Series HQ: Saginaw vs. Owen Sound

Game 4: Spirit send Attack into offseason with fourth straight decision
Saginaw 5 at Owen Sound 1 – Saginaw wins series 4-0

• Michael Misa was the game’s first star, recording a goal and an assist in the win
• Montreal Canadiens prospect Owen Beck found the back of the net, being joined by Zayne Parekh, Rodwin Dionicio and Nic Sima in the goal-scoring department
• Minnesota Wild prospect Servac Petrovsky scored Owen Sound’s lone goal, one that came shorthanded midway through the first period
• Josh Bloom recorded a pair of assists for Saginaw as the Spirit outshot Owen Sound 44-21
• 2024 NHL Draft prospect Carter George made 39 saves in the loss; Saginaw’s Andrew Oke earned the win, stopping 20
• Owen Sound’s long-standing OA trio of Deni Goure, Ethan Burroughs and Sam Sedley appeared in their final OHL contest
• The Bears, who were 29-30-6-3 during the regular season, exit the OHL Playoffs in the first round for a third straight year
• Saginaw advances to the second round for a second straight year; last spring they lost in four straight conference semi-final games to the Sarnia Sting

Game Centre & Highlights | Saginaw Post-Game

The @SpiritHockey soar into the second round! 🔴🔵⚪️#OHLPlayoffs | #SAGvsOS pic.twitter.com/iNXX9JgU2P

— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) April 4, 2024

Game 3: Last second Spirit push Attack to the edge
Saginaw 2 at Owen Sound 1 – Saginaw leads 3-0

• Saginaw goals in the final seconds of the first and second periods are all they needed to push the Attack to the brink at the Bayshore
• Nic Sima opened the scoring with 14 seconds remaining in the first period with his first playoff goal as a member of the Spirit
• Winnipeg Jets prospect Colby Barlow tied-up the game with what would stand as the only Attack goal late in the second on the power play
• Joey Willis scored the game winner with only 11 seconds remaining in the second period
• Owen Beck’s run of consecutive games with a point ends at 22, being held off the scoresheet for the first time since Feb. 4th
• Vegas Golden Knights prospect Matyas Sapovaliv went 16-for-22 in the faceoff circle
• Saginaw outshot Owen Sound 42-to-25
• Attack netminder Carter George was named the game’s first star, making 40 saves in the loss
• Andrew Oke made 24 saves in the win

Game Centre & Highlights | Saginaw Post-Game | Owen Sound Post-Game

We take Game 3 in Owen Sound.

📸: Allison Kennedy#SAGvsOS | #TakeFlight | #OHLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/JxWmSzxXCv

— Saginaw Spirit (@SpiritHockey) April 2, 2024

Game 2: Beck collects three points as Spirit win again
Saginaw 5 vs. Owen Sound 2 – Saginaw leads 2-0

• Owen Beck extended his point streak to 22 games with a goal and two assists; all three of Beck’s points came on special teams
• Joey Willis, Josh Bloom, James Guo and Michael Misa added Spirit goals
• James Petrovski and Ethan Burroughs scored for the Attack, who manage to record 37 shots
• Saginaw went 2-for-4 on the power play, holding Owen Sound to 0-for-4
• Andrew Oke made 35 saves in the win while Attack goaltender Carter George made 32
• A crowd of 4,853 took in Game 2 at the Dow Event Center

Game Centre & Highlights | Saginaw Post-Game | Owen Sound Post-Game

BREAKING: Owen Beck can still absolutely rip it!

The @CanadiensMTL prospect has a point on all three @SpiritHockey goals tonight 🔥#OHLPlayoffs | #SAGvsOS pic.twitter.com/4iWEZ1VSRq

— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) March 31, 2024

Game 1: Spirit pull-away from Attack in latter half of opening matchup
Saginaw 6 vs. Owen Sound 4 – Saginaw leads series 1-0

• Down 3-2 in the second, Saginaw scored four consecutive goals to take control of the game
• Owen Beck extended his point streak to 21 games, recording three assists
• Vancouver Canucks prospect Josh Bloom scored twice in the opening frame for Saginaw
• Minnesota Wild prospect Hunter Haight scored a pair, netting the game-winning goal with 2:32 left in the third period
• Draft eligible defender Zayne Parekh picked-up three assists in the win
• Cedrick Guindon, Declan Waddick, Deni Goure and Konnor Smith scored Owen Sound goals
• Saginaw outshot Owen Sound 46-28, with Andrew Oke earning the win in goal
• A crowd of 3,937 took in Game 1 at the Dow Event Center

Game Centre & Highlights | Saginaw Post-Game | Owen Sound Post-Game

Hunter Haight with the dagger 🗡️

The @mnwild prospect jumps on Beck's rebound to make it 5-3 then adds the empty netter to secure a Game One win for the @SpiritHockey ✅#OHLPlayoffs | #SAGvsOS pic.twitter.com/LZaxy1vZD3

— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) March 29, 2024

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(2) Saginaw Spirit (50-16-1-1) vs. (7) Owen Sound Attack (29-30-6-3)

Saginaw Series Preview | Owen Sound Series Preview

They’re that lower seeded team that many observers in conversation across the League admit they wouldn’t want to meet in the first round. That acknowledgement of some real talent, that perhaps rises to the surface come playoff time.

The small confines of the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre tends to accommodate the Owen Sound Attack’s brand of hockey well – but as many a fan or even Attack GM Dale DeGray will attest, 2023-24 hasn’t been without its frustrations.

Coming in at 33G – 63A – 96P, #NHLDraft prospect Zayne Parekh finds himself at the top of @CHLHockey defensemen. pic.twitter.com/yIkrxW80XV

— Saginaw Spirit (@SpiritHockey) March 25, 2024

From an early season coaching change, an injury to star forward Colby Barlow (40-18–58), to general inconsistency and lack of execution, the Attack are eager to sink their teeth into a fresh opportunity and put the regular season behind them. They’ll get to do that against this year’s Memorial Cup hosts.

Owen Sound has a strong overage corps with drafted and developed veterans Deni Goure (36-60–96), Ethan Burroughs (31-45–76) and Sam Sedley (9-54–63) eating up big minutes. The aforementioned Barlow is fresh off becoming the fifth player in Attack history to record two different 40-goal seasons with the club, and Carter George is widely considered the top North American goaltender eligible for the 2024 NHL Draft this summer. The Bears check a lot of boxes.

The Attack have some high-end offensive names when you factor in Cedrick Guindon (26-31–57) and Servac Petrovsky (20-35–55), but can the defence hold up against a Saginaw club enjoying its best season in franchise history?

For the second time in three seasons, interestingly enough, a defenceman has led the Spirit in scoring as 2024 NHL Draft prospect Zayne Parekh (33-63–96) follows in the footsteps of Pavel Mintyukov who skates on the Anaheim Ducks blueline today. Parekh finds the highlight reel most nights it seems, with his signature quick release either finding holes through traffic or beating goaltenders clean.

Saginaw’s depth this season is quite something as GM Dave Drinkill has executed a multi-year plan to build the Spirit into a Memorial Cup contender in 2023-24. The front-line names speak for themselves, guys like Owen Beck (34-47–81), who is on a 20-game point streak, Michael Misa (29-46–75), Hunter Haight (25-42–67) and Matyas Sapovaliv (19-43–62), but the Spirit cover the bases further down the lineup as well, with mid-season acquisition Ethan Hay (12-12–24) widely recognized as one of the league’s best penalty killers.

They’ll need to keep Barlow in check, but with the series starting with Games 1 & 2 at the Dow Event Center where Saginaw played to a 26-7-0-1 mark this season, the Spirit hold the ball to start the series. One sneaky note to keep in mind though, and Attack fans will know this well – Owen Sound was quite often better on the road than they were at home this season, earning 17 of their 29 wins away from the Bayshore. We’ll see how that “bears” out to start the series.

Can’t make it to the rink? Tune in to this first round series from start to finish on OHL Live.

COLBY BARLOW OH MY 💣

The @AttackOHL captain with a shorty for his 40th of the season!@NHLJets | #GoJetsGo pic.twitter.com/2MUQPCvZbm

— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) March 23, 2024

Series Schedule:
Game 1: Thurs., March 28 – Owen Sound at Saginaw, 7:05pm
Game 2: Sat., March 30 – Owen Sound at Saginaw, 7:05pm
Game 3: Mon., April 1 – Saginaw at Owen Sound, 7:00pm
Game 4: Wed., April 3 – Saginaw at Owen Sound, 7:00pm
Game 5: Thurs., April 4 – Owen Sound at Saginaw, 7:05pm*
Game 6: Sat., April 6 – Saginaw at Owen Sound, 7:00pm*
Game 7: Mon., April 8 – Owen Sound at Saginaw, 7:05pm*

Season Series:
Saginaw wins 2-0
Feb. 9 – OS 4 at SAG 5 (OT)
Mar. 2 – SAG 6 at OS 2

Playoff History:
This marks the first time Saginaw and Owen Sound have met in the OHL Playoffs