Pepoy Scores, Spirit Fall Short against Knights in London Friday
OHL Saginaw Spirit

Pepoy Scores, Spirit Fall Short against Knights in London Friday

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


London, Ont. - The Spirit played a hard-fought battle on the road against the London Knights, but could not find a late response and fell 5-3 at Canada Life Place on Friday night.

The two teams had back-and-forth opportunities early in the first. The Spirit had the ice titled in their favor after an early power play opportunity that was killed off by the Knights. Once the Knights got back to full strength, they quickly went on the attack. The Spirit lost a puck battle to Henry Brzustewicz and the Knights blueliner fired the puck into the top right corner over Stepan Shurygin's shoulder to put London on the board first.

Sebastian Gatto was tested throughout the period by Saginaw. The Spirit found their answer three minutes later. Xander Velliaris received the puck from Egor Barabanov and sent a shot towards Gatto that deflected off a London defenseman and into the back of the net. Klepov was credited with the secondary assists and both him and Barabanov extended their scoring streaks to four games.

The two teams traded scoring chances that resulted in big saves from both goaltenders and the teams went into first intermission even.

After 1: SAG: 1 - LDN: 1 (Total Shots: 11 - 12)

Brody Pepoy, who had a three-point night in his last game at Canada Life Place, gave the Spirit their first lead of the night halfway through the period, using exceptional stickwork to go backhand in the slot and past Gatto. Barabanov and James Guo were credited with the assists.

Barabanov was called for holding a minute after Pepoy's goal, giving the Knights a chance to answer back. Shurygin and the Spirit defense held off all pressure from London on the power play, but the Knights kept the pressure. Braidy Wassilyn fired a shot from the top of the right circle after the powerplay and Braiden Clark was there to tip the puck past Shurygin, tying the game up.

The Knights kept their foot on the pedal through the rest of the period. Entering into the zone, Evan Van Gorp brought the puck down, slid it back to Jaxon Cover in the high slot and Cover sniped his ninth of the season past Shurygin to reclaim the London lead.

Roughing penalties on Cover and Levi Harper gave the teams some open ice to end the period. The Spirit fired on Gatto in the final minute, but could not find the tying goal before the second intermission.

After 2: SAG: 2 - LDN: 3 (2nd period shots: 9 - 8 Total shots: 20 - 20)

The Spirit found extended zone time to start the third, firing shots on Gatto, owning the first five minutes of the period. A boarding call on Nic Sima gave the Knights a chance to even the ice back up. The Spirit killed off the Sima penalty, but soon after Carson Harmer was called for tripping, giving London an extended time on the man advantage.

The Spirit kept the Knights off the board despite the extended time on the penalty kill. With less than ten minutes to play, Levi Harper entered the zone and fired a shot from the high slot to tie the game back up. Velliaris and Sima were credited with the assists. This marked Velliaris's third multi-point game of the season, and two came against London.

Not long after, the Knight fired right back. Clark secured his second goal of the night with another tip from the slot, off a shot from Funck, to put the Knights back up.

Cohen Bidgood capped off the game and ended a seven-game goal drought with the empty net goal for the Knights.

Final: SAG: 3 - LDN: 5 (3rd period shots 12 - 4, Total shots 32 - 24)

Powerplays: SAG 0/1 LDN 0/3

Goaltenders: SAG Stepan Shurygin (19 saves, 23 shots), LDN Sebastian Gatto (29 saves, 32 shots)

The Spirit head back to the Dow Event Center tomorrow night for a matchup against the Kitchener Rangers. Puck drop is set for 7:05, and the team will be celebrating Superhero Night with the CAN Council and a post-game jersey auction.

Check out the Saginaw Spirit Statistics

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



Ontario Hockey League Stories from December 12, 2025


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