Late push against Colts in front of sellout Saginaw crowd falls short on Saturday
Photo: Eric Young
Saginaw, Mich. – The Spirit returned home to 5253 fans at the Dow Event Center on Saturday night for First Responders Night, presented by Fisher Companies. Goals by Egor Barabanov and Dima Zhilkin were not enough for the Spirit to mount a comeback- they fell 4-2.
The pace of the game was set in the first two minutes of the period. The Colts were firing early, but on a rush, James Guo brought the puck down the ice and found Dima Zhilkin on the right circle to bury the one-timer past Ben Hrebik. Zhilkin’s 24th goal of the season marked his second straight game with a goal.
The Colts looked to answer back, but back-to-back Barrie penalties had them on an extended kill. Both Saginaw power plays were killed off, and Barrie went back on the attack, playing fast and aggressively in front of the net.
Stepan Shurygin had to come up with multiple big saves early, as the Colts applied a lot of pressure in front of his net. In the final three minutes of the period, Shurygin had to get himself out of a jam when he was called with a delay of game penalty. Brody Pepoy served the penalty as the Spirit went on the kill. Nikita Klepov had a key shorthanded opportunity early in the kill that hit off the goalpost.
The Spirit killed off Shurygin’s penalty and, in the final minute, saw some key opportunities that were shut down by Hrebik, but went into the locker room up after the first twenty minutes.
After 1: SAG: 1 – BAR: 0 (Total Shots: 11 – 18 )
Barrie held complete control over the second frame from the start. The Spirit got two early shots in the period, and those were the only shots from Saginaw until one more in the final minute of the period.
Shurygin came up with big saves early in the period, but the Colts never took the pressure off. Xander Velliaris was called for hooking at 6:45 in the period. In the final eight seconds of the power play, Cole Beaudoin got a puck past Shurygin on a second-chance opportunity to put Barrie on the board. Cole Emerton and Kashawn Aitcheson were credited with the assists.
Three minutes later, Emil Hemming got in front of the net and poked the puck past Shurygin to quickly give the Colts the lead halfway through the period. Beaudoin earned his second point of the night with the secondary assist.
Tensions rose on the ice in the final three minutes, with five total penalties. Jaiden Newton was given a ten-minute misconduct, while Egor Barabanov received two separate penalties, and Levi Harper and Mason Zebeski had matching roughing penalties. The Colts would go into the final frame on a 4-on-3 power play.
After 2: SAG: 1 – BAR: 2 (2nd period shots: 3 – 17 Total shots: 14 – 35)
The Colts got one on the board early in the final frame when Brad Gardiner got the puck into the top corner of the net with 15 seconds remaining in the 4-on-3.
The Spirit began to find high-quality chances similar to those they found in the first period, but Hrebik was there to keep them off the board. The Colts continued to keep their intensity up. Ben Wilmott scored four minutes later, entering the zone and firing the puck from the slot. Gardiner picked up the lone assist for his second point of the night.
In the final four minutes, Shurygin was pulled for the extra skater. The Spirit found an answer with Barabanov sniping a shot from the right circle past Hrebik for his 20th goal of the season, with assists to Levi Harper and Nikita Klepov.
Saginaw opted to keep the extra skater on, looking for a late comeback, but could not find another way past Hrebik.
Final: SAG: 2 – BAR: 4 (3rd period shots 9 – 8 , Total shots 23 – 43)
Powerplays: SAG 0/2 BAR 2/5
Goaltenders: SAG Stepan Shurygin (39 saves, 43 shots), BAR Ben Hrebik (21 saves, 23 shots)
The Spirit continue their four-game homestand, welcoming the Soo Greyhounds on Wednesday, February 4th, at the Dow Event Center. Puck drop is set for 7:05 pm.
