Chappell nets hat trick in loss
OSHAWA, ON -- The Saginaw Spirit suffered a 7-5 loss to the Oshawa Generals Monday afternoon, but not before fighting through a five goal deficit to in the later half of the game to at one point be within one goal of tying up the contest.
Spirit captain Chris Chappell was a driving force behind the late Spirit surge, notching his first OHL career hat trick. Also scoring for Saginaw were Jack Combs and Barry Sanderson. Jordan Skellett tallied three assists in the effort. The Spirit have 66 points and a record of 30-20-2-4, good for third place in the OHL Western Conference. The fourth place Guelph Storm also lost tonight, two points behind Saginaw with 64 points.
The Generals fired off five consecutive goals in the first two periods of the contest. Center Brett Parnham sparked the scoring plethora with two goals, the first a power play marker at 8:54 in the first period. Winger John Padulo and center Jeff Hayes followed with a goal each to seal a 3-0 Oshawa lead exiting the first period. Parnham opened the second period with his second goal of the evening and defenseman Calvin de Haan scored moments later to move the score to 5-0 Oshawa.
The Spirit started to fight back in the later half of the second frame, getting on the scoreboard and ending the period with a power play goal from center Jack Combs. Defenseman T.J. Brodie (NHL CALGARY FLAMES) and winger Chris Chappell assisted on the goal. Saginaw’s momentum would carry into the third period, with Chappell scoring 1:43 in to reduce the deficit to 5-2. Winger Jordan Skellett assisted on the goal. The Generals would work to stymie the Spirit attack, with defenseman Scott Valentine scoring his first OHL goal on the power play moments later to move the score to 6-2.
Saginaw would continue to press the attack, and with under ten minutes remaining in the game center Barry Sanderson scored a power play marker to reduce the deficit to 6-3. Skellett and center Tyler Murovich assisted on the goal. Chappell would score his second goal of the evening a little over a minute later to move the score to 6-4 courtesy an assist from Skellett. The Spirit offense would continue to chip away at the Generals’ lead, taking the score to 6-5 with another goal courtesy Chappell. The goal marked his third of the evening and his first OHL career hat trick. Brodie and Combs assisted on the power play marker.
The two teams continued to battle through the remaining minutes of the final frame, with the Generals taking a two goal edge thanks to Hayes’ second goal of the night. Despite the concerted effort, Saginaw was unable to break through and tie the game.
The Spirit net saw work from both Saginaw goalies, with Edward Pasquale posting 15 saves on 18 shots in 26:03 minutes of action and Anthony Peters notching 14 saves on 18 shots in 33:57 minutes of action. The Spirit offense out shot the Generals in the game, with Oshawa netminder Neil Conway stopping 40 of 45 shots.
