Saginaw beats Sarnia 6-2
SARNIA, ON -- The Saginaw Spirit beat the Sarnia Sting 6-2 Thursday night at the RBC Centre of Sarnia.
Ivan Telegin notched his first OHL career hat trick and John McFarland tallied two goals in the win. The win marks the 16th consecutive game against the Sting in which the Spirit garnered at least one point; the team has yet to lose in regulation to Sarnia during that stretch. The Spirit lead the OHL Western Conference with 68 points and a 32-11-3-1 record.
The Spirit offense jumped into the first with early two goals over the Sting. Center Vincent Trocheck notched a goal at the 7:37 mark to put the Spirit up 1-0. Rookie winger Ryan Tuffin, a floating affiliate called up for the weekend, tallied the lone assist on the goal to mark his first OHL career point in his first OHL game. Center Ivan Telegin scored moments later at 16:59 from wingers Jordan Szwarz and Mathew Sisca to make it 2-0 Saginaw.
The Sting would answer in the opening seconds of the second, with winger Nail Yakupov scoring a power play goal :37 seconds in to make it 2-1. Wingers Kail Kerbashian and Brandon Alderson assisted on the goal. Later in the frame the offensive units from both teams exploded, with both squads contributing goals in a span of two minutes. Telegin tallied his second of the night at 14:02 from Trocheck and defenseman Brad Walch and then at 14:16 center John McFarland scored from Sisca to make it 4-1 Saginaw. Sarnia’s Yokupov quickly fired back to reduce the deficit with an unassisted goal at 15:32 taking the score to 4-2.
The Spirit shutout the Sting in the third period and extended their lead by two more goals. McFarland scored at 12:16 for his second goal of the night, fifteenth of the season, from Sisca to make it 5-2. Later in the frame Telegin would earn his first OHL career hat trick to make it 6-2, scoring a goal at the 17:42 mark from defenseman Jacob Ringuette and Trocheck.
Spirit goalie Jake Paterson notched 32 saves on 34 shots, posting his second OHL career win in three outings in his rookie season. Sting netminder Troy Passingham posting 38 saves on 44 shots.
