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OHL Saginaw Spirit

Spirit Season Ends in Valiant Effort against Otters 6-4

March 31, 2016 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release


SAGINAW, MI. - On Thursday night at The Dow Event Center, the Erie Otters squeaked out a win, as the Saginaw Spirit battled back in a valiant effort to keep the series alive. A late third period goal by Mitchell Stephens put 3,342 Spiritfans on the edge of their seats as Saginaw came within one-goal of Erie. An empty net goal by Dylan Strome sealed the loss of the Saginaw Spirit, in a 6-4 decision.

The Otters got the game's scoring started off early, as Taylor Raddysh finished off a two-on-one passing play to take a 1-0 lead at 3:42 of the first period. Jake Lawr saw his first playoff start for the Erie Otters and stood tall in keeping the Spirit off the board, after Saginaw was granted an early power play opportunity. The Otters kept netted two more even strength goals in the first period, securing a 3-0 lead heading into the first intermission. Travis Dermott scored at the 6:52 mark, followed by a goal from Kyle Maksimovich at 19:05 of the first period. Erie outshot Saginaw in the first period by a shot total of 22-6.

A fresh goaltender to start the second period did just the trick for the Saginaw Spirit. As Cameron Zanussi suited up and took the place of Evan Cormier in the Spirit net, the Otters snuck in a quick goal to take a 4-0 lead 37 seconds into the period. But the Spirit were quick to battle back and catch up to the Otters as they scored back-to-back goals. Kirill Maksimov put the Spirit on the board at 3:05 to help ignite the Spirit's scoring spark. At 9:49 of the second, Spirit captain Connor Brown sliced the Otters' lead in half with help from Mitchell Stephens and Matthew Kreis. The Otters made a little noise late in the period, as Dylan Strome regained a three-goal lead at 14:17. As the period began to wind down, the Spirit started to turn on their offensive pressure. At 17:34, Connor Brown sniped his second goal of the night to put the Spirit within two-goals of the Otters. At the sound of the buzzer the Otters held a 5-3 lead over the Spirit and outshot Saginaw 14-11 in the middle frame.

A rowdy third period found the Erie Otters trying to hold on to their two-goal lead and the Saginaw Spirit trying to even things up before the clock ran out. The Spirit were granted consecutive power play opportunities in the third period, but were denied on all counts thanks to a topnotch goaltending performance by Jake Lawr. Saginaw crept up Erie late in the third period and keept the visiting team on their toes as Mitchell Stephens put the Spirit within one-goal of the Otters at 16:03 of the period. Rookie Brady Gilmour and Marcus Crawford assisted the play. As the final moments of the third period came to a close, Dylan Strome squeaked in an empty net goal to send the Erie Otters into the next round of playoffs in a 6-4 decision. Final shots on goal favored Erie, 41-26.

Applebee's Three Stars

Connor Brown - (2G) SAG

Will Petschenig - SAG

Dylan Strome - (2G, A) ERIE

The Spirit will host their annual awards banquet on Saturday, April 2nd beginning at 2 p.m., inside the theatre at The Dow Event Center. All season ticket holders, corporate sponsors, media, and general public are welcome to attend.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from March 31, 2016


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