Spirit Visit Knights Friday Night

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OHL Saginaw Spirit

Spirit Visit Knights Friday Night

October 18, 2024 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release


London, Ont. - The Saginaw Spirit (4-2-1-0) visit the London Knights (4-3-0-0) on Friday, October 18th at Canada Life Place.

Tonight's Game:

Puck drop is at 7:00 PM.

Broadcast:

Radio: 100.5 WSGW, WSGW.com

TV: OHL Live, CHL App, OHL Action Pak Ch. 466 / Rogers TV

Last Game:

Saginaw hosted the Soo Greyhounds on Sunday, October 13th where they fell 3-2. After a scoreless first period, Michael Misa extended his point streak scoring his 11th goal of the season to give Saginaw a 1-0 lead. With under two minutes left in the second period the Soo's Brady Martin tied things up with his fourth goal of the season. The Greyhounds opened the scoring in the third taking a 2-1 lead with Justin Cloutier recording his fourth goal of the season. A minute later Soo native Calem Mangone buried his second goal of the season to retie the game. At 18:06 into the third period Carson Andrew tallied the game winning goal for the Greyhounds ending the game with a score of 3-2.

London hosted the Guelph Storm on Saturday, October 12th where they won 5-1. The Knights started the scoring with William Nicholl scoring the lone goal in the first period. London opened the scoring in the second as well with PJ Fagan II scoring his first goal and giving London a 2-0 lead. The Storm would cut into that lead with Alex McLean burying his third goal of the season while on the powerplay. The Knights would then finish the night scoring three unanswered goals. William Nicholl tallied his second goal of the night. Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan recorded his second goal of the season. Evan Van Gorp sealed the game with an empty net goal for a final score of 5-1.

Last Season:

The Spirit and the Knights crossed paths 12 times in 2023-24, culminating in one of the most memorable Memorial Cup Finals in the event's history. While Josh Bloom's late winner and Owen Beck's two goals dominated the spotlight, returning forward Joey Willis notched a goal and an assist in the contest. The Knights claimed the Western Conference Final in six games, led by OHL MVP Easton Cowan's 11 points (5G, 6A). In their four-game regular season series, both teams claimed their games at home. The Knights outscored the Spirit on home ice 13-4, while Saginaw did the same from the Dow Event Center at 13-9.

Players to watch:

Michael Misa will look to extend his seven-game point streak on Friday night. Misa is fifth in the OHL in points with 14 (11G, 3A). Nashville prospect Joey Willis has had previous success against London and will to continue that in this one. In addition to his Memorial Cup Final performance, Willis registered 1G-3A-4P against the nights in the regular season. Reigning CHL Defenseman of the Year Zayne Parekh already has six points (1G, 5A) in five games since returning from Calgary Flames preseason action.

The Knights added Austin Elliott, formerly of the WHL's Saskatoon Blades, in a trade with Barrie earlier this week. Elliott, an overage goaltender, was claimed off waivers by the Colts. He was named to the CHL All-Rookie Team in 2023, and won 58 games in three seasons with the Blades, twice making it to the Conference Finals. San Jose prospect Sam Dickinson is looking to put up career highs after a 70-point season last year. The defenseman has seven points (4G, 3A) in five games so far this season, and is fresh off a hat-trick performance against Guelph. Evan Van Gorp is currently leading the Knights in points with eight (5G, 3A) on the season. Through six games, Van Gorp has almost as many points this season (8) as he did in 44 games last season (12). He will look to pass that number in this matchup. The returning Red Tilson Trophy winner Easton Cowan is looking to break the 100-point mark this season after finishing last year with 96. In the three games this season he has tallied four points (2G, 2A) and will look to build on those numbers against Saginaw.

Saginaw's NHL Drafted Players:

Joey Willis (NSH)

Ethan Hay (TB)

Zayne Parekh (CGY)

Igor Chernyshov (SJ)

London's NHL Drafted Players:

Easton Cowan (TOR)

Sam Dickinson (SJ)

Oliver Bonk (PHI)

Kasper Halttunen (SJ)

Jacob Julien (WPG)

Sam O'Reilly (EDM)

Jesse Nurmi (NYI)

William Nicholl (EDM)

Denver Barkey (PHI)

Landon Sim (STL)

Jared Woolley (LA)

Check out the Saginaw Spirit Statistics

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