Photo Credit: Freeze Frame Photos

On Saturday, January 3rd, the third-place Soo Greyhounds (21-13-1-1) headed south on the I-75 for a West Division showdown against the fourth-place Saginaw Spirit (12-17-3-4). Both clubs enter the matchup looking to rebound after December 31st losses, with the Greyhounds dropping a 3–1 decision at home to the Flint Firebirds and the Spirit suffering a 6–0 setback to the Windsor Spitfires. Adding extra motivation to the contest is the most recent meeting between the rivals, where Saginaw skated to a 5–1 victory in Sault Ste. Marie on December 28th, setting the stage for a competitive and motivated rematch.

The Soo Greyhounds and Saginaw Spirit traded momentum throughout the night, but timely special teams and a late empty-net goal lifted the Spirit to a 5–3 victory. The Greyhounds opened the scoring late in the first period when Quinn McKenzie notched his 14th goal of the season at 4:59, finishing a play set up by Callum Croskery and Marco Mignosa to give Soo a 1–0 lead after one.

Saginaw responded in the second period with a pair of powerplay goals just 46 seconds apart. Dimian Zhilkin tied the game at 15:15 with his 17th of the season, assisted by Egor Barabanov and Carson Harmer, before James Guo followed up at 16:01 with his third of the year, with helpers from Levi Harper and Sebastien Gervais, putting the Spirit ahead 2–1 heading into the third.

The Greyhounds came out strong in the final frame, reclaiming the lead with two goals in under four minutes. Brodie McConnell-Barker scored the first goal of his OHL career at 1:49, assisted by Noah Laus and Jordan Charron, before Jakub Winkelhofer made it 3–2 at 5:33, finishing feeds from Marco Mignosa and Quinn McKenzie. Saginaw answered back midway through the period as Brody Pepoy tied the game at 15:20, with Carson Harmer earning the assist. Zhilkin then struck again at 17:09 for his second of the night and 18th of the season, assisted by Barabanov, before Nic Sima sealed the win with an empty-net goal at 18:28.

In goal, Stephan Shurygin earned the win for the Spirit, stopping 26 of 29 shots, while Greyhounds netminder Landon Miller turned aside 29 of 33 in the loss.

The Greyhounds return home to face the Sudbury Wolves on Wednesday, January 7th, with puck drop set for 7:07 p.m. Meanwhile, the Spirit will host the Brampton Steelheads on January 4th at 5:30 p.m.