Sarnia, Ont. – The Saginaw Spirit (10-6-1-0) ended their road trip on a high note Friday night after a 4-3 overtime win against the Sarnia Sting (8-6-2-1) November 11, at the Progressive Auto Sales Arena in Sarnia, Ontario.
Buffalo Sabers prospect Josh Bloom scored his sixth goal of the year to win it in overtime and secure the extra point for the Spirit.
The game began with Sarnia controlling play and registering several shots on a long possession.
Tristan Lennox made several saves five minutes in and kept Sarnia off the board.
Pavel Mintyukov took a tripping penalty at 6:21 in the first period, giving Sarnia their first powerplay of the game. The Spirit were able to hold off the Sting despite several shots.
Saginaw struck first at 13:03 in the first period. Brayden Hislop earned his second goal of the season after he skated from the right side of the zone and from the faceoff dot. Pavel Mintyukov passed the puck to Hislop behind his legs, and Ian Phillips gave the puck to Mintyukov to start the play.
With five minutes remaining, Lennox stopped two consecutive shots to protect Saginaw’s one-goal lead.
The Spirit took another penalty when former Sarnia forward Theo Hill was called for hooking at 16:45 in the opening period. Sarnia was unable to score on the chance.
The first period ended with Saginaw leading 1-0 and Sarnia leading in shots, 12-9.
The second period opened much like the first, with Sarnia taking several shots and having a long possession.
The Sting tied the game at 5:40 in the second period. Ethan Ritchie scored on a wrist shot after Marcus Limpar-Lantz passed to him from the left side of the offensive zone. Angus Macdonell picked up the assist as well.
Sarnia found themselves on the man-advantage after Saginaw native Mitchell Smith was called for hooking at 11:53 and converted on the chance at 13:41 in the second period. Max Namestnikov passed to Zach Filak who shot the puck at Lennox. Ethan Ritchie grabbed the loose puck in front of the net and potted his fifth of the season and second of the game.
The Spirit got a chance on the powerplay after Tyson Doucette took a penalty at 14:11 in the middle period, but were unable to score on the chance.
At the end of the second period, Sarnia led 2-1 and led shots, 23-18.
The third period started with more Sarnia pressure as Lennox made several saves after a long possession from the Sting.
Sarnia went on the man-advantage after Brayden Hislop was called for slashing at 5:29 in the final period. The Sting were unable to score on the opportunity.
The Spirit took the lead again at 17:06 in the final period. Luke McNamara went top shelf after T-Bone Codd fed him the puck from the left side of the neutral zone for his ninth assist of the season.
Sarnia pulled their goaltender with just under a minute left and tied the game with 10 seconds remaining in the final period. Sandis Vilmanis scored his seventh of the season after Ty Voit passed the puck to him to set up the goal. Ethan Ritchie earned his seventh assist after he gave Voit the puck to start the play.
Tristan Lennox earned his eighth win of the season, making 28 saves on 31 shots. Nicholas Surzycia got the start for Sarina, making 20 saves on 24 shots.
The third period ended in a 3-3 tie, which brought out overtime. The Sting led shots, 31-23.
In overtime, Theo Hill was called for slashing penalty 50 seconds in to give Sarnia a man-advantage, but it was Josh Bloom who capitalized on the chance and scored at 1:40 in overtime for the Spirit. The forward stole the puck in the neutral zone and scored on a breakaway chance to win the game for Saginaw.
The Spirit win the game 4-3 after the shorthanded overtime goal. Saginaw improves to 10-6-1-0 on the season.
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