OHL Saginaw Spirit

Saginaw Falls Short to Sarnia 5-4

Published on September 9, 2015 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release


SAGINAW, MI - The Saginaw Spirit were looking to keep their preseason hopes high after defeating their new Michigan opponent, the Flint Firebirds, 4-2 last Friday evening at the Dow Event Center. The Sarnia Sting made a trip to the Dow Event Center to face off for the Saginaw Spirit's second preseason game of 2015. The Spirit were without four of their veteran players against the Sting, losing Dylan Sadowy, Mitchell Stephens, Marcus Crawford and Artem Artemov to NHL Camp's this week. The Spirit capitalized on some tenacious third period play, but fell short of the Sting by one goal, 5-4.

Sarnia's Patrick White opened up the game's scoring early in the first period, after he picked up a pass from Sasha Chmelevski and beat Saginaw's starting goaltender Evan Cormier (Core-ME-yeh) to make the score 1-0 over the Spirit. Towards the midway mark of the first, Sarnia defensemen Jeff King followed suit of White and gave the Sting a 2-0 lead over the home team. Sarnia recorded seven shots on goal in the first period, with Saginaw putting two shots on the Sting's starting goaltender Aiden Hughes.

An exciting start to the second period left Saginaw's forward Tye Felhaber (Fell-a-burr) with a penalty shot opportunity 13 seconds into the second period. Felhaber capitalized on the play by showcasing some impressive stick handling and snuck the puck past Aiden Hughes to cut the Sting's lead in half. The teams traded penalties throughout the period, but were both left scoreless until Sarnia's Patrick White notched his second goal of the evening at 18:34 giving the Sting a two-goal lead once again. Jeff King and Kevin Spinozzi assisted on White's goal. Saginaw's good effort throughout the second period allowed them to outshoot Sarnia 11-7.

Saginaw's Jesse Barwell cut into Sarnia's lead and begun the back and forth scoring party between the two teams at the 3:01 mark of the third period, leaving the Spirit one goal behind the Sting. Brady Gilmour and Michael Holmes recorded the assists on the play. Sarnia retaliated minutes after, regaining their two-goal lead over Saginaw thanks to Chase Campbell, and playmakers Jordan Kyrou and Ryan McGregor. Saginaw was quick to join the scoring party when rookie forward Cole Coskey (Koss-Key) scored on a great effort to cut the Sting's lead to 4-3. The assists on Coskey's goal came from Connor Brown and Devon Paliani (paul-LEE-ann-EE) 10:09 into the third period. The back and forth affair between Sarnia and Saginaw continued when Sarnia's Jake O'Donnell found the back of the net with the help of Jordan Kyrou and Josh Defarias at the 11:34 mark. Saginaw's Brady Gilmour put the scoring party to rest at 14:14 of the third period, recording his second point of the game after he picked up a pretty pass from Greg DiTomaso (Dee-toe-MAH-so), slicing into Sarnia's 5-4. Keaton Middleton was also credited with an assist on the play. Saginaw's outstanding effort in the third period evened the shot total to 21 a piece between the Spirit and the Sting.

The Saginaw Spirit will face off against the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds at 7:05 p.m., on Friday, September 18, 2015 for their last preseason game on home ice at the Dow Event Center. Friday's game will mark the first matchup of the weekend between the two teams, finishing at the Essar Centre in Sault Ste. Marie Saturday evening as the Greyhounds host the Spirit.

The 2015-16 regular season kicks off at the Dow Event Center on Thursday, September 24, 2015 as the Saginaw Spirit welcomes the Flint Firebirds for the first time in Great Lakes Bay Region hockey history. Puck is scheduled to drop between the two Michigan rivals at 7:05 p.m. Join us before the game for the I-75 Divide Fan Fest at The First Merit Bank Event Park starting at 5:00 p.m., for food and live music. For tickets call 989-497-7747 or visit SaginawSpirit.com.

Applebees Three Stars

Patrick White - SAR

Brady Gilmour - SAG

Tye Felhaber - SAG

Check out the Saginaw Spirit Statistics

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from September 9, 2015


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