OHL Saginaw Spirit

Spirit Comeback Efforts Fall Short in 5-4 Loss

Published on April 3, 2022 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release


Saginaw, Mich. - The Saginaw Spirit (21-41-1-0) narrowly missed mounting their second amazing comeback in less than two weeks, falling 5-4 to the Guelph Storm (32-23-5-2) on Sunday evening in front of 2,073 fans at The Dow Event Center in Riverfront Saginaw, Michigan.

With both teams playing in a three-games in three-days situation, there was much interest in who was going to assert themselves early. The Storm, who were trying to move up to fifth place in the Western Conference, or the Spirit, who learned their playoff fate was sealed by the Erie Otters winning over the Kitchener Rangers. It was Guelph was jumped out to the lead after Saginaw was unable to score on a power play chance in the first minute of the hockey game. Former Sarnia Sting Brayden Guy opened the scoring at 10:26 when he and Matthew Poitras came in on Andrew Oke two-on-one. Poitras pass made it across to Guy, who found a hole on the blocker side. With Nick Wong in the penalty box, the Storm took a 2-0 lead when Poitras deflected a Michael Buchinger shot past Oke at 18:33. The Storm weren't done. Cooper Walker found a lose puck at the blue line, walked in, and fired the puck past the right pad of Oke to make it a 3-0 score just 35 seconds after the Poitras goal. Guelph outshot Saginaw 9-6 and took a 3-0 lead to the dressing room.

The change of the period didn't do much to stop the Storm, who scored just 1:54 into the period. Braeden Bowman made a rush down the wing and skated past two Spirit players before depositing in his 24th goal of the season. Brett Fullerton replaced Oke in net for Saginaw after that goal made it 4-0. Saginaw finally broke the ice at 7:44 of the second period when Pavel Mintyukov fit a shot over the right shoulder of Guelph goaltender Jacob Oster. His 17th goal of the season was assisted by Roberto Mancini and Dean Loukus. 1:18 later, the Spirit cut the Storm lead in half when a Brayden Hislop point shot was thrown back at the net by Sebastien Gervais. With the puck behind the goaltender, Oster accidently kicked it into the net to give Saginaw the goal. Calem Mangone also earned an assist on the second Spirit tally. Before the conclusion of the period though, Guelph's power play struck again, as Guy scored his second goal of the game and fourth of the season against the Spirit.

With the Spirit down by three again, this time in the third period, the Spirit mounted a comeback that started with a tip in goal from overage forward Nick Wong for his 20th of the season. Mancini and Luke McNamara, who won a key faceoff, picked up the assists at 8:30. Saginaw, down by two goals, pulled Fullerton for an extra skater with just under four minutes remaining. On a blueline shot by Mintyukov, it was Matyas Sapovaliv scoring to make it 5-4 with 54 seconds to go. Saginaw kept the pressure on, but the Storm thwarted the late Spirit push.

The Spirit return to action Wednesday night at The Dow Event Center hosting the London Knights for Dow Great Lakes Invitational Night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from April 3, 2022


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