Six goal second period helps Spirit to 9-1 victory over Battalion

Saginaw, MI: 

 

The Saginaw Spirit (7-4-1-0) completely dismantled the North Bay Battalion with a big second period, skating to a 9-1 victory at The Dow Event Center in downtown Saginaw Friday night.

 

Saginaw took the lead with 4-seconds left in the opening frame when Blade Jenkins (4), who has been one of the most consistent Spirit skaters this year, scored his fourth goal of the season with assists from Cole Coskey and Mason Millman for a 1-0 lead at 19:56 of the first period.

 

North Bay answered early in the middle frame when Luke Moncada tied the game at 1-goal apiece at 2:04 of the second period, but Spirit rookie T-Bone Codd (1) quickly gave Saginaw the lead with the eventual game winner, which was also his first career Ontario Hockey League goal with assists coming from Reilly Webb and Millman for a 2-1 lead at 4:09 of the second, sparking a 6-goal barrage for Saginaw in the period.

 

Following Codd's goal, five different Spirit players lit the lamp in the second period for Saginaw when Coskey (9); Nicholas Porco (3); Ethan Cardwell (3); Cole Perfetti (PPG); and DJ Busdeker (3) each scored for a 7-1 Saginaw lead after two periods of play.

 

The Spirit would round out the scoring in the final frame when Millman (2) scored his second of the season from Perfetti and Jake Goldowski for an 8-1 lead at 6:05 of the third period, while Porco (4) added a power play goal for his second tally of the night from Millman and Perfetti to cap the scoring with a 9-1 lead at the 17:22 mark.

 

Saginaw goal tender Marshall Frappier stopped 22 of the 23 shots he saw in net for the Spirit tonight.

 

Millman and Perfetti finished the game with 4-points apiece, each scoring 1-goal with 3-assists apiece respectively, while Porco finished with 2-goals and 1-assist, along with Coskey, who had 1-goal and 2-assists to pace the offense. 

 

The Spirit (tied with Windsor for first place in the western conference standings with 15-points) will look to stay on track with a tough test, hosting the Kitchener Rangers (5-1-2-2) who trail the Spirit in the western conference with 14-points, back at the Dow Event Center at 7:05 pm tonight.