OHL Saginaw Spirit

Spirit Strong in 5-4 Home Win over Sting

Published on April 2, 2022 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release


Saginaw, Mich. - The Saginaw Spirit (22-40-1-0) won their fourth game in their last five outings and kept their playoff hopes alive with a 5-4 triumph over the Sarnia Sting (25-31-4-1) in front of 3,174 fans at The Dow Event Center in Saginaw, Michigan.

The Spirit, who were looking to rebound after a 9-3 loss Friday night to the Soo, jumped out to a lead at 8:05 of the opening frame. Brayden Hislop, a first-year defenseman acquired in a trade with Owen Sound back in November, made a great play and broke up a pass, leading a two-on-one the other direction with Charlie Fink and Ian Phillips. Phillips initial shot was stopped by Sting goalie Anson Thornton, but the rebound was deposited in by Fink for his second goal in his last three games. Just 3:27 later, Hislop scored a goal of his own to make the score 2-0. He broke up a Sting rush at the blueline and on a give-and-go with Luke McNamara, found the top corner on his shot for his second goal of the season. With Saginaw in charge, the Sting mounted a late-period surge and on a rebound off of Andrew Oke, Nolan Burke scored his 33rd goal of the season on the backhand. Marko Sickic and Theo Hill drew the assists on the goal at 18:41 to narrow the Spirit lead to one goal. Saginaw outshot the Sting, 9-5 in the opening period.

Early in the second period, the pesky line of Sebastien Gervais, Nick Wong, and Calem Mangone went to work. Along with the help of Hislop, Gervais setup Mangone, who made a perfect shot to the upper third of the net for his 13th goal of the season to make it 3-1 Saginaw at 1:12 of the second. Sarnia again hung around, and struck at 11:30 on a breakaway for defenseman Ethan Ritchie. His original shot was stopped by Oke, but with Justin O'Donnell sliding to break up the chance, the puck hit him and bounced past Oke. With the Sting ramping up their forecheck, Easton Wainwright was the beneficiary of a strong board play by Angus MacDonnell to outmuscle the Saginaw defenseman and feed it out front to an open Wainwright. Michigan native Zach Filak also picked up an assist on the equalizer at 15:18. With Saginaw on the power play, the Saginaw native Mitchell Smith struck for his 14th goal of the season on a wraparound goal. Josh Bloom and Luke McNamara drew the assists at 17:27. Immediately after the goal, Nick Wong was whistled for closing his hand on the puck on the center ice faceoff. With the man-advantage, Boston Bruins prospect Ryan Mast floated a long shot through traffic beating Oke on his stick side for his eighth goal of the season to tied it up 4-4 heading into the break. Sarnia outshot the Spirit 12-11 in the middle frame.

Saginaw played a near perfect defensive game in the third period, holding Sarnia without a shot through the first 9:00 of the period. This gave the Spirit the opportunity to take the lead for good when Luke McNamara found Smith stepping up in the play. He made no mistake with the shot past the glove of Thornton for his second goal of the game and 15th of the season at the 10:00 mark of the third. This goal would prove to be the game-winner, as even with the goalie pulled late for an extra player, the Sting only generated four shots on goal in the third period. In total, Brayden Hislop and Luke McNamara scored three points apiece for the Spirit to lead the way and Andrew Oke made 17 saves in the victory for Saginaw.

The Spirit host the Guelph Storm on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. for Billet Appreciation Night.

Check out the Saginaw Spirit Statistics

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from April 2, 2022


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