Saginaw defeats Sarnia, 4-1
SAGINAW -- The Saginaw Spirit bested division rival the Sarnia Sting 4-1 Saturday night, courtesy an effort that saw offense from four different Spirit goal scorers. Ivan Telegin earned the game’s first star honors with a contribution that saw a goal and an assist. Jordan Szwarz, Tyler Murovich, and Josh Shalla also recorded one goal apiece.
The Spirit enter Sunday in seventh place in the OHL Western Conference with 66 points and a record of 30-25-4-2, three points behind the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and the Erie Otters. The Greyhounds were idle tonight but the Otters posted a 7-1 win over Ottawa to close the point gap. The Guelph Storm are in eighth place with 62 points following a 3-2 win over the Plymouth Whalers, and the Owen Sound Attack, who have been fighting with the Storm over the last playoff spot, have 61 points after their 7-4 win over Peterborough.
Winger Josh Shalla put the Spirit on the board first, notching his thirty-first of the season at 7:12 in the opening period. Winger Jordan Skellett earned the lone assist on the goal. Sting would answer in the second period when winger Craig Hottot tallied a powerplay goal at 11:56, courtesy assists from defenseman Joe Rogalski and winger Kale Kerbashian. The Spirit regained their one goal lead later in the period when winger Jordan Szwarz (NHL Phoenix Coyotes) recorded a goal at the 17:55 mark, with assists credited to defenseman Ryan O'Connor and center Vincent Trocheck. The second period ended with Saginaw leading 2-1.
The Spirit increased their lead early in the third when center Ivan Telegin posted a powerplay goal at the 6:32 mark, thanks to assists from center Michael Sgarbossa and defenseman Peter Hermenegildo. Center Tyler Murovich extended Saginaw’s lead to 4-1 with a goal moments later, scoring at 11:14 off of Sgarbossa and Telegin.
Spirit goalie Edward Pasquale (NHL ATLANTA THRASHERS) posted 32 saves on 33 shots, while Sting netminder Shayne Campbell tallied a total of 39 saves on 43 shots.
