Spirit blanked in Ottawa Sunday evening
Photo: Tim Austen
Ottawa Ont. – The Spirit ended their weekend trip through the Eastern Conference at TD Place, falling 6-0 in an afternoon matchup to the Ottawa 67’s on Sunday.
The 67’s kept the pace early in this game. Four minutes into the contest, on a costly turnover at Saginaw’s blueline, Nic Whitehead intercepted a puck and put it past Stepan Shurygin to open up the scoring.
The Spirit did not find their first shot on net until 6:49 into the first frame, and seconds later Teddy Spitznagel was called for tripping, giving them their first power play of the night. The Spirit found two shots on goal during the man advantage.
The Spirit saw penalty trouble throughout the period, with three penalties in five minutes. Shurygin and the Saginaw penalty kill held off Ottawa and went into the first intermission only down by one goal.
After 1: SAG: 0 – OTT: 1 (Total Shots: 7 – 10)
The Spirit went back on the penalty kill early in the second frame when Nikita Klepov took a hooking call. In the first seven seconds of the power play, Kohyn Eshkawkogan fired a shot from the left circle past the blocker of Shurygin to extend the 67’s lead. Cooper Foster and Thomas Vandenberg were credited with the assists, now up 2-0.
Ottawa kept the pressure, but were turned away by a handful of big time Shurygin saves. However, they found the back of the net again when Frankie Marrelli fired a backhand shot through traffic to get past Shurygin.
The 67’s kept their foot on the gas, with Spencer Bowes scoring on a breakaway to make it a 4-0 game. Jasper Kuhta recorded the lone assist, extending his scoring streak to 10 games.
Later in the period, Sam McCue extended Ottawa’s lead, poking the puck past Shurygin on a rebound opportunity with bodies in front of the net. A minute later, Eshkawkogan found his second goal of the night on a rush into the zone. Spencer Bowes recorded his second point of the night with his assist.
The Spirit found a few shots on net at the end of the period, but could not find a response.
After 2: SAG: 0 – OTT: 6 (2nd period shots: 5 – 13 Total shots: 12 – 23)
The 67’s had some strong opportunities early in the third period, but were stopped by Shurygin. The teams traded zone time and shots throughout the final frame, but neither could find the back of the net. Ryder Fetterolf earned his fourth shutout of the season with 16 saves.
Final: SAG: 0 – OTT: 6 (3rd period shots 4 – 5, Total shots 16 – 28)
Powerplays: SAG 0/1 OTT 1/3
Goaltenders: SAG Stepan Shurygin (22 saves, 28 shots), OTT Ryder Fetterolf (16 saves, 16 shots)
The Spirit will end their six-game road trip next Friday, January 30th at Progressive Auto Sales Arena to face off against the Sarnia Sting. Puck drop is at 7:05.
