[{"id":44056,"date":"2026-04-06T16:33:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T20:33:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/?p=44056"},"modified":"2026-04-06T16:34:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T20:34:35","slug":"2026-ohl-awards-klepov-named-rookie-of-the-year-finalist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/article\/2026-ohl-awards-klepov-named-rookie-of-the-year-finalist","title":{"rendered":"2026 OHL Awards – Klepov named Rookie of the Year Finalist"},"content":{"rendered":"

TORONTO<\/strong> –\u00a0<\/strong>The Ontario Hockey League (OHL) today announced finalists for the Emms Family Award, presented annually to the OHL Rookie of the Year as voted by the League’s General Managers.<\/p>\n

Team nominees were required to receive 20% of the vote from General Managers within their own conference to advance to the final ballot as award finalists.<\/p>\n

This year’s Emms Family Award finalists include:<\/p>\n

Caleb Malhotra (C, Brantford Bulldogs) – 67 GP, 29 G, 55 A, 84 PTS.
\n<\/strong>Everyone expected contributions from Caleb Malhotra<\/a> in his first OHL season, but did we think he’d end up being this dominant as a 17-year-old? The 6-foot-2 pivot emerged as one of the best centremen in the OHL, diving right in with points in 10 of his first 11 games, including a five-point effort on Sept. 27th vs. Sudbury. When all was said and done, Malhotra had set a new single season mark for most points by a Bulldogs rookie while posting impressive peripherals like a plus-33 rating, eight game-winning goals and 30 points on the power play. The top NHL Draft eligible demonstrated that he could thrive playing between older, skilled players on a deep Bulldogs roster. Malhotra was a finalist in the best stickhandler category on the OHL Coaches Poll.<\/p>\n

Nikita Klepov (RW, Saginaw Spirit) – 67 GP, 37 G, 60 A, 97 PTS.
\n<\/strong>Perhaps lesser known in Canadian circles than Malhotra entering the season, Nikita Klepov<\/a> burst onto the scene in Saginaw and immediately provided the Spirit with front line scoring, potting three points in his OHL debut on Sept. 19th at Sault Ste. Marie before netting five points of his own on Oct. 4th at Owen Sound. Klepov would go on to lead the entire OHL in scoring, tying a Spirit rookie record held by Cole Perfetti with 37 goals. He finished the year with 38 points on the power play, and even scored three shorthanded goals. The NHL Draft eligible 6-foot, 180Ib. winger from Deerfield Beach, Florida, thrived alongside other Spirit forwards of Russian descent in Egor Barabanov and Dimian Zhilkin as Saginaw, despite finishing eighth in the Western Conference, managed to score 228 goals and owned the OHL’s fifth-best power play. Klepov was voted as the Western Conference’s most dangerous player in the goal area, as well as the best shootout shooter in the OHL Coaches Poll.<\/p>\n

The OHL will announce the winner of the Emms Family Award as Rookie of the Year on Tuesday, April 14th.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The OHL has announced finalists for the Emms Family Award, presented annually to the Rookie of the Year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":243,"featured_media":44057,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[387],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-44056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-387","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/04\/06102059\/ROTY_Finalists-Web.jpeg",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/243"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44056\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":44052,"date":"2026-04-06T13:00:40","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T17:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/?p=44052"},"modified":"2026-04-06T11:55:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T15:55:00","slug":"2026-hockey-for-the-homeless-night-raises-record-113090-for-rescue-ministries-of-mid-michigan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/article\/2026-hockey-for-the-homeless-night-raises-record-113090-for-rescue-ministries-of-mid-michigan","title":{"rendered":"2026 Hockey for the Homeless Night raises record $113,090 for Rescue Ministries of Mid-Michigan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saginaw, Mich. \u2013 <\/strong>The Saginaw Spirit and Rescue Ministries of Mid-Michigan partnered for their 14th Hockey for the Homeless Night earlier this season. Together, they raised a record $113, 090 in donations from fans, a broomball tournament, and specialty jersey auction.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a testament to how God continues to bless Saginaw and how great things can happen when we all work together. This year\u2019s results are truly miraculous,\u201d said Spirit President, Managing Partner and Governor Craig Goslin. \u201cWe\u2019re proud of our staff, players, and partners that contributed to the Henry the Hockey Dog season-long project to raise dollars for people in our community that desperately need our love and support. The Rescue Ministries are doing such important work in the Great Lakes Bay Region and we are honored to continue standing side-by-side with them for Hockey for the Homeless.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Spirit wore specialty black jerseys for their February 28th meeting with the Peterborough Petes, a 5-2 win in front of 4,877 fans<\/a>. Their jerseys that night were designed with input from the players themselves and auctioned off immediately following the game. Saginaw\u2019s jersey auction alone accounted for more than $14,000 raised in support of Hockey for the Homeless.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Nikita Klepov celebrates his eventual game-winning goal on Hockey for the Homeless Night<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe are so thankful for the entire Saginaw Spirit organization, as well as everyone who was part of this year\u2019s Hockey for the Homeless effort,\u201d said Rescue Ministries CEO Dan Streeter. \u201cOur sponsors, supporters, and the entire community truly come together each year to make this night very rewarding for everyone. We are grateful to the Henry the Hockey Dog season-long project as we had eight companies step up with matching dollars, and that was a major assist in the $113,090!\u201d<\/p>\n

Hockey for the Homeless Night was one of several charitable nights by the Spirit and the Saginaw Spirit Charitable Foundation in the 2025-2026 season. Others included their annual Teddy Bear Toss, Food Drive, Shocks & Saves Game, and more.<\/p>\n

Total funds raised through Hockey for the Homeless Nights over the past 14 seasons has now passed $780,000\u2014roughly 26,000 nights of shelter through the Rescue Ministries\u2019 various locations.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> for more information about the Rescue Ministries of Mid-Michigan.<\/p>\n

Additional information about the Saginaw Spirit Charitable Foundation can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saginaw, Mich. \u2013 The Saginaw Spirit and Rescue Ministries of Mid-Michigan partnered for their 14th Hockey for the Homeless Night earlier this season. Together, they raised a record $113, 090 in donations from fans, a broomball tournament, and specialty jersey auction. \u201cThis is a testament to how God continues to bless Saginaw and how great…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":243,"featured_media":44053,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[387],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-44052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-387","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/50\/2026\/04\/06114612\/hockey-for-the-homeless-web.jpg",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/243"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44052\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":44048,"date":"2026-04-02T22:10:44","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T02:10:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/?p=44048"},"modified":"2026-04-02T22:10:44","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T02:10:44","slug":"spirit-unable-to-hold-off-rangers-in-game-4-see-season-come-to-an-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/video\/spirit-unable-to-hold-off-rangers-in-game-4-see-season-come-to-an-end","title":{"rendered":"Spirit unable to hold off Rangers in Game 4, see season come to an end"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photo: Eric Young<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Saginaw, Mich. –\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong>The Saginaw Spirit hosted the Kitchener Rangers at the Dow Event Center on Thursday night for Game 4 of the OHL playoffs. Facing a 3-0 deficit headed into the game, the Spirit’s season was on the line in a must-win Game 4. The Rangers would rally for four goals straight in the first two periods, and despite a late second-period goal from Dima Zhilkin, the Kitchener Rangers would eliminate Saginaw in a 5-1 Game 4 win.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sam O\u2019Reilly opened the scoring for the third time this series on the breakaway, scoring his fourth of the playoffs on a wrist shot. O\u2019Reilly blocked a shot for the breakaway, scoring unassisted at 6:39 to make it 1-0 for Kitchener.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Rangers extended their lead late in the first with Dylan Edwards scoring his first post-season goal blocker side from the left circle. Cameron Arquette had the primary assist, and Carson Campbell picked off a pass in the neutral zone for an odd-man rush for the secondary assist to make it 2-0 in favor of the Rangers at 13:25.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

With 14.4 seconds left in the period, Dylan Edwards scored his second of the period on the power play, driving the net and maneuvering past Stepan Shurygin. Jack Pridham and Cameron Reid picked up the assists as the Rangers took a three-goal lead into the second.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After 1: SAG 0 – 3 KIT (Total Shots:4 – 26)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Christian Humphreys extended the lead for the Rangers after he fired in a shot down near the goal line over the shoulder of Shurygin for his third of the series. Luca Romano picked up the assist on the rush, giving the Rangers a 4-0 lead at 17:42.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Just 47 seconds later, Dima Zhilkin put the Spirit on the board on the power play, tipping in a pass from Nikita Klepov at the back door for his third of the playoffs. Carson Harmer picked up the secondary assist as the Spirit trailed 4-1 at 18:29.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After 2: SAG 1 – 4 KIT (2nd period shots: 6 – 8 Total shots: 10 – 34)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With the net empty, Christian Humphreys picked up his second of the game after he broke loose to ice the game and the series for Kitchener. Jack Pridham picked up the assist for his second point of the game, as the Rangers led 5-1 at 14:33.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Final: SAG 1 – 5 KIT (3rd period shots 4 – 8, Total shots 14 – 42)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Powerplays: SAG 1\/5 KIT 1\/4<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Goaltenders: SAG: Stepan Shurygin (34 saves, 39 shots) KIT: Christian Kirsch (21 saves, 25 shots)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With a loss tonight, the Saginaw Spirit are eliminated from the OHL playoffs. They hold onto the 6th overall pick in the OHL Priority Selection, which is set on June 12-13th in Kingston.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo: Eric Young   Saginaw, Mich. –\u00a0 The Saginaw Spirit hosted the Kitchener Rangers at the Dow Event Center on Thursday night for Game 4 of the OHL playoffs. Facing a 3-0 deficit headed into the game, the Spirit’s season was on the line in a must-win Game 4. The Rangers would rally for four…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":243,"featured_media":44049,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-44048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-video","category-21","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/50\/2026\/04\/02220405\/vs-Kit-Game-4-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":28916,"target_video":{"video_id":"2550882","partner_id":"31006","player_id":"47894","width":"16","height":"9","360p":"https:\/\/cdn.target-video.com\/live\/partners\/31006\/sd\/2550882.mp4","240p":"https:\/\/cdn.target-video.com\/live\/partners\/31006\/ld\/2550882.mp4","480p":"https:\/\/cdn.target-video.com\/live\/partners\/31006\/hsd\/2550882.mp4","1080p":"https:\/\/cdn.target-video.com\/live\/partners\/31006\/fhd\/2550882.mp4","hls":"https:\/\/cdn.target-video.com\/live\/partners\/31006\/streaming\/2550882\/2550882.m3u8","webp":"https:\/\/cdn.target-video.com\/live\/partners\/31006\/webp\/2550882.webp"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/243"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":44045,"date":"2026-04-02T10:23:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T14:23:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/?p=44045"},"modified":"2026-04-02T10:23:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T14:23:17","slug":"game-preview-saginaw-spirit-8-vs-kitchener-rangers-1-game-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/article\/game-preview-saginaw-spirit-8-vs-kitchener-rangers-1-game-4","title":{"rendered":"GAME PREVIEW: Saginaw Spirit (8) vs Kitchener Rangers (1) \u2013 Game 4"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saginaw, Mich. – <\/strong>The Saginaw Spirit (0-3) host the Kitchener Rangers (3-0) for Game 4 of their opening round playoff series on Thursday night at the Dow Event Center. The Spirit need a victory in order to continue their playoff run in 2026 as they trail the Rangers 3-0 in the series.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tonight’s Game:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Puck drop is at 7:05 pm.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Broadcast:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Radio: 100.5 FM WSGW, WSGW.com<\/a><\/p>\n

TV: FloHockey<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Series So Far (KIT leads 3-0):<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Rangers took Game 1 and Game 2 at home, with Sam O\u2019Reilly scoring twice in Game 1 and having the game-winner in Game 2. Kitchener trailed late in Game 1, but a three-goal third period would give them a 6-4 win. Headed into Game 2, Christian Kirsch would shine with a 14-save shutout victory.<\/p>\n

In their most recent matchup, the Spirit hosted the Rangers for Game 3 at the Dow Event Center. Nikita Klepov picked up his first OHL playoff goal, giving the Spirit a 3-2 lead in the third period, with Egor Barabanov picking up his second assist of the game.\u00a0 After a late goal from Gabriel Chiarot in the third to tie it, Luca Romano was the overtime hero for Kitchener to put them on the brink of an opening round sweep. Spirit goaltender Stepan Shurygin recorded just the fourth 50-save performance in team playoff history, stopping 50 of 54 Kitchener shots.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Players to Watch:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Overage defenseman James Guo scored his first goal of the series in Game 3, having a multi-point night in the 4-3 OT loss. Guo was named the third star of the game with a goal and an assist, and has now set a career high in playoff points with three (1G-2A) in three games against the Rangers this series.<\/p>\n

Scoring in Tuesday night’s matchup gave Nikita Klepov his first career OHL playoff goal and his second point of the game. The regular season point leader currently has four points (1G-3A) in three playoff games, and is tied with Egor Barabanov in points against the Rangers this postseason.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Saginaw\u2019s NHL-Drafted Players: <\/strong>Jacob Cloutier (WPG)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With an assist in Game 3, Christian Humphreys has taken the lead in points for the Rangers so far in this series. With two goals and four assists in three games, the Colorado Avalanche prospect is tied for seventh in points across the league in the playoffs. Humphreys had 85 (27G-58A) in 63 games this season, with two goals and three assists coming in four games against Saginaw.<\/p>\n

Alexander Bilecki picked up his first career OHL playoff goal in Tuesday’s matchup, giving him four points (1G-3A) in three games against Saginaw. The defenseman is tied for third across the OHL in points in the playoffs amongst defensemen. Bilecki had 29 points (9G-20A) in 66 games this season with the Rangers, setting a career high in points in his sophomore season.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kitchener\u2019s NHL Drafted Players<\/strong>: Luke Ellinas (OTT), Gabriel Chiarot (VAN), Sam O\u2019Reilly (TBL), Jack Pridham (CHI), Christian Humphreys (COL), Matthew Hlacar (TOR), Luca Romano (NYI), Cameron Reid (NSH), Andrew MacNeil (MTL), Christian Kirsch (SJ), Matthew Andonovski (OTT), Jared Woolley (LAK)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saginaw, Mich. – The Saginaw Spirit (0-3) host the Kitchener Rangers (3-0) for Game 4 of their opening round playoff series on Thursday night at the Dow Event Center. The Spirit need a victory in order to continue their playoff run in 2026 as they trail the Rangers 3-0 in the series. \u00a0 Tonight’s Game:…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":243,"featured_media":44046,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[387],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-44045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-387","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/50\/2026\/04\/02102250\/Game-Day-Web.jpg",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":28916,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/243"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44045\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":44042,"date":"2026-03-31T23:43:46","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T03:43:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/?p=44042"},"modified":"2026-03-31T23:43:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T03:43:46","slug":"shurygin-stops-50-in-game-3-ot-loss-to-rangers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/video\/shurygin-stops-50-in-game-3-ot-loss-to-rangers","title":{"rendered":"Shurygin stops 50 in Game 3 OT loss to Rangers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photo: Eric Young<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Saginaw, Mich. – <\/em><\/strong>The Saginaw Spirit hosted the Kitchener Rangers for Game 3 three of the OHL playoffs after trailing 2-0 in the series. The Rangers would open the scoring in the first after a slap shot from Matthew Andonovski, but the Spirit would rally behind James Guo\u2019s first goal of the series. After a back-and-forth game between the two clubs, the Rangers would win 4-3 in overtime to take a 3-0 series lead.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Kitchener Rangers opened the scoring early in the first period, with Matthew Andonovski scoring off the face-off, firing a slap shot past Stepan Shurygin from the blue line. Luca Romano picked up the only assist after winning the face-off, as the Rangers led 1-0 at 1:26.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Spirit would respond later in the frame, with James Guo firing in a one-timer for his first of the post-season. Nikita Klepov danced around defenders to set up the shot in the left circle for the assist, as the teams stood tied at one at the end of the first period.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After 1: SAG 1 – 1 KIT (Total Shots: 3 – 18)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Alexander Bilecki restored the one-goal lead for the Rangers after his shot from the blue line bounced through traffic past Stepan Shurygin. Tanner Lam and Haeden Ellis picked up the assists as the Spirit trailed 2-1 at 8:23.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With just over a minute to go in the period, the Spirit tied Game 3 after Bode Stewart fired in a shot from the slot through the five-hole of Christian Kirsch. Egor Barabanov found him from the right-wings boards for the primary assist, and James Guo picked up the secondary assist for his second point of the game to tie it at two at 18:25.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After 2: SAG 2 – 2 KIT (2nd period shots: 10 – 18 Total shots: 36 – 13)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Nikita Klepov would give the Spirit their first lead of the game after he fired in his first OHL playoff goal on the power play, firing in a one-timer from the right circle. Egor Barabanov set him up for his second assist of the game, and Levi Harper picked up the secondary assist as the Spirit led 2-1 at 2:31.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Gabriel Chiarot tied it for the Rangers after his wrist shot from the point found its way past Shurygin for his second of the series. Carson Campbell and Cameron Reid picked up the assists as the Spirit and Rangers stood tied at three at 14:21.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After 3: SAG 3 – 3 KIT (3rd period shots 7 – 14, Total shots 20 – 50)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Luca Romano would be the overtime hero for the Kitchener Rangers after he cleaned up a rebound in the crease to secure the win. Alexander Bilecki picked up the primary assist, and Christian Humphreys earned the secondary as the Rangers took a 3-0 lead in the series, winning 4-3 at 6:39 of overtime.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Final: SAG 3 – 4 KIT (OT shots 0 – 4, Total shots 20 – 54)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Powerplays: SAG 1\/5 KIT 0\/4<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Goaltenders: SAG: Stepan Shurygin (50 saves, 54 shots) KIT: Christian Kirsch (17 saves, 20 shots)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Game 4 between the Spirit and the Rangers is set for Thursday, April 2nd at the Dow Event Center. Puck drop as the Spirit try to extend their season is set for 7:05pm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo: Eric Young   Saginaw, Mich. – The Saginaw Spirit hosted the Kitchener Rangers for Game 3 three of the OHL playoffs after trailing 2-0 in the series. The Rangers would open the scoring in the first after a slap shot from Matthew Andonovski, but the Spirit would rally behind James Guo\u2019s first goal of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":243,"featured_media":44043,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-44042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-video","category-21","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/50\/2026\/03\/31222305\/vs-KIT-Game-3-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":28907,"target_video":{"video_id":"2548875","partner_id":"31006","player_id":"47894","width":"16","height":"9","360p":"https:\/\/cdn.target-video.com\/live\/partners\/31006\/sd\/2548875.mp4","240p":"https:\/\/cdn.target-video.com\/live\/partners\/31006\/ld\/2548875.mp4","480p":"https:\/\/cdn.target-video.com\/live\/partners\/31006\/hsd\/2548875.mp4","1080p":"https:\/\/cdn.target-video.com\/live\/partners\/31006\/fhd\/2548875.mp4","hls":"https:\/\/cdn.target-video.com\/live\/partners\/31006\/streaming\/2548875\/2548875.m3u8","webp":"https:\/\/cdn.target-video.com\/live\/partners\/31006\/webp\/2548875.webp"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/243"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44042\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":44039,"date":"2026-03-31T10:10:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T14:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/?p=44039"},"modified":"2026-03-31T10:10:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T14:10:11","slug":"game-preview-saginaw-spirit-8-vs-kitchener-rangers-1-game-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/article\/game-preview-saginaw-spirit-8-vs-kitchener-rangers-1-game-3","title":{"rendered":"GAME PREVIEW: Saginaw Spirit (8) vs Kitchener Rangers (1) \u2013 Game 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saginaw, Mich. – <\/strong>The Saginaw Spirit (0-2) host the Kitchener Rangers (2-0) for Game 3 of their opening round playoffs series on March 31st, 2026, at the Dow Event Center. The Spirit look to respond after dropping the first two games in Kitchener over the weekend.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tonight’s Game:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Puck drop is at 7:05pm.<\/p>\n

Tickets<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Broadcast:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Radio: 100.5 FM WSGW, WSGW.com<\/a><\/p>\n

TV: FloHockey<\/a> Great Lakes Sports & Entertainment Network\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Antenna: 5.2 Charter\/Spectrum: Channel 199 Comcast\/Xfinity: Channel 1182)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Series so Far (KIT leads 2-0):<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Rangers took Game 1 in Kitchener, with Sam O\u2019Reilly and Christian Humphreys each scoring twice in the win. The Rangers were perfect on the power play, capitalizing on all three opportunities as well as staying out of the box themselves, giving Saginaw no power play chances. Despite Dima Zhilkin scoring twice and adding an assist, the Spirit would fall 6-4 after the Rangers scored three third period goals.<\/p>\n

In Game 2, neither team found the back of the net until the third period, where the Rangers pushed for four in the final frame. Sam O\u2019Reilly would have the game winner, opening the scoring early in the third for a 4-0 Rangers victory. The Rangers pressured the Spirit both offensively and defensively, stopping all three power play opportunities and holding the Spirit to shotless in the third period. Christian Kirsch stood strong in the net for Kitchener, stopping 14 shots for his first career playoff shutout.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Players to Watch:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dima Zhilkin continues to lead the Spirit in scoring this postseason after a three-point Game 1 (2G-1A). Though he and the Spirit were held off the scoresheet in Game 2, Zhilkin helped the Spirit significantly in the faceoff dot (7\/10, 70%). Zhilkin had 75 points (36G-39A) in 59 games this season, with one goal and one assist in three games against Kitchener.<\/p>\n

Center Egor Barabanov also enjoyed a multi-point Game 1, with a goal and an assist. He finished his first OHL season with points in each of his last six contests (2G-8A\u201410P). Barabanov was second in team scoring this season behind Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy winner Nikita Klepov and was the fourth-highest scorer in the OHL with 91 points. His 63 regular season assists were second to only Brantford\u2019s Jake O\u2019Brien.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Saginaw\u2019s NHL-Drafted Players: <\/strong>Jacob Cloutier (WPG)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

With a goal on Sunday night, Sam O\u2019Reilly picked up his third goal of the playoffs as well as the game-winner in Game 2. O\u2019Reilly picked up two goals and an assist in Game 1 for a three-point night, and is two points away from his 40th career OHL playoff point. The Tampa Bay Lightning prospect had four points (1G-3A) in four games against the Spirit in the regular season and now has four points (3G-1A) in two games against them in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Goaltender Christian Kirsch stopped all 14 shots in Game 2 for his first career playoff shutout. Kirsch finished the regular season with four shutouts, tied for the second-most in the OHL. The San Jose Sharks prospect has both Kitchener wins in the series, a 2.00 playoff GAA and .897 SV%. Including the end of the regular season, Kirsch has wins in eight of his last ten starts dating back to February 20th.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kitchener\u2019s NHL Drafted Players<\/strong>: Luke Ellinas (OTT), Gabriel Chiarot (VAN), Sam O\u2019Reilly (TBL), Jack Pridham (CHI), Christian Humphreys (COL), Matthew Hlacar (TOR), Luca Romano (NYI), Cameron Reid (NSH), Andrew MacNeil (MTL), Christian Kirsch (SJ), Matthew Andonovski (OTT), Jared Woolley (LAK)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saginaw, Mich. – The Saginaw Spirit (0-2) host the Kitchener Rangers (2-0) for Game 3 of their opening round playoffs series on March 31st, 2026, at the Dow Event Center. The Spirit look to respond after dropping the first two games in Kitchener over the weekend. \u00a0 Tonight’s Game: Puck drop is at 7:05pm. Tickets…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":243,"featured_media":44040,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[387],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-44039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-387","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/50\/2026\/03\/31100948\/Game-Day-Web-2.png",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":28907,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/243"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44039\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":44036,"date":"2026-03-30T16:53:29","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T20:53:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/?p=44036"},"modified":"2026-03-30T16:53:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T20:53:29","slug":"2026-ohl-awards-spirits-klepov-wins-eddie-powers-memorial-trophy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/video\/2026-ohl-awards-spirits-klepov-wins-eddie-powers-memorial-trophy","title":{"rendered":"2026 OHL Awards – Spirit’s Klepov wins Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy"},"content":{"rendered":"

TORONTO –\u00a0<\/strong>The Ontario Hockey League (OHL) is pleased to formally recognize Saginaw Spirit forward Nikita Klepov<\/a> as the 2025-26 recipient of the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy, presented annually to the League’s top point producer.<\/p>\n

Klepov\u2019s 97 points included 37 goals and 60 assists over 67 games, with a total of 38 points on the man advantage, the third-most in the OHL. The 17-year-old from Deerfield Beach, Florida carves out a unique place in OHL history, becoming the first rookie within his first two years of OHL eligibility to claim the honour since Jack Valiquette of the 1973-74 Soo Greyhounds, who also did so as a 17-year-old. He\u2019s the first American-based player to lead the OHL in scoring since Jason Robertson of the Niagara IceDogs in 2018-19. He joins a host of other prominent Americans with their names engraved on the trophy including Alex DeBrincat (Erie, 2016-17), Kevin Labanc (Barrie, 2015-16), Vincent Trocheck (Plymouth, 2012-13), Patrick Kane (London, 2006-07) and Rob Schremp (London, 2005-06).<\/p>\n

“We are proud of all that Nikita has been able to accomplish this season,” said Spirit General Manager Dave Drinkill. “Leading the league in scoring is impressive on its own, but to do it as a rookie is a testament to his work ethic and talent. His skills on the ice are immediately apparent to anyone who has seen Nikita play, but that skill comes from tons of work in practice, the gym, and in the video room.”<\/p>\n

\n

Klepov gives the Spirit back-to-back Eddie Powers Trophy winners as he follows in the footsteps of Michael Misa, who produced 134 points (62-72\u2013134) before being selected second overall by the San Jose Sharks in the 2025 NHL Draft. Klepov\u2019s 37 goals tie a Spirit rookie record originally set by Cole Perfetti during the 2018-19 season. He recorded at least three points in a game 13 different times.<\/p>\n

As some have noted, it marks the first time the OHL\u2019s leading scorer has produced fewer than 100 points in a span of over 60 years, when eventual OHL coaching legend Wayne Maxner of the 1962-63 J. Ross Robertson Cup champion Niagara Falls Flyers registered 94 points (32-62\u201394) over 50 games.<\/p>\n

Selected by the Spirit with the 35th overall pick of the 2025 CHL Import Draft, Klepov came to Saginaw from the USHL\u2019s Sioux City Musketeers. He won a gold medal with the United States at the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup and is committed to Michigan State University (NCAA). Klepov was ranked 16th among North American skaters on NHL Central Scouting\u2019s midterm rankings for the 2026 NHL Draft released in January.<\/p>\n

The Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy was donated by the Toronto Marlboro Athletic Club in memory of Eddie Powers and was first awarded in 1945-46 to Tod Sloan of St. Michael\u2019s who scored 79 points in 25 games. Other recent OHL recipients have included the aforementioned Michael Misa, David Goyette of the Sudbury Wolves in 2023-24, Matthew Maggio of the Windsor Spitfires in 2022-23 and Wyatt Johnston of the Windsor Spitfires in 2021-22. Klepov joins other recent NHL Draft eligibles to win the Eddie Powers in Misa, Marco Rossi of the Ottawa 67\u2019s in 2019-20 and Dylan Strome of the Erie Otters in 2014-15.<\/p>\n

Misa will be formally recognized with the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy at the OHL Awards Ceremony at the Hockey Hall of Fame in June.<\/p>\n

For a complete list of OHL award winners,\u00a0click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NHL Draft prospect Nikita Klepov of the Saginaw Spirit earns the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy as the OHL’s leading scorer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":243,"featured_media":44037,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-44036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-video","category-21","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/03\/30153701\/Klepov-Eddie-Powers-Web.jpeg",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/243"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44036\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":44032,"date":"2026-03-29T22:06:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T02:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/?p=44032"},"modified":"2026-03-29T22:06:46","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T02:06:46","slug":"spirit-surrender-four-in-third-period-trail-rangers-2-0-in-opening-round","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/article\/spirit-surrender-four-in-third-period-trail-rangers-2-0-in-opening-round","title":{"rendered":"Spirit surrender four goals Game 2, trail Rangers 2-0 in opening round"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photo: Hailey Tripodi<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kitchener, Ont. <\/b>\u2013 A stalemate 40 minutes kept the Spirit and the Rangers in a neck-and-neck battle in Game 2 of the first round of the OHL Playoffs, but a third period push from Kitchener gave them the 4-0 win on Sunday in Kitchener.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The first period was a deadlock between the two teams, although the ice was titled in favor of the Rangers. Kitchener saw more high quality in the frame, but were shut down by goaltender Stepan Shurygin. The Spirit did see the first power play of the game after an early high sticking call to the Rangers, but could not capitalize.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The game was an intense matchup early, and the period belonged to the goaltenders Shurygin and Christian Kirsch after the first twenty minutes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After 1: SAG: 0 \u2013 KIT: 0\u00a0 (Total Shots: 4 – 7 )<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The second period was similar to the first, with the netminders as the stars of the period, especially Stepan Shurygin, who denied a penalty shot and a late Rangers push.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shurygin came up with big saves early and was given a break when Saginaw saw its second powerplay of the night early in the second. The Spirit could not find a way past Kirsch, but did find more momentum, creating high quality chances throughout the period.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Christian Humphreys was awarded a penalty shot midway through the period after being taken down by James Guo. Stepan Shurygin shut him down on the chance with his stick.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Spirit netminder came up big again in the final minutes of the period, stopping a push from Kitchener, but the game remained scoreless heading into the final period.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After 2: SAG: 0\u00a0 \u2013 KIT: 0 (2nd period shots: 10 \u2013 11 Total shots: 14 – 18 )<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The deadlock was broken in the opening minute of the third period after a shot from Carson Campbell deflected off of Sam O\u2019Reilly and into the net to put the Rangers on the board first. The goal marked O\u2019Reilly\u2019s third of the series, after two goals in Game 1.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Only minutes later, a costly turnover in the slot gave Gabe Chiarot an open look at the net to give the Rangers some insurance with a 2-0 lead. After Chiarot\u2019s goal, the Spirit got their third power play opportunity of the night, but could not find a shot on net in the man advantage.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Rangers kept their foot on the gas in the third after getting on the board. Tanner Lam extended the lead, burying home a backdoor rebound opportunity off a shot from Alexander Bilecki to give Kitchener a 3-0 lead.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The floodgates had opened for the Rangers, and they showed no signs of stopping. In the final minutes, Cameron Arquette won the puck on the boards and found Cameron Reid on the left circle to send the puck past Shuryin once again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Final: SAG: 0\u00a0 \u2013 KIT: 4\u00a0 (3rd period shots 0\u00a0 – 9 , Total shots 14 \u2013 27)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Powerplays: SAG 0\/2 KIT 0\/0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Goaltenders: SAG Stepan Shurygin (23 saves, 27 shots), KIT Christian Kirsch (14 saves, 14 shots)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The series now heads to the Dow Event Center with Game 3 taking place on Tuesday, March 31st. Puck drop is set for 7:05pm.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo: Hailey Tripodi   Kitchener, Ont. \u2013 A stalemate 40 minutes kept the Spirit and the Rangers in a neck-and-neck battle in Game 2 of the first round of the OHL Playoffs, but a third period push from Kitchener gave them the 4-0 win on Sunday in Kitchener.   The first period was a deadlock…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":243,"featured_media":44033,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[387],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-44032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-387","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/50\/2026\/03\/29220515\/0Y0A4091_DxO-scaled-e1774836341478.jpg",2560,1442,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":28900,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/243"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":44030,"date":"2026-03-29T10:23:54","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T14:23:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/?p=44030"},"modified":"2026-03-29T10:23:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T14:23:54","slug":"game-preview-saginaw-spirit-8-at-kitchener-rangers-1-game-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/article\/game-preview-saginaw-spirit-8-at-kitchener-rangers-1-game-2","title":{"rendered":"GAME PREVIEW: Saginaw Spirit (8) at Kitchener Rangers (1) – Game 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kitchener, Ont. <\/b>\u2013 The Saginaw Spirit (0-1) prepare for Game 2 against the Kitchener Rangers (1-0) on Sunday night, looking to bounce back after falling in a back-and-forth Game 1.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tonight\u2019s Game:<\/b><\/p>\n

Puck drop is at 7:00 pm.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Broadcast:<\/b><\/p>\n

Radio: 100.5 FM WSGW,<\/span> WSGW.com<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

TV:<\/span> FloHockey<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Series So Far (KIT leads 1-0):<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Rangers got ahead early in Game 1, with a power play goal from Sam O\u2019Reilly at the halfway point of the frame. The Spirit found a response in the first minute of the second period, thanks to Egor Barabanov. Saginaw applied offensive pressure throughout the period, and captain Dima Zhilkin sent the puck into the back of the net, giving the Spirit the lead later in the period. The final two minutes created a flurry from either side. O\u2019Reilly scored his second of the night in the final two minutes of the period; however, Levi Harper scored on a one-timer exactly a minute later to reclaim the Spirit lead heading into the final period.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The third period was controlled by the Rangers, scoring four goals in the final 20 minutes. Christian Humphreys scored his third point of the night after assists on both O\u2019Reilly goals to tie the game up. Zhilkin scored his second of the night, but three unanswered goals from the Rangers gave them the 6-4 victory in Game 1.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Players to Watch:<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Spirit captain, Dima Zhilkin, had an outstanding Game 1 against the Rangers with two goals, one assist, and a plus-three rating. Zhilkin had a total of nine points (3G-5A) in eight games in March to finish a career-high regular season. Zhilkin\u2019s goals on Friday night marked his first OHL playoff goals, after securing three assists in last season’s playoff matchup against Erie.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Levi Harper enjoyed his first taste of the OHL playoffs with a two-point night, scoring a goal at the end of the second period and assisting Dima Zhilkin\u2019s first-period goal. Harper ended his rookie season as the leading OHL rookie blueliner with 57 points (12G-45A) and third best amongst all OHL rookies. Harper had a quieter March, but has had a lot of success against the Rangers with a point in all four games against Kitchener in the regular season (1G-3A\u20134P).<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Saginaw\u2019s NHL-Drafted Players: <\/b>Jacob Cloutier (WPG)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Christian Humphreys led the way for the Rangers on Friday, earning first star of the night honors for a four-point game (2G-2A). Humphreys assisted both O\u2019Reilly goals and scored the two Kitchener game-tying goals in the third period. Friday\u2019s game marked Humphreys\u2019 first multi-goal OHL playoff game.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jack Pridham was a huge catalyst for the Rangers in Game 1 with three assists on the night. Pridham had seven shots on goal as a persistent threat to the Spirit. In the regular season, Pridham secured a career-high 90 points (46G-44A). The Rangers’ leading regular-season scorer was one of five players to hit the 90-point mark in the regular season (joining Saginaw’s Nikita Klepov and Egor Barabanov). Including Friday\u2019s assists, Pridham has 16 points (7G-9A) over 18 OHL playoff games.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kitchener\u2019s NHL Drafted Players: <\/b>Luke Ellinas (OTT), Gabriel Chiarot (VAN), Sam O\u2019Reilly (TBL), Jack Pridham (CHI), Christian Humphreys (COL), Matthew Hlacar (TOR), Luca Romano (NYI), Cameron Reid (NSH), Andrew MacNeil (MTL), Christian Kirsch (SJ), Matthew Andonovski (OTT), Jared Woolley (LAK)<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kitchener, Ont. \u2013 The Saginaw Spirit (0-1) prepare for Game 2 against the Kitchener Rangers (1-0) on Sunday night, looking to bounce back after falling in a back-and-forth Game 1.\u00a0   Tonight\u2019s Game: Puck drop is at 7:00 pm.   Broadcast: Radio: 100.5 FM WSGW, WSGW.com TV: FloHockey   Series So Far (KIT leads 1-0):…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":243,"featured_media":44031,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[387],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-44030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-387","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/50\/2026\/03\/29102313\/Game-Day-Web-1.png",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":28900,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/243"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":44027,"date":"2026-03-27T22:20:28","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T02:20:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/?p=44027"},"modified":"2026-03-27T22:29:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T02:29:47","slug":"zhilkin-records-three-points-in-close-game-1-loss-to-rangers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/article\/zhilkin-records-three-points-in-close-game-1-loss-to-rangers","title":{"rendered":"Zhilkin records three points in close Game 1 loss to Rangers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kitchener, Ont. – <\/em><\/strong>The Saginaw Spirit visited the Kitchener Rangers for Game 1 of the OHL Playoffs at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium. Dima Zhilkin finished the night with two goals and an assist, and Levi Harper, Nikita Klepov, and Egor Barabanov each had two-point games. Neither team held more than a one-goal lead until the very end of the game, a 6-4 Rangers win with an empty netter.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Rangers drew first blood on the power-play, with Sam O\u2019Reilly tipping in a point shot from Jack Pridham for the first goal of the series. Christian Humphreys picked up the secondary assist as the Rangers led the Spirit 1-0 10:13 into the first.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

After 1: SAG 0 – 1 KIT (Total Shots: 3 – 11)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Fifty-nine seconds into the second, Egor Barabanov would tie it at one after he drove the net from the left circle, squeaking one past Christian Kirsch. Dima Zhilkin and James Guo picked up the assists as the Spirit stood tied at 1-1 with the Rangers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Spirit continued their offensive pressure in the second, with captain Dima Zhilkin giving the Spirit their first lead of the series after he tipped in a shot from the left circle. Levi Harper fired the initial shot for the primary assist, and Nikita Klepov picked up the secondary at 18:14.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Rangers repeated their first goal of the game to tie it in the second, with Sam O\u2019Reilly scoring his second of the game after tipping in a shot in the crease. Jack Pridham and Christian Humphreys picked up the assists for their second points of the game, as the two teams stood tied at 18:14.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Levi Harper slapped in a loose puck with under a minute to go to restore the lead for Saginaw. Harper scored unassisted at 19:14 to give the Spirit a 3-2 advantage headed into the third.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After 2: SAG 3 – 2 KIT (2nd period shots: 12 – 9 Total shots: 15 – 20)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Christian Humphreys responded early in the third for the Rangers after he was found wide open in the left circle for his first of the playoffs. Jack Pridham sent it cross ice for his third assist of the game, and Alexander Bilecki picked up the secondary assist as the Rangers tied it at 3-3 at 4:30.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Spirit would take back the lead for the third time after Dima Zhilkin fired in his second goal of the night from between the dots, blocker side past Kirsch. Egor Barabanov picked up the primary assist, and Nikita Klepov picked up the secondary as the Saginaw Spirit led 4-3 at 10:12.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Rangers would again tie it on the power play, with Christian Humphreys picking up his second of the night after firing in a rocket from the slot. Cameron Reid picked up the primary assist, and Sam O\u2019Reilly picked up his third point of the night with the secondary assist at 12:37.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kitchener captain Cameron Reid scored his first career playoff goal to give the Rangers a 5-4 lead late in the first, firing a steep-angle shot past Shurygin. Dylan Edwards and Carson Campbell picked up the assists as the Rangers took the lead at 13:16.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Matthew Andonovski would ice the game for the Rangers, scoring into the empty net at 19:55 to make it a 6-4 game in favor of Kitchener.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Final: SAG 4 – 6 KIT (3rd period shots 10 – 20, Total shots 25 – 40)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Powerplays: SAG 0\/0 KIT 3\/3<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Goaltenders: SAG: Stepan Shurygin (34 saves, 39 shots) KIT: Christian Kirsch (21 saves, 25 shots)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Spirit, trailing 1-0 in the series, stay in Kitchener for Game 2 on Sunday night. Puck drop is at 7:00pm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kitchener, Ont. – The Saginaw Spirit visited the Kitchener Rangers for Game 1 of the OHL Playoffs at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium. Dima Zhilkin finished the night with two goals and an assist, and Levi Harper, Nikita Klepov, and Egor Barabanov each had two-point games. Neither team held more than a one-goal lead until the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":243,"featured_media":44028,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[387],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-44027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-387","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/50\/2026\/03\/27221644\/b28fa412-25f8-452b-b460-b9423e0ccc03IMG_0328-scaled-e1774664394876.jpg",1707,960,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":28891,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/243"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44027"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44027\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-spirit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}]