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OHL Saginaw Spirit

Spirit Enter Sudbury Winners of Six Straight

February 16, 2024 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release


Saginaw, Mich. - The Saginaw Spirit (38-13-0-1) continue their Eastern Conference road trip against the Sudbury Wolves (30-15-3-3) at the Sudbury Community Arena on February 16th.

Tonight's Game:

Puck drop is at 7:05 PM

Broadcast:

Television: CHL TV, CHL App, OHL Action Pak Ch 463.

Radio: 100.5 FM WSGW, WSGW.com

Last Time:

Saginaw last played Friday night against the Barrie Colts, finishing a wild 7-6 victory in the Sadlon Arena on February 15th. Both teams held serve through the first period, with Barrie getting the extra goal to lead 2-1 at intermission. The Spirit and Colts scored early in the second before Saginaw rattled off three straight goals to end the second, entering the third up 5-3. Barrie scored two minutes into the third before giving up two more Saginaw goals, putting the Spirit up 7-4. The Colts then scored two more goals late into the final stanza but could not tie the game up, with Saginaw winning 7-6. Rodwin Dionicio collected two goals and three assists for the first five-point night of his OHL career, Owen Beck scored twice to take sole possession of the Spirit's goal-scoring lead, and Nolan Lalonde held on for his current franchise record 15th straight win in the pads shutting down 21 of 25 shots in the win.

Sudbury's last game was a 5-4 shootout loss to the Soo Greyhounds on Valentine's Day night at the GFL Memorial Gardens. The Greyhounds opened the game with three straight goals through the first period and the front half of the second before surrendering four Sudbury goals. Sault Ste. Marie tied the game at four, a scoreline the team took until the shootout. The Soo scored twice to Sudbury's once, securing the win at home and sending Sudbury home with the loss. Nathan Villeneuve finished with a goal and an assist, and Noah Van Vliet added two goals of his own. Quentin Musty scored his 28th of the season on the powerplay, and Marcus Vandenberg tended the net, rejecting 37 of 41 shots.

This Season:

Saginaw and Sudbury have already played the first of their two-game series this year, with game one on December 16th at the Dow Event Center. The Wolves opened the scoring in the first and held out for a 1-0 lead going into the second. Saginaw scored three times to Sudbury's one for a 3-2 Spirit lead entering the third. Saginaw added to their lead about halfway through before the Wolves responded, getting to within one. Despite their best efforts, including a pulled goalie, Sudbury could not complete the comeback, with the Spirit winning 4-3.

Saginaw defensemen Zayne Parekh, Braden Haché, and PJ Forgione all scored for Saginaw, with Joey Willis adding an assist on all of those goals, and Andrew Oke started for Saginaw stopping 22 of 25 shots in the win.

Djibril Toure and David Goyette both scored, with Evan Konyen adding the Wolves' final goal of the contest. Five different Sudbury players recorded an assist, and Nate Krawchuk and Marcus Vandenberg combined for 26 saves on 30 shots in the loss.

Players to Watch:

Zayne Parekh continues to run away with the Spirit's point lead, notching top marks in assists (50, third in the OHL) and points (76, tied for third in the OHL). Parekh also sits just one point shy of tying the single-season record for points by a Spirit defenseman (Patrick McNeill, 77, 2005-06). His 26 goals tie him with fellow teammate Michael Misa, whose ten powerplay goals rank first on the team. Owen Beck now leads Saginaw in goals (27) and has been highly productive since being acquired, collecting 11 goals and 15 assists in 16 games. Beck has also scored at least one goal in the past four games, including two multi-goal contests over that span. Andrew Oke is currently leading in all major goaltending categories, including a 2.97 goals against average (GAA) (third in the OHL), a .891 save percentage (SV%), and 22 wins. With his win last night Nolan Lalonde recorded his 15th consecutive victory.

Sudbury is led by Seattle prospect David Goyette, sporting a team-leading 85 points (first in the OHL), 31 goals (tied for third in the OHL), and 54 assists (second in the OHL). Both Quentin Musty (28G, 41A) and Dalibor Dvorský (29G, 26A) follow Goyette as the Wolves' next biggest contributors. Recently acquired Zacharie Giroux has been productive for Sudbury, collecting 13 points (3G, 10A) over 15 games while Donovan McCoy has posted ten points (2G, 8A) in 14 games since coming over from Peterborough. Sudbury has worked in goaltender-by-committee this year with Nate Krawchuk leading in GAA with a 3.22, Jakub Vondras leading in wins (17) and completed the teams only shutout this year. The newly acquired Marcus Vandenberg leads with an .877 SV%.

Saginaw currently has ten (10) players tied to the National Hockey League (NHL), including Joey Willis (Nashville), Josh Bloom (Vancouver), Matyas Sapovaliv (Vegas), Hunter Haight (Minnesota), Owen Back (Montreal), Ethan Hay (Tampa Bay), Braden Haché (Florida), Jorian Donovan (Ottawa), Rodwin Dionicio (Anaheim) and Nolan Lalonde (Columbus, FA).

Sudbury currently has seven (7) players tied to the National Hockey League (NHL), including Alex Pharand (Chicago), Quentin Musty (San Jose), Dalibor Dvorský (St. Louis), David Goyette (Seattle), Nolan Collins (Pittsburgh), Matthew Mania (Los Angeles), and Jakub Vondras (Carolina).

Check out the Saginaw Spirit Statistics



Ontario Hockey League Stories from February 16, 2024


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