Majors Overpowered by Saginaw

January 15, 2012 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Mississauga St. Michael's Majors News Release


The Saginaw Spirit turned on the power play and that was too much for the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors on Sunday afternoon.

Josh Shalla had a goal and two assists and the Spirit scored three power play markers to down the Majors 4-2 in Ontario Hockey League play at the Dow Center, completing a busy weekend for the Majors.

Mississauga managed a win from their three-game western swing but went 0-for-6 on the power play on Sunday while Saginaw scored three times in their four chances to pick up an important two points as they fight for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Vincent Trocheck had a goal and an assist and Michael Fine and Brad Walch had the other Saginaw goals. Scott Teskey and Justin Rasmussen scored for the Majors (19-18-1-5).

The Majors out-shot the Spirit 32-25, including 13-7 in the final period, but the Spirit scored twice on Spencer Martin in the third period to break a 2-2 tie, while Clint Windsor made 30 saves in goal for the Spirit.

Mississauga General Manager/Coach James Boyd was pleased with his team's effort overall, despite the loss.

"I thought we played really well five-on-five and we deserved a better fate today," Boyd said. "They still have a lot of high end skill on the power play on that team and that really was the difference.

"You look at these three games, we held all three teams to less than 30 shots. I'm encouraged with the way we are playing as we head into a real key stretch of games here."

Trocheck opened the scoring just 2:11 into the game with a power play goal, assisted by Eric Locke and Dalton Young to give the Spirit an early 1-0 lead. Shalla capitalized on the Spirit's second man advantage, giving his team a 2-0 lead just two seconds into the power play from Locke and Trocheck at 18:47.

Teskey brought the Majors to within one with his fifth goal of the season from Spenser Cobbold and Alex Cord at 11:05 of the second period. Just 34 seconds later, Rasmussen notched his fifth of the campaign from Doug Harvey and Riley Brace to make it a 2-2 game at 11:39 which closed out the second period scoring. Shots were 12-7 in favour of Saginaw in the first period, and 12-6 for Mississauga in the second, for a two period total of 19-18 for the Majors.

Walch scored the third power play goal of the afternoon for the Spirit when he beat Martin at 4:21 of the third period, from Shalla and Frank Schumacher to put the home side up 3-2. Fine solidified the Spirit's lead, putting them up 4-2 with just 2:19 to play from Brandon Saad and Shalla at 17:41.

Following one more road tilt on Wednesday, January 18th when they face the Belleville Bulls at 7:05 p.m., the Majors play their next five games at the Hershey Centre, including four of them against Eastern Conference opponents.

"There's no doubt this stretch is going to go a long way in determining where we finish up this season," Boyd added.

The team kicks off the five game home stand on Friday, January 20th when they host the Brampton Battalion at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available by visiting www.ticketmaster.ca, by calling 905-502-7788, or in person at the Hershey Centre box office.



Ontario Hockey League Stories from January 15, 2012


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