SAGINAW, Mich. – On Saturday night, the Saginaw Spirit (21-15-3-0, 45 points, 4th in West Division) welcome the Kitchener Rangers (26-13-2-0, 54 points, 1st in Midwest Division) to The Dow Event Center. The puck drops at 7:05 p.m.

Prior to tonight’s contest, Saginaw played just once in the last six days as the Spirit posted a 3-1 defeat to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (36-3-2-1) on the ledger. With backup goaltender Cameron Lamour in net, the Spirit held the league-leading Greyhounds to a three-goal performance on Wednesday with two Sault Ste. Marie goals coming from freshly-acquired Taylor Raddysh. As for the Spirit, Cole Coskey logged the lone Saginaw goal by tipping a Marcus Crawford shot from the point into the Greyhounds net, marking his 19th goal of the season. Despite missing out on two points, Saginaw outshot Sault Ste. Marie 30-25 in the matchup.

As for the Rangers, Kitchener traveled to London, Ontario on Thursday for a Midwest division battle with the Knights (22-7-2-1). In the opening frame, Kitchener defenseman Logan Stanley deposited two goals in the first period, and a third Rangers goal came from Givani Smith in his Rangers debut. The Rangers added two goals in the second and third period respectively as goalie Mario Culina coasted to his second win of the 2017-18 regular season. Stanley earned first star honors in the contest with left wing Adam Mascherin (G, A) earning the game’s third star.

Before Thursday’s victory, Kitchener dropped its last two games, each by a sizable margin as the Rangers lost 7-0 to the Owen Sound Attack and 6-2 to the Mississauga Steelheads. The Spirit, on the other hand, boasts a 4-2 record over the past six games, which included a four-game winning streak.

Tonight marks the second game between the Spirit and Rangers during the 2017-18 regular season with the last contest resulting in a 3-2 Kitchener loss at The Dow Event Center on October 14th. With another home contest on the docket tonight, the Spirit have battled to a 3-6-1-0 record in the last 10 games when facing the Rangers in Saginaw.

With a need for healthy defenseman, the Spirit added Detroit Red Wings prospect Reilly Webb at the OHL trade deadline from the Hamilton Bulldogs. The Spirit also signed blue liner Mason Millman to a Standard Player Agreement. The pair of rearguards will make their Dow Event Center debut with the Spirit tonight.

The Rangers feature one 50-point scorer in Mascherin, who ranked sixth overall in points with 54 (29 G, 25A). For the Spirit, Crawford slides in as the league’s sixth-highest scoring defenseman with 38 points (11G, 27A) on the year.

Three top Detroit Red Wings prospects will be in the lineup on Saturday night, with Givani Smith (2nd round, 2016) skating for the Rangers and Reilly Webb (6th round, 2017) and Brady Gilmour (7th round, 2017) competing for the Spirit. This will be the most Red Wings prospects on the Dow Event Center ice since November 30th, 2017 when three Wings prospects skated in the Hamilton Bulldogs (Kaden Fulcher & Reilly Webb) vs. Saginaw Spirit (Brady Gilmour) game.

Season Tickets for the 2017-18 season are on sale NOW! Reserve your seat at The Dow Event Center by calling (989) 497-7747 or visit www.saginawspirit.com for more information. YOUR Region. YOUR team. YOU’RE invited.

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