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OHL Saginaw Spirit

Perfetti Ties Spirit Single-Season Rookie Goal Scoring Record in Victory of Colts

February 22, 2019 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release


Saginaw Spirit left wing Cole Perfetti (right) against the Barrie Colts
Saginaw Spirit left wing Cole Perfetti (right) against the Barrie Colts
(Saginaw Spirit)

Barrie, ON - The Saginaw Spirit (36-15-2-3 77 pts.) continues a five-game road trip Thursday, February 20 against the Barrie Colts (23-29-3-1 50 pts.) for the second and final meeting of the season. Puck drop from the Barrie Molson Centre is set for 7:30 p.m. Saginaw dropped the first game against Barrie, 7-3 at home earlier in the season.

Fans can follow all the action on the flagship WSGW 100.5 FM and fmtalk1005.com with Joey Battaino and Dennis Desrosiers on the call. "Countdown to Face-off" begins 15 minutes prior to puck drop for all your pregame coverage.

Fans can watch the game live from the Saginaw Spirit "Watch Party" from the 2690 Tittabawassee Road Buffalo Wild Wings location.

The Spirit are looking to get back on track after dropping their last two games. Saginaw came up short Monday afternoon against the West Division rival Sarnia Sting in a shootout thriller.

Saginaw Spirit first round pick Cole Perfetti has six goals in the past nine games and has points in nine of the last 10 games. Perfetti was given the second star honor in Monday's game against Sarnia after his three-point effort. The Spirit left-winger has 17 multi-point games in his first Ontario Hockey League (OHL) campaign.

The rookie forward has 25 goals this season, just two goals behind Jan Mursak for the Spirit goal scoring record. Mursak, a former NHLer, scored 27 goals as a rookie for Saginaw in the 2006-07.

New York Islanders prospect Bode Wilde leads all Saginaw players with 43 assists this season. The stand-out defenseman had two assists in the first meeting against the Barrie Colts.

Wilde is third among OHL defenseman in both points (57) and assists (43) in just 50 games played this season. The 2018 41st overall pick of the Islanders signed an entry-level contract with the club back on December 3.

Justin Murray will face the Barrie Colts for the first time since Saginaw acquired the defenseman back in December. The former Colts captain carries a four-game point-streak and two-game goal-streak into the game Thursday.

Murray, a London, Ontario native had two goals and three points against the Spirit before the trade this season.

Zion, Illinois native Cole Coskey leads all Spirit players with 63 points this season. The Spirit right-winger has been huge on the team's power play this season with 11 goals while with the man-power advantage. Coskey had a goal in the first meeting against the Colts.

The Spirit leading scorer has marched up the Saginaw Spirit all-time record books this season. Coskey is 15th all-time in assists (83) and 10th in both points (155) and goals (72) as a Saginaw Spirit.

Jackson, Michigan native Blade Jenkins found twine for the 21st time this season Monday against Sarnia. Jenkins, a New York Islanders fifth-round pick, already passed all last season's offensive totals through just 55 games.

Florida Panthers signee Owen Tippett has points in six of the last seven games. The 2018 NHL 10th overall pick's 28 goals is second only to Coskey for the team-lead in goals.

Tippett was acquired by the Saginaw Spirit before the OHL trade deadline from the Mississauga Steelheads. The Peterborough, Ontario native had an assist against the Colts earlier this season for the Steelheads.

The Saginaw Spirit also acquired Ryan McLeod from Mississauga before the trade deadline. The second-round pick of the Edmonton Oilers had two assists against Barrie this season while with the Steelheads. McLeod has five goals and 12 assists since the trade to Saginaw.

Barrie 12th-best power play in the OHL was excellent in Monday's 7-5 loss to the Hamilton Bulldogs. The Colts went three-for-six on the man-power advantage versus the Bulldogs but came up short in the end.

2019 NHL Draft prospect Ryan Suzuki leads the Colts with 59 points in 53 games this season. The Barrie center is coming off a three-point effort against Hamilton, which earned Suzuki third-star honor for the game.

Suzuki was ranked 10th by NHL Central Scouting among North American skaters for the 2019 NHL Draft. Suzuki is the younger brother of Montreal Canadiens 2017 13th overall pick Nick Suzuki.

Defenseman Tyler Tucker is second only to Suzuki for the team-lead with 43 points. Tucker, a seventh-round pick of the St. Louis Blues, had two points in the 7-3 win over Saginaw earlier this season.

Overager Ben Hawerchuk was given first-star honors in the first game this season against the Spirit. The Barrie right-winger had a plus/minus of plus-three and collected a goal and three points against Saginaw. Hawerchuk leads all the Colts players with 24 goals this season.

Colts forward Matej Pekar had a goal against the Spirit in the first meeting. The Buffalo Sabres prospect has 14 goals and 22 assists through just 33 games this season for Barrie. The Turnov, Czech Republic native was Barrie's second round pick in the 2018 CHL Import Draft.

Barrie's roster has two players with rights owned by NHL teams, forward Matej Pekar (Buffalo Sabres) and defenseman Tyler Tucker (St. Louis Blues).

The Spirit boasts eight players drafted by NHL clubs, forwards Brady Gilmour (Detroit Red Wings), Blade Jenkins (New York Islanders), Owen Tippett (Florida Panthers-signed), Ryan McLeod (Edmonton Oilers), Damien Giroux (Minnesota Wild), defensemen Reilly Webb (Detroit Red Wings), Bode Wilde (New York Islanders-signed), and goaltender Ivan Prosvetov (Arizona Coyotes).

Check out the Saginaw Spirit Statistics




Images from this story

Saginaw Spirit left wing Cole Perfetti (right) against the Barrie Colts
Saginaw Spirit left wing Cole Perfetti (right) against the Barrie Colts
   



Ontario Hockey League Stories from February 22, 2019


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