Stephen Dhillon made 43 saves, including a season high 23 in the first, in an IceDogs 4-1 win over visiting Saginaw Thursday night. Kirill Maksimov scored a pair and added an assist against his former team, while Liam Ham, Ben Jones and Sam Miletic all had multi-point games.
After the IceDogs killed off a pair of early penalties, the power-play went to work. Miletic walked in from the left point and went short side for his 30th to give the home side the lead at 16:19, with Ham and Maksimov getting the assists.
Maksimov's first of two came on a great feed from Johnny Corneil from the high slot. The captain set up his linemate's 29th with the Ben Jones picking up a point as well. Saginaw's only goal came on a deflected puck to a wide open Spirit forward. Through 40 minutes, the Spirit held a 33-25 shots advantage.
A one goal lead became a two goal bulge at 9:50 of the third when Maksimov buried his 30th on a scramble, just after the Spirit had killed off a penalty. Ham and Miletic chipped in with helpers, while Ben Jones hit the empty net with 2:25 to go to secure the victory. The IceDogs fired a game high 15 shots in the final period, with Saginaw replying with 11 the way of Dhillon, the game's first star.
With the win, the IceDogs leap frog North Bay for fourth in the Central, still holding one game in hand.
610 CKTB 3 Stars of the Game...
1-Stephen Dhillon
2-Kirill Maksimov
3-Sam Miletic
A pair of back to back Central Division will close out the weekend with a Friday night game in Mississauga.610 CKTB will get you set for the 'Dogs and the Fish with the pre-game at 6:30.