SAGINAW -- The Saginaw Spirit fell to the Ottawa 67’s 4-2 Saturday night at The Dow Event Center of Saginaw, despite the Spirit outshooting the 67’s 48 shots to 20 shots.  Spirit forward Brandon Saad earned third star considerations with a goal and an assist, and captain Jordan Szwarz tallied a goal for his 201st OHL career point.

The Spirit lead the OHL West Division with 78 points and a record of 37-19-3-1.

Spirit winger Brandon Saad put Saginaw on the scoreboard first with a goal at 9:04 in the second period, courtesy defensemen Dalton Prout and Ben Chiarot.  Ottawa was quick to respond however, with two straight goals in the second period putting the 67’s up 2-1.  Winger Remy Giftopoulos scored at 12:48 from wingers Nicholas Foglia and Brett Gustavsen, then moments later at 15:11 Gustavsen followed with a goal assisted by defenseman Travis Gibbons and center Tyler Graovac.

The opening minutes of the third period would see Ottawa advance their lead to 3-1, with center Ben Dubois scoring from winger Tyler Toffoli.  Saginaw winger Jordan Szwarz would make it 3-2 in the final minutes of the third period, scoring a goal at 19:45 from Saad and center Ivan Telegin.  The Spirit would continue to push into the final seconds, but the comeback effort was undone with an unassisted empty net goal from center Ryan Martindale at 19:57 in the frame.

Spirit goalie Tadeas Galansky tallied 16 saves on 19 shots, while Ottawa netminder Petr Mrazek posted 46 saves on 48 shots.