Saginaw opened with 2-0 lead after first period
SAGINAW -- The Saginaw Spirit overpowered the Sarnia Sting by a score of 6-2. Scoring for Spirit was spread out amongst five players: Eric Locke, Michael Fine, Garret Ross, Josh Shalla and Brandon Saad.
The Spirit got things started at 4:37 in the first; Eric Locke hung around the net and landed himself his 14th goal of the season. Garret Ross and Carlos Amestoy assisted Locke’s rebound goal. Moment’s later Michael Fine taps in a backdoor pass from Josh Shalla and Vincent Trocheck on a power play to take a two-goal lead over the Sting. The Spirit defense would remain tough for the remaining of the period and end with a 2-0 lead over Sarnia.
53 seconds into the second, Garret Ross intercepts a pass, skates in front of the net and snipes a shot under the crossbar! Ross’ goal was unassisted. At the 10:00 mark, Josh Shalla tips in a goal from Fine and Brandon Saad to take a 4-0 lead over Sarnia. Playing with full adrenaline, Brandon Saad scored his 22nd goal of the season off a rebound at the 13:30 mark. Brandon Archibald and Shalla assisted Saad’s rebound goal. This would keep the Spirit in the lead 5-0 over Sarnia at the end of the second. The Spirit would have 3 goals on 15 shots at the end of the period.
Sarnia would continue to fight hard against the Spirit going into the third period. Connor Murphy would break the shutout by scoring a shorthanded goal on a power play. Ryan Spooner assisted Murphy’s goal at 3:27 in the third. Brandon Saad would then fight through Sarnia’s defense to pick up a loose puck in front of the net and snuck it past Sarnia’s goalie, Brandon Hope. This would put the Spirit back up by four goals. Minutes later, Sarnia’s top prospect Nail Yakupov took control of the puck and scored his first goal of the night, unassisted at 8:28 in the period.
