OHL Guelph Storm

Storm Snap Skid in Saginaw

January 31, 2016 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Guelph Storm News Release


A three-point night for James McEwan and 41 saves from Michael Giugovaz propelled the Guelph Storm to a 4-2 victory over the Saginaw Spirit on Sunday afternoon.

Steph Coratti, GuelphStorm.com ---

Winless in their last five, the Guelph Storm found a way to get back into the win column in Saginaw on Sunday afternoon.

Earning first star honours, James McEwan led the way with three points, registering his 20th goal of the season while adding two helpers in the 4-2 victory for the Storm, while goaltender Michael Giugovaz was recognized as the game's second star with 41 of 43 saves on the game.

The crease was split for the Spirit, starting off with Cameron Zanussi who made eight of 11 stops before being relieved by Evan Cormier after 21:29 of play. Cormier concluded the game with seven saves.

Starting off slow, the Storm found themselves down a man 3:29 into the contest as Nick Deakin-Poot was awarded two minutes for hooking. Successfully killing off the minor, the Spirit took their first penalty of the game just over two minutes later as Matthew Kreis was sent off for tripping.

On the power play, C.J. Garcia managed to get a shot through from the point to give the Storm a 1-0 lead with their first shot on goal at the 6:57 point of the opening frame.

Noticeably providing the Storm with some much-needed spark, the Storm took control of the period, making energized plays and maintaining offensive pressure.

Taking the momentum straight into the middle frame, the Storm's leading scorer McEwan extended Guelph's lead to two, scoring his 20th of the season, with a rocket of a wrist shot 1:15 into the period.

Just 14 seconds later, rookie Liam Stevens netted his third of the season off a smart feed from McEwan, who registered his second point of the game on the goal.

Following the goal, with the Storm up 3-0, netminder Zanussi would be relieved by Cormier.

Responding to the goaltending change, the Spirit began to elevate their game, limiting Guelph's offensive pressure for the remainder of the second period. Coming with that, Saginaw also got themselves on the board as Artem Artemov pocketed his 16th of the season going short side on Giugovaz 7:14 into the frame.

Moving into the final period, both teams struggled to get any sort of flow going early on as the Storm nursed a two-goal lead.

Taking four penalties in the third, the Storm would end up with a perfect success rate on the penalty kill, shutting down the Spirit's power play seven times on the game.

After successfully killing off a Deakin-Poot holding call received in the final five minutes of play, veteran Marc Stevens made a solid defensive play to poke check the puck out of the zone up to rookie Nic Sicoly. Sicoly, making no mistake for the empty netter, gave the Storm a 4-1 lead with 1:05 left on the clock.

The Spirit didn't go silently, though, grabbing another tally with nine seconds left on the clock. As Givani Smith served a too many men call, Tye Felhaber scored his 11th of the season to make it a 4-2 final.

Snapping a five-game losing skid, the Storm earned their tenth win of the season in Saginaw on Sunday. Guelph will be back in action this Wednesday, visiting the Mississauga Steelheads.

GAME NOTES

Sunday's match-up was the third of four meetings between the Storm and the Spirit this season.

The Storm are back in action visiting the Mississauga Steelheads on Wednesday.

Check out the Guelph Storm Statistics



Ontario Hockey League Stories from January 31, 2016


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central