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OHL Saginaw Spirit

Parekh's Four-Point Night Powers Spirit Past Petes

January 6, 2024 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release


Saginaw, Mich. - The Saginaw Spirit (24-10-0-1) continue their winning ways by besting the Peterborough Petes (15-18-3-1), 6-2, at the Dow Event Center on Saturday night. Zayne Parekh completed his fourth-career four-point night (2G, 2A), flanked by Calem Mangone's two point night (1G, 1A) and two assists by Michael Misa. Peterborough started rookie Easton Rye who stopped 36 of 42 shots, while Nolan Lalonde turned away 19 of 21 for Saginaw.

The first period opened with aggressive play by the Saginaw until at 7:23 the Spirit's Rodwin Dionicio was called for a hooking minor. Just 17 seconds later, Saginaw's Josh Bloom drew a tripping penalty from Peterborough's Nico Addy.

Before nearly killing off the first penalty, Bloom received an interference minor that eventually set up 1:42 of power play time for the Petes.

While on the powerplay, Peterborough swung the puck behind their own net and began moving up ice. A mistimed pass slid to the stick of Rodwin Dionicio who quickly skated into the Petes' zone. While being surrounded by white jerseys, Dionicio remained calm, controlled the puck and fired a pass to the slot. The puck landed squarely on the tape of Ethan Hay who buried his ninth goal of the year and first shorthanded goal, and put Saginaw up 1-0.

Saginaw's lead was extended less than a minute later by Calem Mangone. After hemming the puck into the Peterborough defensive zone, Zayne Parekh received a pass at the right point and fired a pass diagonally to the left circle. There, Joey Willis received the puck and fired his own cross-ice pass finding Calem Mangone for an easy one-timer to set a 2-0 Saginaw lead.

The Spirit closed out a stellar opening period with a fantastic glove save by Nolan Lalonde, sporting 20 shots to Peterborough's six.

The first goal of the second period was scored by Peterborough's Chase Lefebvre. After Lefebvre intercepted a Saginaw stretch pass, he raced up iced flanked by two fellow skaters, setting up a three-on-one opportunity. Lefebvre skated into the zone and laced a shot short side on Saginaw goaltender Nolan Lalonde and pierced the netting for his fifth of the year, and the Petes' first of the night.

The Spirit responded at 10:29 into the period, when Saginaw again gained good offensive pressure. Following a fantastic toe drag by Hunter Haight, his blocker side shot was swatted away by goaltender Easton Rye landing in front of the goal. A Peterborough defender chipped the puck out of the slot and straight up to Zayne Parekh. His quick snapshot flew past Rye and into the netting for his 14th goal of the year, and putting Saginaw back up by two.

The reigning OHL champions responded within 20 seconds when Quinton Pagé received a pass from fellow forward Chase Lefebvre in the right corner. Pagé fired a shot on net that found a soft spot in Lalonde's gear and snuck past him to bring the Petes back to within one, 3-2.

At 12:36 into the period, Saginaw dumped the puck into the Peterborough zone with Hunter Haight chasing after it. Haight was hit by a Petes' defender, however, the puck remained stationary near the right circle. Nic Sima swooped in, collected the puck, and backhanded a shot between the legs of Eason Rye for his fifth goal of the season and a 4-2 lead.

The Spirit extended their lead back to three only four minutes later after a point shot from Braden Haché. The play began with a faceoff at the left dot in the Peterborough zone. Joey Willis tied up his faceoff man, allowing Michael Misa to snag the puck and throw a pass to Zayne Parekh. After skating to his right, Parekh fed a pass across the blue line to Haché who, at this point, had migrated to the center point. A fast wrist shot flew past the screened goaltender Eason Rye and into the net for Haché's eighth of the season and a 5-2 lead Saginaw would take into the second intermission.

At 13:53 into a rough and tumble third period, Peterborough turned over the puck behind the Saginaw net with the Spirit using the opportunity to rush up ice. Off the rush, Michael Misa received a pass and cut through the slot until throwing a pass outside to Calem Mangone. He looked across to the opposite dot, finding Zayne Parekh. The Saginaw defensemen dragged, waited, then wristed home a shot just over the left pad of Eason Rye for his second of the game and 15th of the year. Parekh's goal cemented a 6-2 scoreline that would finish off the game for a Spirit win where they outshot Peterborough 42 to 21 overall and 12 to 4 in the final frame.

Saginaw's fourth straight win brings them to 24-10-0-1 on the year while Peterborough's third straight loss drops the them to 15-18-3-1.

The Spirit will continue their weekend homestand tomorrow afternoon on Sunday, January 7th, by facing the Oshawa Generals (15-15-3-1) at 5:30 pm.

For more information, visit saginawspirit.com or follow the team on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from January 6, 2024


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