The Whalers outshot the Spirit 34-28 leading Plymouth to a 4-1 victory over Saginaw.
SAGINAW -- On Tuesday morning, an extremely focused Saginaw Spirit hockey club geared up to play the Plymouth Whalers at The Dow Event Center. With the regular season quickly coming to a close, the Spirit remain concentrated on clinching a spot in the playoffs.
Inside the glass to open the first period scoring, former Spirit Captain Vince Trocheck made a commanding return when he recorded the 1-0 goal for Plymouth. His goal was assisted by Tom Wilson and Connor Carrick. Late the first period, Plymouth winger Matt Mistele sent a bouncing puck just over Spirit goaltender Jake Paterson's left shoulder, with assists coming from Nick Malysa and Garret Meurs. Although the period was filled with Spirit scoring opportunities, the Whalers held the score to 2-0 to close the first twenty minutes.
To capitalize on a chance to score early and put Saginaw on the board in the second period, Andrey Alexeev skated in and flawlessly finished a quick wrist shot. The 2-1 goal had an assist from Brandon Lindberg. Plymouth fired back with the insurance goal when Tom Wilson came crashing in and netted the puck. After forty minutes of play, Plymouth kept the lead 3-1.
The only goal of the final period came off the stick of Mitchell Heard when he capitalized on a power play and buried the puck top shelf unassisted. The Whalers outshot the Spirit 34-28 leading Plymouth to a 4-1 victory over Saginaw.
