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OHL Saginaw Spirit

Saginaw Travels to Sarnia to Start Second Round Series

April 14, 2023 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release


Sarnia, Ont. - The Saginaw Spirit (4-3) start the second round of the playoffs by visiting the Sarnia Sting (4-2) Friday, April 14, at the Progressive Auto Sales Arena.

Tonight's Game:

Puck drop is at 7:05 p.m.

Broadcast:

Television: CHL TV, CHL App, YourTV, OHL Action Pak Ch. 467

Radio: 100.5 FM WSGW, WSGW.com

This Season and Playoff History:

This will be the third time that Saginaw and Sarnia have met in the postseason. The Spirit swept their most recent playoff meeting with the Sting during a 2019 first-round series. This season, the two teams split the six-game season series. The Spirit took each of the first three games in Sarnia, but the Sting took the remaining three back at the Dow Event Center. Matyas Sapovaliv scored the only goal for the Spirit in the most recent meeting, a 6-1 loss on February 25th. In the six games against Sarnia, Sapovaliv totaled six goals and five assists for 11 points, leading the way for Saginaw.

The Playoffs so Far:

Saginaw made their way to the second round by defeating the Flint Firebirds, in a deciding seventh game on home ice. This was the only series that required seven games in this season's first round, as well as the only series to feature three overtime games. After going out to a 3-1 lead, Flint came back and forced a game seven in Saginaw. Despite this, the Spirit rallied back and won 6-3.

Sarnia booked their trip to the second round by beating the Guelph Storm in six games. The Sting surged ahead to a 3-0 series lead, but the Storm battled back with a pair of wins in Games 4 and 5. Nashville Predators prospect Nolan Burke got the job done in Game 6, scoring the series-winning goal just 4:05 into overtime.

Players to Watch:

Saginaw's Matyas Sapovaliv shined in the first round against Flint. Through seven games, the Vegas Golden Knights pick is tied for first in the OHL in goals (7), is second in points (15), and fifth in assists (8). The forward leads the Spirit in goals and points. Dean Loukus leads the Spirit with nine assists, 3rd best in the OHL. Tristan Lennox has played all seven games this postseason for Saginaw. He holds a 2.60 goals-against average (GAA) and a .905 save percentage (SV%) with four wins.

Nolan Burke leads Sarnia in goals (4) and points (8). The Nashville Predators free agent pick is tied for second place in the OHL with two game-winning goals. Ty Voit has the most assists (6) for the Sting. In the regular season, Voit led the league with 81 assists. San Jose Sharks prospect Benjamin Gaudreau holds top goaltending marks for his team, posting a 2.89 GAA and a .876 SV%.

Saginaw has three (3) players drafted into the National Hockey League (NHL), including Matyas Sapovaliv (Vegas), Tristan Lennox (New York Islanders), and Hunter Haight (Minnesota).

Sarnia has ten (10) players with NHL ties, including Sandis Vilmanis (Florida), Sasha Pastujov (Anaheim), Luca Del Bel Belluz (Columbus), Nolan Burke (Nashville, FA), Ty Voit (Toronto), Ryan Mast (Boston), Christian Kyrou (Dallas), Ethan Del Mastro (Chicago), Chandler Romeo (Ottawa), and Benjamin Gaudreau (San Jose).

Check out the Saginaw Spirit Statistics



Ontario Hockey League Stories from April 14, 2023


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.

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