OHL Saginaw Spirit

Preview: Spirit Face Knights in London Friday

Published on January 15, 2016 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release


SAGINAW, MI - On Friday Night, the Saginaw Spirit (17-19-2-2 38 points, 4th West Division) head to the Budweiser Gardens to face the London Knights (29-7-2-1, 61 points, 2nd Midwest Division) at 7:30.

The Spirit are coming off of a very challenging weekend, facing two of the most talented teams in the Ontario Hockey League. On Friday, the Niagara Ice Dogs knocked off the Spirit by a 3-1 score. Goaltender Evan Cormier stood on his head, stopping 41 of 44 shots from the Ice Dogs. Cormier came back with a stellar performance on Saturday night against the Sarnia Sting making 36 saves in a 5-4 shootout loss at The Dow Event Center.

The Knights had won four games in a row coming into Wednesday night's road matchup with the Guelph Storm. London had won the previous five meetings between the two teams but on this night, the Knights were shut down by former London Knight goaltender Michael Giugovaz. Giugovaz made 32 saves and picked up his first career shutout in the 3-0 Storm win.

Head-to-Head:

This matchup has not been kind to the Spirit over the last few years, in fact the Spirit are 3-12-2-1 against the Knight in the last five seasons. The Spirit's last win against the Knight came on January 11, 2014, when Jake Patterson shutout the Knights with a 30-save performance leading the Spirit to a 2-0 victory at The Dow. This season, the Knights have been victorious in each of the two games played between the teams this season. On October 16, the Knights, led by a two-goal performance from Aaron Berisha, beat the Spirit 4-1 at Budweiser Gardens. On Halloween, the Spirit were spooked by the Knights in a 7-0 home loss. Orion Township native Max Jones scored his first career OHL hat trick in the game, and Chesterfield Township native Tyler Parsons earned his first career OHL shutout.

Broadcast Information:

Spirit fans can catch radio broadcasts on WSGW 100.5 FM, www.fmtalk1005.com , and the FM Talk 100.5 App in the App Store or Google Play with the voices of Spirit Hockey, Joey Battaino and Dennis Desrosiers. For a full TV Broadcast schedule, Click Here. Tonight's broadcast begins at 7:15.

Check out the Saginaw Spirit Statistics

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from January 15, 2016


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