OHL Saginaw Spirit

Spirit Seize First in West with 4-1 win over Rangers

Published on December 30, 2006 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release


(Saginaw, MI) The Saginaw Spirit beat the Kitchener Rangers 4-1 Saturday night. The Spirit re-claimed first place in the OHL West Division, with 50 points and a record of 24-12-0-2. Newly acquired netminder Marc-André Perron earned the win in his first start with the Spirit, keeping the Rangers scoreless until the third period. Spirit Forward Patrick Asselin and Defenseman Nigel Williams each notched 3 points in the game.

"I was very happy for the entire team", stated Spirit General Manager and Head Coach Bob Mancini, "It was a wonderful way to end 2006. It was a hard earned victory".

The Spirit started the scoring and jumped to an early 2-0 lead in the first period. Center Ryan McDonough scored a power play goal at 9:10 in the first, with assists from defenseman Patrick McNeill (WSH 05) and winger Patrick Asselin. Center Tom Craig took the Spirit lead to 2-0 in the final seconds of the first period when he shot in his own rebound. Asselin and d-man Nigel Williams (COL 06) assisted.

The Spirit defense kept the Rangers scoreless though the second period. Asselin broke through the Ranger's power play squad at 18:39 for a shorthanded goal assisted by Williams, ending the period 3-0.

The Spirit offense chased Rangers netminder John Murray out of goal, to be replaced by Charles Lavigne. Spirit d-man McNeill took advantage of a power play situation shortly after the goalie swap, to score his 15th goal of the season at the 1:11 mark in the third. Williams and winger Jan Mursak (DET 06) assisted on the goal. Kitchener's Nick Spaling broke the Spirit shutout with a goal in the third period, taking the score to 4-1. The Spirit almost saw a 5th goal from d-man Garrett Sinfield, but upon review it had hit the crossbar and bounced back across the line. The night ended with a 4-1 Spirit victory.

Spirit netminder Marc-André Perron notched 37 saves in the win.

The Spirit take a short break for the New Years holiday, resuming action on the road Saturday, January 12th against the Plymouth Whalers. The Spirit face the London Knights at home the following Sunday at 2:00 PM. The game will feature a poster give-a-way courtesy of Westside Auto and Heritage Insurance, and a post game player autograph session. The Spirit will be honoring Nouvel Catholic Central High School's girls' basketball and football teams, as well as the New Lothrop football team in a pre-game ceremony. All three recently won the state championship titles in their respective divisions. Coaches from each high school team will be participating in a ceremonial puck drop at 2:20 PM.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from December 30, 2006


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