Gens extend home winning streak with 6-4 win over Spirit
Oshawa, Ont., – The Oshawa Generals got goals from six different players as they took down the 2024 Memorial Cup host Saginaw Spirit 6-4, extending their home winning streak to three.
Thomas Stewart, Luca Marrelli, Luca D’Amato, Nikita Tarasevich, Matthew Buckley, and Rasmus Kumpulainen all found the back of the net Friday night as the Gens rode a crazy roller coaster to victory.
New York Rangers prospect, centre Dylan Roobroeck, had two assists in the game while goalie Jacob Oster made 40 saves. Across the ice, Spirit winger Valentin Zhugin had a hattrick, while defenceman Zayne Parekh had two assists in the losing effort.
The Gens got things going early when Stewart took a pass from D’Amato beating Nolan Lalonde blocker side making 1-0 Oshawa. Later in the period, it was a point shot from Marrelli that took a deflection off a Saginaw skate and into the net extending the lead to 2-0.
It was not until around the halfway point of the second period that Saginaw got on the board. A shot from the half boards by Lincoln Moore took a couple of redirections before creating a rebound for Zhugin to tap in cutting the lead in half at 2-1. Shortly after it was Zhugin again, after taking a pass from Hunter Haight it was his verse Oster and although he couldn’t get the first one in the Spirit winger buried the rebound tying the game at two
Less than a minute later it was D’Amato taking a pass from behind the net and rifling it into the top corner restoring the Generals’ lead and making it 3-2 Oshawa. It was the Gens growing their lead in the third when Roobroeck drove to the net and Tarasevich was there to shoot the loose puck into the net making it 4-2 Generals
Saginaw tried getting things going late pulling their goalie with just over five and a half minutes to go, but it was the Gens creating a turnover in the middle of the ice and a long-range attempt from Matthew Buckley finding the empty net making it 5-2 Oshawa.
The Spirit would not go away lightly, after the Generals took a faceoff violation penalty Saginaw pulled the goalie again giving them a two-man advantage where it was Calem Magnone who would fluff home a one-timer making it 5-3 Gens.
Then with 30 seconds to go, it was Zhugin completing the hattrick and cutting the lead to one, but with nine seconds left, Kumpulainen would bury an empty net, his first goal in the OHL sealing the 6-4 win for the Oshawa Generals.
Oshawa hits the road in less than 24 hours to make their first visit to the Sadlon Arena for the 2023-2024 to take on the Colts before returning home on Sunday night to take on the North Bay Battalion to close off the 3-in-3 weekend.
