Spirit’s Top Line Combines For 11 Points As Saginaw Beats Sarnia 7-3
By Carl Chimenti
The Saginaw Spirit’s (25-33-3-4) top line combined for 4 goals and 7 assists, as they beat the Sarnia Sting (18-38-8-1) 7-3 in front of a large crowd of 3,958 Sunday afternoon, celebrating overage day, at the Progressive Auto Sales Arena.
Sarnia will play their last home game this Weds. night.
Before the start of the game the Sarnia Sting celebrated the three overagers for 2025-26, Ben Pickell, Jordan Bax and captain Mitch Young. It was a moving ceremony with each player thanking families, billets and the Sting fans, followed by pictures and lots of hand-shakes and hugs.
The Sting were down 6-3 entering the third stanza but could not make a come-back as the period exploded into a donnybrook with three major brawls, that had all players on the ice fighting. After the dust had settled numerous players were penalized and shown the gate for the rest of the game.
Saginaw’s top line combined for 11 points. First star Dimian Zhilkin had 2 goals and 3 assists, second star Egor Barabanov netted two goals and one helper and third star Nikita Klepov contributed three assists.
The Spirit went 4/8 on the power-play. Tyler Challenger (8th), Easton Walos with his team leading 25th and Young with his fifth of the season scored for the Sting. Beckham Edwards had two helpers. Matthew Manza, Ben Pickell and Brenner Lammens chipped in with one assist each.
Sarnia went 0/7 with the man-advantage.
Kale Osipenko started in net for the Sting and went two periods (15 saves on 21 shots), before being replaced at the start of the third period by Patrick Quinlan (8 saves on 9 shots).
Sarnia out-shot Saginaw 42-30 and were better in the face-off circle 30-26. The two teams will play the final regular season game in Saginaw, Sat. night.
Sarnia fell into some penalty trouble in the opening period and the Spirit scored twice on the power-play. The line of Barabanov, Zhilkin and Klepov put up nine points combined, which included three goals.
Barabanov open the scoring with an even strength goal at 1:58 with both Zhilkin and Klepov assisting. Sarnia came right back tying the game at 4:42. Challenger put the puck in the net after getting a nice pass from the left corner from Edwards.
Then the penalties started coming with two in eight seconds, that gave Saginaw a two man-advantage. The Spirit scored on both 60 seconds apart. Carson Harmer scored at 6:31 and Barabanov followed with his second of the game at 7:31. Klepov assisted on both of the goals.
The Spirit scored once more, seconds after another penalty had just expired. Zhilkin found the back of the net at 9:34 from Levi Harper and Barabanov.
Sarnia out-shot Saginaw 14-8.
Each team scored twice in the second period as the Sting out-shot the Spirit for a second consecutive period 15-13. Edwards had his second primary assist as he set up Young at 5:04, with Manza drawing the second helper.
Cloutier matched that goal for the Spirit at 8:37 with a power-play goal from Zhilkin and Harper.
Saginaw struck again at 16:34 on a goal from Brody Pepoy from Gensen Geldart and Ryan Hanrahan.
Sarnia came right back 12 seconds later at 16:46 as Walos scored from Pickell and Brenner Lammens.
