OHL Saginaw Spirit

Spirit Quell Storm with 7-2 Win

February 9, 2007 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release


(Guelph, ON) The Saginaw Spirit beat the Guelph Storm 7-2 in Guelph Friday night. It was the first time in team history that the Spirit have won at the Guelph Sports and Entertainment Centre. Saginaw welcomed the return of defensemen Patrick McNeill and Andrew Hotham from injuries; together the two tallied 5 points in the game. The Spirit are in second place in the OHL West Division with 64 points and a record of 31-19-0-2; the Plymouth Whalers are in first place with 75 points.

"We played a very good game tonight", stated Spirit General Manager and Head Coach Bob Mancini, "We had a lot of players that stepped up and turned in very solid performances".

The Spirit soared to an early 3-0 lead in the first period. Defenseman Andrew Hotham shot in a puck fed by center Tom Pyatt (NYR 05) at the 4:36 mark. Winger Tomas Zaborsky (NYR 06) followed suit with a goal of his own on the power play at 8:57 in the first, assisted by winger Jan Mursak (DET 06) and center Tyler Haskins. Center Ryan O'Marra, assisted by center Ryan McDonough and Pyatt, chased Guelph goaltender Thomas McCollum from net with a goal at 10:35 in the period taking the score to 3-0. Storm goalie Cody St. Jacques came in for McCollum.

Saginaw's momentum carried into the second period. D-man Patrick McNeill (WSH 05), assisted by Hotham and McDonough, scored a power play goal at 5:35 in the second to advance the Spirit lead to 4-0. Guelph center Jamie Arniel broke Spirit netminder Ryan Daniel's shutout streak with a goal at the 8:04 mark, moving the score to 4-1. Daniels tallied his first career shutout in the 9-0 Spirit win over the Erie Otters last weekend. D-man Hotham quickly answered for the Spirit with his second goal of the evening at 14:50 in the second period, assisted by winger Ryan Berard. The period ended with the Spirit holding a 5-1 lead.

Storm center Rafael Rotter reduced the Spirit lead early in the third period with a goal at the 1:32 mark. The score remained 5-2 until the final minutes of the game. D-man Chris Breen scored his first OHL goal at 14:05 in the third, taking the score to 6-2; Mursak and Haskins assisted. Saginaw's Pyatt sealed the game 7-2 with a power play goal at 15:31 in the period, assisted by O'Marra and McNeill. It was Pyatt's 30th goal of the season.

Spirit goalie Ryan Daniels (OTT 06) had 33 saves in the win.

The Spirit continue their road trip tomorrow with a game against the Belleville Bulls at 7:15 PM. The team will face-off against the Mississauga Ice Dogs Sunday at 4:00 PM before returning home to Saginaw. The Spirit will host the Sarnia Sting at the Dow Event Center for Friday, February 16th at 7:11 PM.

Check out the Saginaw Spirit Statistics



Ontario Hockey League Stories from February 9, 2007


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