Saginaw nips Brampton 3-2 in shootout
By Carl Chimenti –
SAGINAW – Vincent Trocheck scored the first goal and the last goal for the Saginaw Spirit, helping them snap a four-game losing streak with a 3-2 shootout win over the Brampton Battalion Thursday night.
Head coach and GM Todd Watson was pleased with his team’s effort, knowing full well that his team was shorthanded. Brandon Saad is out with an upper-body injury and leading scorer John McFarland was serving the first of a two-game suspension for official abuse.
“Everyone says what’s wrong with the team, well look at our line-up today,” Watson said following the win. “We had ten forwards and six defensemen that dressed and that’s all we had today and I think they did real well in beating a really good Brampton team.”
Trocheck opened the scoring at 11:40 of the first period, and then scored the only goal of the shootout for the win. The Florida Panther prospect scored his 12th goal of the season after receiving a perfect pass from Josh Shalla – who also had a goal and an assist for the Spirit. Trocheck redirected the pass into the net to give the Spirit the early lead.
Barclay Goodrow tied the game for the Battalion at 7:21 of the second period during a scramble in front. He roofed the puck top shelf on his backhand past Spirit goaltender Tadeas Galansky.
Saginaw regained the lead in the third, as Shalla netted a goal off a rebound shot from Carlos Amestoy. The helper was Amestoy’s first career OHL point – the Spirit acquired his rights from the Guelph Storm this past week for a pair of draft picks. Michael Fine also assisted on the goal.
The lead was short lived as Brett Mackie scored less than two minutes later, with Spencer Abraham and Matt MacLeod drawing the assists.
Brampton out shot Saginaw 4-3 in overtime and even had a power play but Galansky made a series of impressive saves to send the game to a shootout. Galansky, who has struggled at times this season, stopped Michael Santini, Goodrow and Patrik Machac in succession. Trocheck, meanwhile scored as the second Spirit shooter, helping the Spirit break Brampton’s three-game win streak.
Watson said the game felt like a road game.
“The way the boys played, we went up 1-0 and 2-1 and were able to get the shoot-out,” explained Watson. “It’s easier to play with the lead.”
Game Notes
Galansky was the game’s first star, with Shalla the second star and Goodrow the third star.
Galansky stopped 38 of 40 shots and the Battalion out shot the Spirit 40-32.
A total of four minor penalties were called, as both Saginaw and Brampton went 0-for-2 on the power play.
Saginaw improved to 4-5 at home and 8-12-2 overall.