Photo by: Charlie Martin
The Niagara Icedogs faced off against the Saginaw Spirit at home for an OHL regular season game on the night of Nov. 17. The Meridian Centre, where the game was played, was filled with hundreds of IceDogs supporters who came out to support their home team.
Bones, the official mascot for the IceDogs, got great energy out of the home crowd shortly before the game started.
The game started with great energy from both teams right from the first faceoff with all bench players standing up and making some noise in full support of their teammates. The IceDogs played great offensively early in the first period. They had a couple of shots on goal in the first few minutes while the Spirit struggled to get the puck on their shooting half.
Shortly after a motivating “go Dogs go” chant from the crowd, right-wing Anthony Agostinelli(#3) scored the first goal of the game just over eight minutes into the game, rewarding the home crowd for their supportive energy. The Spirit fought back hard later into the period, they took on the offensive and kept the puck into their shooting half.
The momentum of the fist period carried into the second, both teams’ bench players stood up and made some noise to support their players on the ice at the start. However, it quickly turned into a one sided affair. Theo Hill(#13), a centre for the Spirit, secured a quick, unforeseen goal for his team 2:15 minutes into the period. Just 35 seconds later, Spirit defenseman Zayne Parekh(#19) scored another goal for Saginaw.
The home crowd’s energy was depleted, but the IceDogs never gave up. With 1:26 minutes left in the second period, IceDogs centre Declan Waddick(#24) scored the IceDogs a point, tying the game 2-2 and revitalizing the home crowd.
The fans were pumped for the third period of the game with scattered chants across the arena. Both teams battled it out early in the period. However, 6:90 minutes into the period, Spirit left wing Sebastian Gervais(#15) secured the game winning goal and gave the Spirit a 3-2 point win over the IceDogs.
The Spirit played hard to end the game. The visiting team’s players were chasing every loose puck, seemingly doing everything they could to fully secure their win. At one point in the middle of the third period, three Spirit players were in the penalty box, and the IceDogs still couldn’t score, even with the huge advantage. This resulted in some booing from the home crowd, clearly disappointed with their team’s performance.
The three stars of the game included the IceDogs’ Agostinelli at third, the Spirit’s Tristan Lennox(#30) at second and the Spirit’s Gervais at first.
The IceDogs play their next home game at the Meridian Centre on Fri. Nov, 25.
Stats of the game can be found here.