Saginaw remains in first place in OHL West

The Saginaw Spirit won both games over the weekend to maintain their grip on first place in the OHL's West Division.

Saturday night, in a 6-2 win in Saginaw over Mississauga, six different Spirit players - Jesse Gimblett, Patrick Asselin, Zack Torquato, captain Patrick McNeill, Tim Priamo (pictured), with his first OHL goal, and Ryan McDonough - scored and goalie Ryan Daniels stopped 36 Mississauga shots to earn the victory.

"These are a big two points," Priamo said. "We were able to contain them after we started scoring."

Oskar Osala and Jordan Owens scored for the IceDogs and Michael Ouzas and Aaron Barton combined for 12 saves. Barton played the final 20 minutes for Mississauga.

Sunday afternoon at home, Saginaw put up a 7-4 win over the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds as Joe McCann and Garrett Sinfield each posted three-point games with a goal and two assists each.

"The Soo worked very hard tonight and had some good individual performances," said Spirit coach-GM Bob Mancini. "But we were able to out play them as a team. We had one or two great performances out there, but every single player was good. The guys are beginning to settle into important roles and on any given night, one can contribute to victory."

Jack Combs scored twice and Michal Birner, Tom Pyatt and McNeill added solos. Francois Thuot finished with 36 saves for the Spirit.

Saginaw's record is 17-9-0-0, with 34 points, good for first place, two points ahead of the Plymouth Whalers.

The Spirit return to the ice Wednesday in Sault Ste. Marie to face the Greyhounds before heading to London to play the Knights on Friday.