Spirit head to Windsor with new acquisitions in tow
Saginaw, Mich. – The Saginaw Spirit (24-11-0-1) travel to the WFCU Centre to battle the Windsor Spitfires (12-21-3-1) on Wednesday, January 10th.
Tonight’s Game:
Puck drop is at 7:05pm
Broadcast:
Television: CHL TV, CHL App, OHL Action Pak Ch. 470
Radio: 100.5 FM WSGW, WSGW.com
Last Game:
The Spirit dropped a 5-1 contest to the Oshawa Generals at the Dow Event Center on Saturday, January 7th, just their fourth loss since November 3rd. Calem Mangone scored the lone Spirit goal late in the second period after the Generals raced out to a 3-0 lead. Joey Willis and Zayne Parekh picked up assists on the Mangone goal. Andrew Oke (4 SV/7 SH) and Nolan Lalonde (10 SV/12 SH) split goaltending duties.
Windsor lost a 5-2 game in Niagara that same night. Liam Greentree scored his 23rd of the season and picked up an assist on Josef Eichler’s 3rd period goal. Ryan Abraham, Oliver Peer, and former Spirit forward Valentin Zhugin also registered assists. A busy Joey Costanzo stopped 40 of 45 Niagara shots in the loss.
The Season Series:
After a 5-4 overtime win courtesy of Alex Christopoulos on December 30th, the Spirit hold a 3-1 series lead over Windsor this season. That makes three straight wins for Saginaw against the Spitfires (Nov. 11, Nov. 12, Dec 30.) after losing the series opener in Windsor on October 21st.
Players to Watch:
Nobody on the Spirit roster has more points against Windsor this season than Hunter Haight (2G-3A-5P). The Spirit also expect to see the debut of Owen Beck (16G-14A-30P), Jorian Donovan (9G-19A-28P) and former Spitfire Aidan Castle (2G-5A-7P) after the trio were acquired earlier this week. The Spirit also expect to have Matyas Sapovaliv back in action after missing nine games while at World Juniors.
The Spitfires look vastly different after the days leading up to the trade deadline. After trading away Roberto Mancini, Ian Michelone, Jacob Maillet, and Oliver Peer, they acquired Max Donoso, Djibril Toure, and Pasquale Zito, who are expected to make their Windsor debuts tonight.
Saginaw currently has ten players tied to the National Hockey League (NHL), including Joey Willis (Nashville), Josh Bloom (Vancouver), Matyas Sapovaliv (Vegas), Hunter Haight (Minnesota), Ethan Hay (Tampa Bay), Owen Beck (Montreal), Jorian Donovan (Ottawa), Braden Haché (Florida), Rodwin Dionicio (Anaheim) and Nolan Lalonde (Columbus, FA).
Windsor has two players with NHL rights in Pasquale Zito (Detroit), and Djibril Toure (Ottawa, FA).
