Spirit Wrap up 2015 with 8-5 Win over Bulldogs
Published on December 30, 2015 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release
SAGINAW, MI. - On Wednesday night, the Saginaw Spirit welcomed the Hamilton Bulldogs to The Dow Event Center for the first time. The Spirit wrapped up 2015 with a 8-5 win over the Hamilton Bulldogs.
In the first period, Adam Laishram opened the game's scoring for the Hamilton Bulldogs and gave the visitors their first lead of the night at the 7:25 mark. But 32 seconds later, Saginaw's Tye Felhaber started a scoring outbreak that couldn't be stopped. Felhaber tied the game at one apiece with help from Kirill Maskimov at 7:57. Captain Connor Brown continued in the Spirit's scoring efforts as he finished off a pretty pass from Kris Benentt, giving the Spirit a 2-1 lead on his 14th tally this season. Jesse Barwell also assisted the play. Up next was rookie Cole Coskey, who furthered the Spirit lead at 15:21 of the first period by a score of 3-1. Will Petschenig and Brady Gilmour each had a hand in the goal. Artem Artemov wrapped up the first period scoring for the Spirit at 18:33, notching his 15th goal of the season and pushing the Spirit ahead of the Bulldogs 4-1.
Scoring in the middle frame was scarce compared to the Spirit's performance in the first period. The Spirit and the Bulldogs traded points for penalties, as Hamilton tried to battled back in hopes of catching Saginaw. At 3:26 of the second period, Michael Cramarossa made a dent in the Spirit's lead, with help from Jack Hanley and Mason Marchment. Towards the later end of the second period, Saginaw's Connor Brown and Hamilton's Brody Morris dropped the gloves and served time in the penalty box for fighting. As tensions continued to flare, Saginaw put their power play unit to the test. At 17:50, Matt Kreis capitalized on the power play to keep Saginaw ahead of Hamilton by a score of 5-2. Marcus Crawford and Dylan Sadowy assisted Kreis's eighth goal of the season.
Saginaw continued in their scoring endeavors early on in the third period. At 1:38 of the final frame, Kris Bennett beat Hamilton's Connor Hicks to preserve the Spirit's lead. Connor Brown followed suit of Bennett as he tallied his 15th goal of the season with help from Tye Felhaber and Artem Artemov and secure a comfortable 7-2 advantage. The Hamilton Bulldogs eventually found some scoring momentum as Matt Luff slipped the puck past Saginaw's Evan Cormier at 8:02. Kris Bennett responded 18 seconds later as he notched his second goal of the evening and reinforced the Spirit's lead, 8-3. Hamilton was able to score two more before the final buzzer sounded, recording goals from Ondrej Kachyna and Adam Lascherin. The Saginaw Spirit knocked off the Hamilton Bulldogs to tie the Soo Greyhounds for third place in the West Division.
Applebee's Three Stars
Kris Bennett - (2G, A) SAG
Connor Brown - (2G) SAG
Mason Marchment - (G, A) HAM
The Saginaw Spirit welcome the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds to The Dow Event Center on Saturday, January 2nd, 2016. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. For tickets call (989) 497-7747 or visit us at saginawspirit.com. 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.
Ontario Hockey League Stories from December 30, 2015
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