Oke shines in Spirit 4-1 victory over Greyhounds

The Saginaw Spirit earned an impressive 4-1 victory of the Soo Greyhounds on Wednesday night at The Dow Event Center in Saginaw, Michigan. Rookie goaltender Andrew Oke starred for the Spirit stopping 30 of 31 shots from the Greyhounds, while Dean Loukus, Josh Bloom, Roberto Mancini, and Calem Mangone scored for the Spirit.

 

The Spirit opened the scoring on Wednesday night against the Hounds, who came in winners of their last two games. Calumet, Michigan’s Dean Loukus scored his sixth goal of the season 1:34, making it the quickest opening goal of the season for Saginaw. Rookie Ian Phillips drew the assist on Loukus’ shot from in tight that beat Soo goaltender Samuel Ivanov on the glove side. The Spirit furthered their lead on the Hounds when Mitchell Smith made a pass through the middle of the ice to spring Buffalo Sabres prospect Josh Bloom on a breakaway. Bloom made no mistake with a snap shot past the blocker of Ivanov to make it 2-0 in favor of Saginaw. The Spirit were not done, adding a late goal from Roberto Mancini at 18:42. The defenseman was in deep and jammed a rebound of a deflected pass from Matyas Sapovaliv past the right pad of Ivanov. The Spirit led 3-0 after one period and outshot the Soo, 19-15.

 

Despite many opportunities on the power play for both teams in the middle frame, nobody could solve Ivanov of the Soo and Oke of the Spirit. The Soo outshot the Spirit 9-5, but it remained 3-0 after 40 minutes.

 

As the third period began, the Spirit were hoping to keep Andrew Oke’s shutout intact, but St Louis Blues prospect Tanner Dickinson had other plans when he and overage Tye Kartye broke in on an odd-man rush. Kartye slid the puck over to Dickinson, who backhanded the puck past the glove of Oke to put the Soo on the board. With a late push, the Soo turned the puck over to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario native Calem Mangone, who backhanded the puck into the roof of the net, providing Saginaw the insurance they needed to pick up their third home win of the season. The victory snaps a two-game skid and a three-game losing streak at The Dow Event Center.

 

The Spirit hit the road for the next four games, beginning Fri. Nov. 19 in Kitchener, ON and Sat. Nov. 20 in Owen Sound, ON. The radio broadcast with Joey Battaino and Dennis Desrosiers begins at 7:15 p.m. with puck drop at 7:30 p.m. on 100.5 WSGW-FM and www.wsgw.com.

 

Saginaw returns to The Dow Event Center on Sat. Nov. 27 for Light The Night Leukemia and Lymphoma awareness night as the Spirit play hosts to the Windsor Spitfires. Puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m.  

 

 

For tickets to any Saginaw Spirit home game fans can call (989) 497-7747, visit saginawspirit.com, or by visiting the Saginaw Spirit Store at 5789 State Street, Saginaw, MI.

 

Fans with any questions or concerns about fan protocols may call the Spirit at (989) 497-7747 or email info@saginawspirit.com