The Saginaw Spirit came from behind to beat the division leading Windsor Spitfires 5-3 breaking an 8-game losing streak in front of 2,838 fans at the Dow Event Center Saturday.
Windsor jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first period before Spirit defenseman Markus Niemelainen (1) scored his first career OHL goal at 17:22 of the first period to put the Spirit on the scoreboard.
The Spirit took advantage of Windsor RW Christian Fischer's goal-tender-interference penalty midway through the second period when Jesse Barwell (3) scored on the power play at 7:06 of the second period. Six minutes later Kris Bennett (8) tied the game with a short-handed goal at 13:32 of the second period.
The Spirit would capitalize on the power play at 16:23 of the third period when Connor Brown (9) scored the eventual game-winner after Windsor defenseman Jalen Chatfield was whistled for tripping. Barwell (4) added some insurance with an empty-net goal at 18:42 to seal the Spirit victory.
Barwell led the Spirit with 2 goals and 1-assist, while Bennett and Niemelainen finished with 1-goal and 2 assists respectively. Brown had a goal and an assist.
Spirit goalie Evan Cormier replaced David Ovsjannikov just 8:24 into the game. Ovsjannikov had given up 2 goals on 7 shots before being replaced by Cormier. Cormier went on to stop 18-of the-19 shots he faced throughout his 51:36 between the pipes.
The Spirit will be happy moving into December after a dismal 3-8 record in the month of November. The team will make the half-hour bus trip down the I-75 corridor to take on the Flint Firebirds in the I-75 divide series at the Dort Federal Event Center Friday at 7:30 p.m. before returning to the Dow Event Center to host North Bay for a 7:05 p.m. face off Saturday.
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Nov 29, 2015
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