This Season:

A 7-3 Spirit win last week gave them the 3-2-0-0 advantage over Sarnia in the season series. Dima Zhilkin recorded the highest single-game point total of his career with two goals and three assists. Egor Barabanov leads the season series in scoring with 13 points (4G-9A) in five games against the Sting. Matthew Manza (4G-3A) and Easton Walos (3G-4A) are tied for the Sarnia lead in scoring against the Spirit. Manza's five-point night on February 21st helped the Sting to a 7-4 win in their last visit to the Dow Event Center.

Players to Watch:

Spirit forward Jacob Cloutier had his goal streak snapped in last night's visit to the

Soo. Cloutier still has eight goals in his last ten contests and points in nine of his last 11 (8G-2A-10P). Cloutier has six points (3G-3A) in five games against Sarnia this season and is two points shy of tying his rookie season mark of 47.

Nikita Klepov enters his last regular season game as the OHL's leading point-getter with 95 (37G-58A), two points up on Brantford's Jake O'Brien. His next goal establishes a new Spirit record for goals by a rookie. Should he hang onto the league scoring lead through the end of the league's schedule on Sunday, Klepov would follow Michael Misa (134P, 2024-2025) as the team's second Eddie Powers Trophy winner. Klepov has 12 points in five games against the Sting this year.

Overage defenseman James Guo will be honored prior to puck drop. Guo skates in his 287th and final regular season game with 96 career points (19G-77A) after splitting time between the Spirit and Peterborough Petes, who drafted him in the fourth round of 2021's OHL Priority Selection. Guo is enjoying a career-best season (98G-31A-39P) through 62 games. He has spent 205 of his 286 games to this point in a Spirit uniform.

Saginaw's NHL Drafted Players: Jacob Cloutier (WPG)

Sting forward Beckham Edwards had a pair of assists in Friday night's win over the Kitchener Rangers. Edwards, a 2026 NHL Draft-eligible forward, has points in five of his last eight games dating back to March 4th (2G-7A-9P). He had a pair of assists against the Spirit on March 13th and has four points (2G-2A) in four games against Saginaw this season.

Rookie forward Easton Walos sits sixth among the league's first-year players with 47 points (25G-22A) coming into Sarnia's regular season finale. Walos has seven points (3G-4A) in five games against Saginaw this season, including a three-point night in his last trip to the Dow Event Center. He scored against the Spirit last Sunday in Sarnia and was Sarnia's 11th round selection in 2024.

Check out the Saginaw Spirit Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Ontario Hockey League Stories from March 21, 2026


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central