The Soo Greyhounds scored four straight goals before the Saginaw Spirit got on the board and beat the Spirit 5-2 on Wednesday night at GFL Memorial Gardens in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. Tyler Martyniuk scored his first OHL goal in the third period, and Dima Zhilkin extended his point streak to 14 games, but Saginaw went 0-for-4 on the power play and couldn’t climb out of an early hole against the West Division leaders.
How it happened
Christopher Brown opened the scoring in the first period, set up by Trevor Daley Jr. The Greyhounds then broke the game open in the second. Jeremy Martin made it 2-0 at 2:50 off a Callum Croskery pass, Travis Hayes scored on the power play for his fifth of the season, and Brown added his second of the night at 18:48, with Hayes and Daley assisting, for a 4-0 lead after 40 minutes.
Saginaw finally broke through at 14:24 of the third when Jacob Cloutier scored from the middle of the slot, with Braidy Wassilyn and Zhilkin assisting. Martyniuk followed with a long shot over goalie David Vermirovsky’s shoulder for his first career OHL goal, set up by Hudson Leenders. Noah Laus sealed it with an empty-net goal at 18:05, his ninth of the season.
In goal and on special teams
Brady Knowling made 20 saves on 24 shots for Saginaw. Vermirovsky stopped 29 of 31 for the Greyhounds, and the Spirit outshot the Soo 31-25. The Greyhounds went 1-for-3 on the power play.
Zhilkin and Wassilyn came into the night tied for the OHL scoring lead with 24 points apiece, and each picked up an assist on Cloutier’s goal. Zhilkin’s 14-game point streak is the longest active run in the league.
Standings and what’s next
The Spirit fell to 6-5-2-1 with 15 points, third in the West Division. The Greyhounds improved to 10-4-1-0 and lead the division with 21 points. It was the second meeting of the season between the teams; the Soo won the first 5-4 in overtime on Sept. 18.
Saginaw returns home to host the Barrie Colts at 7:05 p.m. Friday at the Dow Event Center.
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