Spirit fall to Wolves, clinch playoff spot Friday night
Photo: Sudbury Wolves
Sudbury, Ont. — The Saginaw Spirit (38-14-0-1) fall to the Sudbury Wolves to (31-15-3-3), 6-3, at the Sudbury Community Arena Friday night. Kieron Walton lit the lamp three-times in his second hattrick of the season, Dalibor Dvorský collected three points (1G, 2A) and Owen Beck continued his hot scoring pace for Saginaw with his 28th goal of the season. Andrew Oke guarded the goal crease for Saginaw stopping 17 of 22 shots, while Jakub Vondras stopped 24 of 27 for Sudbury. Despite the loss, Saginaw still clinches the 16th postseason trip in team history.
Sudbury notched the first tally just 6:39 into the opening period. Dalibor Dvorsky opened the scoring off a 2-on-1 with a shot low to Oke’s blocker side. Nick Yearwood and Evan Konyen picked up assists on the goal.
Three minutes later, Saginaw responded with their own goal to tie the game. Owen Beck fed Aiden Castle on a 2-on-1 of his own, with Castle burying his fourth of the season over a sprawled Jakub Vondras. Alex Christopoulos picked up an assist as the Spirit evened the game at 1-1.
At 13:42 into the first, Sudbury’s Nathan Villeneuve was assessed a minor penalty for boarding, setting Saginaw up on its first powerplay. Off the ensuing faceoff, Owen Beck controlled the puck in the left circle, leering over the defense and looking at his options. After a pass to Rodwin Dionicio, the Saginaw defender moved the puck to his right, finding Zayne Parekh. The draft-eligible defensemen fed a pass through multiple Sudbury penalty-killers that Beck blasted as the go-ahead goal. With his assist, Parekh tied Patrick McNeill’s 77 points as the most by a Spirit defenseman in one season.
Before the end of the period, Sudbury’s Ryan Pryce was called for a tripping penalty, setting Saginaw up on its second powerplay of the period. This time, the Wolves killed off the penalty, and Ryan Pryce scored on a breakaway fresh out of the penalty box to tie the game.
At the end of the first, Saginaw and Sudbury were locked in a dead heat, 2-2, with shots being even as well, sitting at 8 to 8.
Saginaw and Sudbury played six minutes of the second period until the Spirit reestablished their lead. After a mishandled puck in the neutral zone by Sudbury, Rodwin Dionicio picked up the puck and skated backwards looking for a passing option up ice. Dionicio spotted Ethan Hay skating near the opposite blue line and laced a pass to the Saginaw center. Hay received the pass then immediately sent one for Bloom, whose shot went between Vondras’ legs for the 3-2 lead.
Sudbury responded 2:07 later, with Kieron Walton getting in on the action. After a dump-in by Saginaw that was too far, Jakub Vonras skated out and redirected the puck behind his net. Kieron Walton picked up the puck on the far side boards and began skating up the ice. As Walton slashed up ice, he avoided every Saginaw defender in his way, chipping a puck over Oke for another tie game.
Walton scored once more before the end of the period, with an assist to his goaltender to give Sudbury back the lead.
Sudbury ended the second period up 4-3 while being outshot by the Saginaw Spirit 11 to 8 in the period and 19 to 16 overall.
Kieron Walton picked up where he left off in the third, getting his hat-trick goal at 8:01 into the period, and Evan Konyen sealed the game with an empty netter in the final minutes, 6-3.
Saginaw outshot Sudbury 8 to 7 in the final period and 27 to 23 overall but could not keep pace with the Wolves.
This loss dropped the Saginaw Spirit to (38-14-0-1) while lifting the Sudbury Wolves to (31-15-3-3). Despite the loss, Saginaw clinches a spot in the 2024 OHL Playoffs.
Saginaw’s next game concludes their weekend road trip with a game at the North Bay Battalion at the North Bay Memorial Gardens at 2:00 pm on February 18th.
For more information, visit saginawspirit.com or follow the team on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
For media inquiries, contact Dillon Clark at [email protected]
