Spirit Score Five Unanswered to Take Opening Night Win in the Soo
OHL Saginaw Spirit

Spirit Score Five Unanswered to Take Opening Night Win in the Soo

Published on September 19, 2025 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release


Saginaw Spirit's Dima Zhilkin in action
Saginaw Spirit's Dima Zhilkin in action
(Saginaw Spirit)

Sault St. Marie, Ont. - The Saginaw Spirit beat the Soo Greyhounds 5-3 on Friday night to take their first win of the season. Dima Zhilkin had a three-point night (2G-1A) along with Egor Barabanov (1G-2A). Nikita Klepov and Levi Harper each earned a goal and an assist in their league debuts. Goaltender Stepan Shurygin posted 26 saves in his first OHL victory.

Charlie Hilton scored the first goal of the season for the Greyhounds after he chipped in a bouncing puck off Brady R. Smith's shot from the slot at 11:29.

Just 14 seconds later, Jakub Winkelhofer scored his first in the OHL for the Greyhounds. The defenseman cleaned up the rebound after Quinn McKenzie's wrist shot bounced off of Noah Laus, making it 2-0 at 11:45.

At 15:30 into the first, Jordan Charron scored unassisted on a broken play for a 3 - 0 lead.

After 1: SAG 0 - 3 SOO (Total shots: 5 - 11)

Saginaw responded 8:28 into the second with Dima Zhilkin scoring the first of the season. Zhilkin was awarded a penalty shot short-handed after Ryan Kaczynski tied him up from behind on a breakaway, cutting the Soo lead to 3-1.

After strong goaltending from both teams, Levi Harper scored his first OHL goal on a high wrist shot from between the circles. Nikita Klepov got the primary assist after he found Harper all alone in the slot, with Egor Barabanov picking up the secondary assist, with 1:03 left in the second.

After 2: SAG 2 - 3 SOO (2nd period shots 12 - 5 Total shots: 17-16)

Egor Barabanov tied the game for the Spirit on the power play after Dima Zhilkin flipped one to him from behind the net. Levi Harper picked up the secondary assist, making it a 3-3 hockey game just 1:40 into the first.

Dima Zhilkin scored his second of the game after Trevor Theuer found him on a drop pass. Zhilkin sent a shot over Tegelaar's blocker at 15:10, and Graydon Jones grabbed the secondary assist on the go-ahead goal.

Nikita Klepov scored his first of the season for the Spirit on the power play to ice the game. His one timer was scored on the power play after a the setup from Egor Barabanov and James Guo, giving Saginaw a 5-3 lead.

Final SAG 5 - 3 SOO (3rd period shots 7 - 13 Total shots: 24 - 29)

Power Plays SAG 2/5 SOO 0/6

Goaltenders: SAG Stepan Shurygin (26 saves, 29 shots) SOO Noah Tegelaar (19 saves, 24 shots)

Check out the Saginaw Spirit Statistics

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Images from this story

Saginaw Spirit's Dima Zhilkin in action
Saginaw Spirit's Dima Zhilkin in action
   



Ontario Hockey League Stories from September 19, 2025


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