Greyhounds drop pre-season finale, open OHL regular season play next weekend

The next meeting will have some added meaning to it.

The Soo Greyhounds and Saginaw Spirit wrapped up Ontario Hockey League pre-season play Sunday at Saginaw’s Dow Event Center on the final day of pre-season play for the league.

The Spirit opened up a 4-0 lead in the game and proceeded to beat the Greyhounds by a 6-3 margin.

Saginaw opened the scoring seven minutes into the contest as Liam Storch cut through the Greyhounds zone to the right faceoff circle and his shot handcuffed Greyhounds goaltender Charlie Schenkel to give the home team the lead.

The Spirit added to the lead as Jacob Cloutier beat Schenkel from the slot high glove side on a one-timer after a feed from Sebastien Gervais in the right corner with Saginaw shorthanded. Gervais started the play just as a Saginaw penalty had expired, winning a battle in the corner with Sault defenceman Caeden Carlisle. The goal came with 4:28 to go in the opening period.

Cloutier picked up his second goal of the night as he took a short pass in the slot from Gervais and beat Schenkel stick side nine minutes into the period.

Just 24 seconds later, Gervais took a pass from Calem Mangone cross-slot and beat Schenkel from the right faceoff circle to finish off a three-way passing play.

The Greyhounds got on the board late in the second period as Caeden Carlisle tapped in a loose puck after Brady Smith’s initial shot from high in the Saginaw zone was stopped by Spirit goaltender Andrew Oke with 3:15 to go in the frame.

Nic Sima made it a 5-1 game in the final minute of the period, beating Schenkel five-hole on a shorthanded breakaway on a pass from Cloutier just inside the Spirit blueline with 21 seconds to go in the frame.

Marco Mignosa made it 5-2 with 5:50 to go in the third period as he stepped past Saginaw defenceman Kaden Sienko in the slot and beat Spirit goaltender Sammy DiBlasi five-hole.

With 4:53 to go, the Greyhounds made it a two-goal game as Justin Cloutier beat DiBlasi with a shot stick side from the left side of the right circle off a faceoff win by Brady Smith.

Mangone made it 6-3 for the Spirit with an empty net goal with 2:30 to go in regulation time.

Smith assisted on a pair of goals for the Sault in the loss.

Schenkel stopped 21 shots for the Greyhounds.

Jacob Cloutier had two goals and an assist for the Spirit while Gervais also had a three-point night with a goal and a pair of assists in the win.

Mangone chipped in with one of each for the Spirit.

For the Spirit, Oke stopped 13 of 14 shots through two periods of work before making way for DiBlasi, who stopped 12 of 14 shots in the final period.

While the Spirit open regular season play at home on Wednesday night, the Greyhounds' regular season opener is Friday night at the GFL Memorial Gardens against the Spirit. The team will also face the Sudbury Wolves in the Sault as they host their northern rivals on Saturday night.

With Schenkel, Carlisle, and Cloutier back in the lineup Sunday, the Detroit Red Wings announced Sunday that goaltender Landon Miller has been reassigned and will return to the OHL for his second full season with the Greyhounds.

Andrew Gibson (Nashville) and Owen Allard (Utah) remain with their respective NHL clubs.