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OHL Saginaw Spirit

Spirit Slip to Knights 5-2

March 12, 2016 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release


SAGINAW, MI. - On Saturday night, the Spirit welcomed the London Knights to The Dow Event Center for Hockey for the Homeless Night. A hard fought effort by the Spirit and the Knights kept the 4,178 Spirit fans on the edge of their seats. After the battled had ceased and the smoke subsided, only the Knights were left standing, defeating the Spirit by a final score of 5-2.

In the first period, Evan Cormier and the Spirit defense smothered the Knight's offense early and often to keep London's scoring restrained until 12:59 of the first period. Cliff Pu got the game's scoring started as he finished off a three-on-two passing play with Max Jones and Aaron Berisha to put the Knights up 1-0 over the Spirit. Shots in the first period favored the London Knights, 16-7.

London's and Saginaw's penalty killing specialists were both put to the test in the second period. Eight total penalties in the middle frame, kept both goaltenders on high alert. The Knights netted two consecutive goals to go up 3-0 over the Spirit. Max Jones and Matthew Tkachuk each registered a tally to keep the Knights out in front. Just after Saginaw's Will Petschenig and London's C.J. Yakimowicz dropped the gloves and headed to the penalty box, Matthew Kreis ripped his 17th goal of the year past Brendan Burke to put the Spirit on the board at 17:38. Artem Artemov and Marcus Crawford assisted Kreis' power play goal. The Knights outshot the Spirit 15-4 in the second period.

The Knights added to their lead 58 seconds into the third period, as Christian Dvorak put the Knights up 4-1 over the Spirit. The Spirit battled to the end, fighting hard to keep within reach of the Knights. Captain Connor Brown sliced the Knight's score in half on his 23rd goal of the campaign at 15:54 of the third period. Mitchell Stephens and Matthew Kreis picked up the assists on the play, extending Stephens' point streak to eight consecutive games. London netted one more late goal as Matthew Tkachuk scored his second goal of the night on an empty Spirit net. The London Knights swept the four-game season series against the Saginaw Spirit by a final score of 5-2. London outshot Saginaw 40-19.

Applebee's Three Stars

Christian Dvorak - (G, A) LDN

Max Jones - (G, A) LDN

Evan Cormier - (35 SVS) SAG

The Spirit head to the Essar Centre on Wednesday night for a 7:07 p.m. game against the Soo Greyhounds. On Friday, March 18th the Spirit play host to the Windsor Spitfires for Michigan Blood Night at The Dow Event Center before wrapping up the regular season on Saturday, March 19th against the Sarnia Sting. March 19th is Dow NASCAR Night at Austin Dillon's No. 3 car will be in the building. Both games are set for 7:05 p.m. For tickets, call (989) 497-7747 or visit saginawspirit.com. Be sure to catch every Spirit game on WSGW 100.5 with the voices of the Saginaw Spirit, Joey Battaino and Dennis Desrosiers.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from March 12, 2016


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