OHL Saginaw Spirit

Six-Goal Second Period Leads Spirit to Decisive 9-1 Victory

Published on October 18, 2019 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release


SAGINAW, MI - The Saginaw Spirit defeated the North Bay Battalion, 9-1 with a record-high six-goal period for the Spirit.  The Spirit extended their winning streak to season-long, three games.

With three seconds remaining in the first period, New York Islanders prospect Blade Jenkins and Cole Coskey connected to put the Spirit up one goal. Jenkins received the puck from Coskey and took a sharp angle shot at the bottom of the right circle that beat Cicigoi. Shots on goal in the opening period favored Saginaw, 12-4.

Only 2:04 into the second period, North Bay's Luke Moncada with a back-handed goal tied the game up 1-1.

The Spirit answered only two minutes later with rookie Davis 'T-Bone' Codd's first career OHL goal. Overager Reilly Webb took a shot from the point that the rookie forward deflected into the North Bay net.

4:51 into the second period, Coskey increased the Spirit's lead to 3-1 with his ninth goal of the season. 2020 NHL Draft top prospect, Cole Perfetti, passed the puck to Coskey for a one-timer from the bottom of the left circle to beat the Battalion goaltender.

With three points in the game, the Zion, Illinois native, Coskey passed Spirit alum, Garret Ross for ninth all-time in points by a Spirit player with 172.

Only 19 seconds later, Dallas Stars Prospect Nicholas Porco skated into the Battalion zone on a two-on-one rush and took a shot from the top of the right circle for his third goal of the season.

2020 NHL Draft prospect Ethan Cardwell scored the fourth Spirit goal in just 2:21 of second period action. Saginaw Captain Damien Giroux created space on the left-wing and made a great pass to Cardwell open in the slot. Cardwell sent a one-timer passed a sliding North Bay net-minder for his third goal of the season.

After the Battalion's Alex Christopoulos was called for a slashing minor, Perfetti scored on the power play to make it 6-1 in favor of the Spirit. The Whitby, Ontario native faked his shot from the top of the right circle and fired over the left shoulder of the North Bay goaltender at the time, Reece Proulx.

The Spirit received their sixth goal of the period from overager D.J. Busdeker at 15:27 of the second period. Busdeker's shot from the point redirected off a North Bay defender into the net for his third goal of the season.

Saginaw took a 7-1 lead going into the second intermission.

6:05 into the third period, Philadelphia Flyers draft pick Mason Millman took a shot from the point that redirected off defensemen Nick Grima's stick that snuck by Cicigoi, who was reinserted into the game in the third period, giving Saginaw an 8-1 lead.

At 17:22 of the third period, the Spirit received their second powerplay goal of the game courtesy of Porco. With the assist from Millman and Perfetti, Porco shot an uninterrupted puck at the top of the left circle straight past the Battalion goaltender.

The Spirit were victorious, 9-1, and made it a season-high three-game winning streak.

Applebee's Three Stars of the Game:

Mason Millman (SAG) 1G, 3A

Nick Porco (SAG) 2G,1A

Davis 'T-Bone' Codd (SAG) 1G

The Saginaw Spirit will be at home again Saturday to play the Kitchener Rangers for the second time this season. Puck drop from The Dow Event Center in Saginaw, Michigan begins at 7:05 p.m.

Fans can catch this weekend's action on the flagship WSGW Newsradio 100.5 FM and www.wsgw.com with Art Lewis and the voice of Saginaw Spirit hockey Joey Battaino on the call.  "Countdown to Face-off" begins 15 minutes prior to puck drop.

To purchase tickets to any Saginaw Spirit home game call (989) 497-7747, visit www.saginawspirit.com, or visit the Saginaw Spirit Store at 5789 State Street, Saginaw MI.

Check out the Saginaw Spirit Statistics

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from October 18, 2019


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