They had a bad second period in their game against the Saginaw Spirit coming Friday night at the Guelph Storm.
The Spirit scored four times in the middle frame to defeat the Storm 4–2 at the Sleeman Center.
The game started promisingly for Guelph (24-24-4-1) in the first period. Max Namestnikov scored his 22nd goal of the season on the power play to give the Storm a 1–0 lead.
Guelph had several more chances to score, but could not take advantage of two more power plays at the end of the period.
Saganiyav (28-21-2-1) turned it on in the second. Bode Stewart tied the game for the Spirit and then took the lead on Matias Sapovaliev’s 17th of the season.
Calem Magone and Luke McNamara added to Saginaw’s leading scoring goals in the :55 apart period to go up 4–1.
“The game got away from us after that first period goal,” Namestnikov said. “We need to get back to our game. We have to be more physical, we are not playing within the system, we are not giving it our all.
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The Storm got a comeback as Valentin Zugin recorded his 14th of the season to make it 4–2 for Saginaw. The battle for the puck was the difference according to Storm head coach Chad Wiseman.
“Give credit to Saginaw,” Wiseman said. “He played well in the second and third periods of the game. He was the first to get the puck and won several wall battles in our zone.”
Mitchell Smith collected three assists while Tristan Lennox made 21 saves in the Spirit’s win.
Patrick Lever pitched much better than his previous start on Wednesday at Sarnia, but still suffered the loss for the Storm, making 23 saves. Along with Flint, Guelph remains in sixth place in the OHL’s Western Conference. Both teams have 53 points.
The schedule isn’t easy for the Storm as they travel to Oshawa on Saturday for a game against the Generals, a team that is also battling for a playoff spot in the East. Storm then returned home on Monday for the Family Day matinee against Owen Sound Attack.
“Unfortunately, we probably need some rest,” Wiseman said. “These are the dog days of the year. We have to find a way to dig in and fight, turn around tomorrow, win and get back on track.
You can hear the game airing Saturdays on 1460 CJOY at 6:45 p.m. Larry Melott will be calling the game at 7:05 p.m.
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