Sault Ste. Marie earns 6-3 win at Dow Center
SAGINAW -- The Saginaw Spirit hosted the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds Wednesday evening, suffering a 6-3 loss in regulation. Tyler Murovich earned the third star of the game honors with a goal and one assist, while Jordan Hill and Ivan Telegin also posting goals in the effort. The loss gives Saginaw a record of 29-25-4-2 and 64 points, good for seventh place in the OHL Western Conference. The Greyhounds now lead the Spirit by three points in the rankings, and with the Erie Otters also posting a win tonight, are in a two way tie for fifth with the Otters. The Greyhounds have a game in hand over the Otters.
Sault Ste. Marie winger Tomas Rachunek notched the first two goals of the game to give the Greyhounds an early 2-0 lead. The first came at 11:11 and the second came at 14:03, with both being assisted by defenseman Brandon Archibald and winger Vern Cooper. Defensemen Michael Quesnele tallied the third Greyhound goal at 16:41 on a powerplay, assisted by defenseman Jacob Muzzin (NHL Pittsburgh Penguins) and winger Jordan Nolan (NHL Los Angeles Kings). The Greyhounds exited the first frame up 4-0 after a last period goal at 19:28 from Archibald that assisted by defenseman Brock Beukeboom and goalie Robin Lehner.
Center Brett Thompson carried the opposing team’s momentum in the second period, scoring at 12:54 to move the score to 5-0 Soo. Blueliner Quesnele notched the lone assist on the goal. Finding themselves in a hole five goals deep, the Spirit started to battle back late in the second period with two straight goals. Center Ivan Telegin scored first for Saginaw, posting a goal at 14:23 from defenseman Peter Hermenegildo and center Jordan Skellett. Spirit defenseman Jordan Hill notched Saginaw's second goal at 15:47, courtesy assists from center Tyler Murovich and winger Michael Kantor.
The third period opened with Sault Ste. Marie leading the Spirit 5-2, the deficit was further reduced early in the period when Saginaw’s Murovich scored a shorthanded goal at 2:39. The goal was assisted by center Vince Trocheck. The Spirit push ended there however, with the Greyhound’s Nolan scoring from center Dominic DeSando and winger Jack Carrick at the 12:00 mark. The Game ended with the Greyhounds earning the 6-3 win.
Spirit goalie Edward Pasquale posted 14 saves on 18 shots before being pulled at the start of the second period in favor of Tadeas Galansky, who tallied 22 saves on 24 shots. Greyhound goalie Robin Lehner tallied a total of 34 saves on 37 shots.
