Saginaw earns sweep of two-game set
SAGINAW, Mich. – Brandon Saad scored three goals to pace the Saginaw Spirit to a 7-3 victory Thursday night over the Brampton Battalion, giving the Michigan side a sweep of the teams’ home-and-home series.
Michael Sgarbossa and Ivan Telegin had one goal and one assist each for Saginaw, which won 4-2 at Brampton on Sunday. Peter Hermenegildo and Jordan Szwarz had the other goals for the Spirit, while goaltender Mavric Parks recorded 34 saves and Vincent Trocheck contributed three assists.
Saginaw has a won-lost-extended record of 16-4-2 for 34 points, first in the Ontario Hockey League’s West Division and Western Conference.
The Spirit hadn’t scored at home against the Battalion since Tyler Murovich’s goal in the third period of a 4-3 win Feb. 21, 2008. The Troops won two subsequent games here by 3-0 and 1-0 scores.
Barclay Goodrow, Sean Jones and Ian Watters scored for the Battalion, 8-9-3 for 19 points, third in the Central Division. Goaltender Dennis Saikkonen faced 36 shots for the Troops, who played the first of three road games in as many nights.
“I think for the most part our effort is always there, but it has to be a smarter effort,” said Battalion coach Stan Butler.
“When you play a team like this, you have to keep your intensity level up pretty high. If we can keep our intensity level at the level it was at tonight, that will be good for us in the next two games.”
Saginaw, which jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first period and led 2-1 at the first intermission, saw Saad open the scoring on a two-man advantage at 7:12, one-timing a shot from the slot.
Defenceman Hermenegildo connected at 9:04, driving into the slot to take a pass from behind the goal line from Trocheck and drilling the puck past Saikkonen.
The forechecking Goodrow replied at 16:31, stealing the puck from Hermenegildo in the right-wing circle and cruising across the goalmouth before putting the rubber past the sprawling Parks.
Sgarbossa made it 3-1 on the power play at 13:12 of the second period on a high shot from the mid slot, and Szwarz struck at 17:47, redirecting a right-point shot by Brad Walch, who collected his second assist of the game.
Jones scored his 10th goal of the season 26 seconds later, tipping home a Kyle Pereira point drive at the right post.
Watters scored his team-leading 12th goal on the power play at 2:24 of the third period, wiring a shot from the right-wing circle off a feed from Jordan Auld, but Saad countered at 5:32, driving into the slot to put the puck past Saikkonen.
Telegin scored with the man advantage at 7:42 after defender Cameron Wind’s stick got caught in a seam in the end boards, and Saad completed the scoring with an unassisted shorthanded effort at 12:34 off a Spencer Abraham turnover.
Battalion scratches were Zach Bell, Jonathan Johansson and Michael Santini. Saginaw scratched Jake Paterson, Alex Racino, Alex Lepkowski, Terry Trafford, Joe Underwood and Jacob Ringuette.
The Battalion visits the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The game can be seen live in Brampton on Rogers Cable 10 and in Bolton, Caledon and Orangeville on Rogers Cable 63.
BATTALION NOTEBOOK: Attendance at The Dow Event Center’s Wendler Arena was 2,764 … The Battalion went 1-for-5 on the power play. Saginaw was 3-for-6 … The Troops, who have lost their last four away games, are 4-5-0 on the road, while the Spirit is 7-1-0 at home. Saginaw won its first six home games before a 3-2 loss to the Windsor Spitfires on Nov. 6 … The game marked the first of four consecutive away dates for the Battalion, which visits the Sudbury Wolves at 7 p.m. Saturday to complete the three-game road trip … The Troops are 1-7-1 against Western Conference opponents … Opening line combinations included Sam Carrick centring left winger Stephon Thorne and right winger Matt MacLeod, Craig Moore pivoting left winger Jones and right winger Scott Tanski and Watters centring left winger Goodrow and right winger Philip Lane. Domenic Alberga centred left winger Alex O’Neil and Andreas Tsogkas on right wing … O’Neil and Anthony Camara fought early in the second period, with O’Neil taking the early punches before landing the late ones in a draw. Third-period fights saw Carrick decision Camara and Marcus McIvor overcome a slow start to hammer Saginaw’s Justin Kea … Lane returned from a two-game suspension, while Moore was back after losing two games to a concussion … Bell and Santini were healthy scratches. Johansson has mononucleosis … Defenceman Underwood, one of four overagers on the Saginaw roster, was a healthy scratch … Watters has four goals and two assists for six points in a five-game points streak … Saad has eight goals and five assists for 13 points in an eight-game points run …Saginaw’s Josh Shalla, who earned two assists, has four goals and three assists for seven points in a four-game points streak.
