Over the weekend of Oct. 28 – Nov. 3, the Saginaw Spirit were in action twice, with both games on the road. On Nov. 2, they traveled to Owen Sound to take on the Attack, and on Nov. 3, they headed to Kitchener to take on the red-hot Rangers.
The Spirit’s special teams play helped lead them to a win against the Attack, but they failed to replicate their play in the second game of the weekend, as they lost to the Rangers.
Game Results
Nov. 2 @ Owen Sound Attack: 6-2 win
Nov. 3 @ Kitchener Rangers: 4-2 loss
Tale of Two Games for the Power Play
The Spirit have the firepower to be one of the Ontario Hockey League’s (OHL) top power-play unites, with the likes of Calgary Flames prospect Zayne Parekh, 2025 NHL Entry Draft prospect Michael Misa, and others. Still, they have seemed to struggle to find consistency throughout the season to this point. Their two games over the weekend proved that, with the unit going three for six in their win against the Attack but then going scoreless in three chances against the Rangers.
When the Spirit are firing on all cylinders, they can make a power play look phenomenal. The chemistry between Parekh, Misa, and Kristian Epperson is through the roof. That was on display in the win against the Attack, with all three players factoring into three power-play goals scored against 2024 Los Angeles Kings draft pick Carter George. Their puck movement and zone entries were crisp and looked strong enough to allow them to set up in the offensive zone, go to work, and attack against the Attack.
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On the flip side, the power play struggled mightily against the Rangers, who have had one of the hotter and best penalty-kill units in the OHL recently. They could not get any true zone entry into the offensive zone, and even when they did, the Rangers’ killers out-battled the Spirit to get the puck out of their zone and eliminate any true chances. Even with outshooting the Rangers 41-26, the power play could not generate much and surely hampered an opportunity to make a comeback in the game.
Spirit Unable to Break Through Parsons
The Spirit played against two of the top goaltenders in the league in the two games, the Attack’s George and the Rangers’ Jackson Parsons. While they broke through on George thanks to the lack of a high-level team in front of him they could not do the same against Parsons. As an overage player in the league, Parsons has thrown his name out as a player to watch this season and stymied the Spirit’s great scoring chances, giving up only two goals on the 41 shots he faced.
The Spirit controlled most of the action in the game, showing off their chemistry and offensive game while playing five-on-five and gave Parsons plenty of traffic and work throughout the game. Still, he was up to the task and became the first goalie to help his team keep Misa off the scoresheet this season.
Penalty Kill Plays Strong
While the power play was a bit up-and-down in the two games, the Spirit’s penalty kill was a strong suit. Combined between the two games, they killed off eight of the nine power-play opportunities they allowed. Against the Rangers, they took a couple of penalties as result of some undisciplined plays, but the penalty killers were up to the challenge to successfully kill them off. The unit got a handful of offensive zone chances on the disadvantage but was stymied by Parsons and the Ranger’s defense.
Other Weekend Notes
- The Spirit will be without team captain Ethan Hay for the next three games, for a total of five games, after he was suspended before the two games.
- The Spirit’s first-round pick in the 2024 OHL Priority Selection Draft, Dimian Zhilkin, tallied his first OHL point in the team’s win over the Attack.
- Goaltender Andrew Oke played in both games and made 60 saves on the weekend. He has played in all but one game this season.
What’s Next for Spirit
The Spirit return home for the week of Nov. 4 – Nov. 10, playing three times at the Dow Event Center. They play the Peterborough Petes on Nov. 7 before taking on the Windsor Spitfires (Nov. 9) and their in-state rival, the Flint Firebirds, on Nov. 10.
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