Gameday Preview: Road trip wraps up in Saginaw

A road trip that opened on Wednesday night in London against the Knights concludes on Saturday night as the Soo Greyhounds take on another division rival in the Saginaw Spirit at the Dow Event Center in Saginaw.

The Greyhounds are coming off a 4-3 win in Plymouth on Friday night. Jared McCann had a goal and an assist for the Greyhounds in the win while rookie goaltender Brandon Halverson stopped 36 shots. Full details from Friday’s win can be found here.

Meanwhile, the Spirit are coming off back-to-back road losses after dropping a 5-2 decision in Windsor on Thursday night before travelling to Kitchener on Friday and dropping a 5-3 decision. Kristoff Kontos had a pair of goals in Friday’s loss in Kitchener. Jimmy Lodge and Jesse Graham added two assists each in the loss. Nick Moutry also scored for Saginaw.

Jesse Graham is the latest addition to the Saginaw blueline, acquired in a trade with the Niagara IceDogs that saw the Spirit give up a pair of second round picks as well as a third round pick and another conditional second rounder. Since the trade, Graham has four assists in five games.

With a record of 15-11-3-1, the Spirit have three points and are in third in the OHL’s West Division. They sit three points behind the Windsor Spitfires and nine points behind the Greyhounds.

The division-leading Greyhounds have a record 20-6-0-3 and 43 points as they sit atop the West Division.

Saturday marks a busy day for West Division teams as the Spitfires and Whalers are also in action. The Spitfires are in Kitchener while the Whalers travel to Guelph.

Puck drop on Saturday night in Saginaw is set for 7:11 p.m.

Other games around the OHL on Saturday night include:

• Niagara vs. North Bay (7:00 p.m.)
• Sudbury vs. Mississauga (7:00 p.m.)
• Belleville vs. Barrie (7:05 p.m.)
• Plymouth vs. Guelph (7:05 p.m.)
• Windsor vs. Kitchener (7:05 p.m.)
• Owen Sound vs. London (7:30 p.m.)

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TEAM LEADERS

Goals: SSM: Sergey Tolchinsky – 16; SAG: Cody Payne – 14
Assists: SSM: Sergey Tolchinsky – 32; SAG: Kristoff Kontos – 27
Points: SSM: Sergey Tolchinsky – 48; SAG: Kristoff Kontos – 39
Penalty Minutes: SSM: Darnell Nurse – 51; SAG: Sean Callaghan – 58