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OHL Saginaw Spirit

Spirit Take the Firebirds to School in 5-3 Win on Education Day

October 28, 2015 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release


SAGINAW, MI - The Saginaw Spirit welcomed their 1-75 Divide Cup rival to The Dow Event Center on Wednesday morning for the Spirit's annual Education Day game. Wednesday's game marked the third meeting of the Saginaw Spirit and Flint Firebirds in the inaugural Coors Light I-75 Divide Cup Series. The Spirit came out of the battle victorious, topping the Firebirds 5-3 and improving their record to 5-6-1-1.

Flint opened the game's scoring early in the first period after Alex Di Carlo gave the Firebirds a 1-0 lead at 1:16 of the period. An odd man rush for the Spirit allowed Jesse Barwell to tie the score 1-1 and ignite the crowd of over 4,000 cheering students. Saginaw continued to find success after Flint's Connor Sills was whistled for hooking and the Spirit's power play unit hit the ice. Marcus Crawford put a shot on Flint's starting goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic, but it was Tye Felhaber who fired home the rebound, giving the Spirit a 2-1 lead at 11:21 of the period. Connor Brown was also credited with an assist on the play. The Firebirds responded to the Spirit's back-to-back goals at the 14:10 mark, after Dane Johnstone got a breakaway opportunity, and buried the puck top shelf to tie the game 2-2. Shots on goal after the first period favored the Saginaw Spirit 11-9.

In the second period, the Spirit continued capitalizing on their power play opportunities. At 11:29 of the period, Flint's Will Bitten headed to the penalty box for holding a Saginaw players stick, putting the Spirit power play to the test for the second time, Wednesday afternoon. This time, it was Matthew Kreis who scored 17 seconds into the power play, pushing the Spirit ahead of the Firebirds, 3-2. Another whistle at 14:13 against the Firebirds gave way to the Spirit's third power play goal of the day. Artem Artemov cushioned the Spirit's 4-2 lead over the Firebirds at 14:54 of the second, with the help of Will Petschenig and Greg Di Tomaso. Shots on goal in the second were tied at 10 apiece.

The Spirit and Firebirds fought hard through a scoreless period up until the final minutes of the game. Saginaw's Matthew Kreis reinforced the Spirit's 5-2 lead over the Firebirds, netting his second goal of the afternoon and fourth in his last two games at 15:38 of the period. Will Petschenig and Jesse Barwell assisted the play. With minutes to go in the final period, Flint scored one more time off the stick of Ryan Moore, making a slight dent in the Spirit's 5-3 lead. Final shots on goal favored the Saginaw Spirit, 32-30.

Applebee's Three Stars

Matthew Kreis - SAG

Marcus Crawford - SAG

Jesse Barwell - SAG

Spirit welcomes the Owen Sound Attack to the Dow on Friday at 7:05 p.m. On Halloween night the London Knights visit the Dow for a 7:05 p.m., matchup. Be sure to catch every Spirit game on FM Talk and Sports 100.5 WSGW with the voices of Spirit hockey Joey Battaino and Dennis Desrosiers. For tickets call (989) 497-7747 or visit www.saginawspirit.com.

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