Spirit look to rebound from Saturday's 4-1 loss to Windsor with big road rivalry game in Flint Wednesday

 

The Saginaw Spirit (13-8-1-1) dropped an important division matchup with a 4-1 loss to the first place Windsor Spitfires (15-3-3-0) at the Dow Event Center Saturday night, but the team will not have long to wait in order to get back on track with an in-state rivalry road game against the Flint Firebirds set for tomorrow night at the Dort Federal Event Center.

 

Saturday night, the Spitfires would take advantage of an early Spirit penalty midway through the opening frame when Spitfires forward Cole Purboo (10) converted on the man-advantage with a power play goal for a 1-0 Windsor lead at 10:20 of the first period, but Saginaw superstar Cole Perfetti (10) answered with the equalizer just 46-seconds later, scoring his tenth goal of the season with an assist from Danny Katic to knot the game at 1-goal apiece at the 11:06 mark. 

 

Spitfires' RW Kyle McDonald (6) followed with his sixth tally of the season just over a minute later, redirecting a shot from the left point by Saginaw native Dylan Robinson (son of former Saginaw Generals forward Kevin Robinson) past Spirit goal tender Marshall Frappier for a 3-1 Windsor lead at 12:08 of the first period, before Windsor forward Curtis Douglas (11) delivered a knockout blow when he intercepted a pass early in a Spirit third period power play, scoring an unassisted shorthanded goal to wrap up the scoring (4-1) at 3:50 of the final frame.

 

The Spirit (28-points) could've jumped into first place in the Ontario Hockey League's western conference standings with a win Saturday, however, the loss moved Windsor (33-points) into sole possession of the top spot, with three teams; London, Flint, and Guelph (30-points each respectively) tied for second place and Erie (29-points) in third place ahead of Saginaw, sitting at fourth place. 

 

Saginaw will now have a chance to climb back up in the western conference standings, while also picking up a win in this year's I-75 Divide Cup Series with a 7 pm visit to take on the Firebirds at the Dort Federal Event Center in Flint, MI tomorrow night. 

 

The Firebirds (15-8-0-0) currently hold a 1-0 lead over the Spirit in the series.