Flint, Mich. – The Firebirds rallied from behind to lead after one, but the wild, penalty-filled game ended in a 6-5 victory for the visiting Windsor Spitfires. Gavin Hayes (Chicago Blackhawks) scored twice and assisted once, while defenseman Dmitry Kuzmin (Winnipeg Jets) chipped in three assists to top the stats for the Birds. Amadeus Lombardi (Detroit Red Wings) had two points off one tally and a helper, and Captain Brennan Othmann (New York Rangers) assisted twice. Will Cranley (St. Louis Blues) got the starting nod in goal and posted 15 saves before swapping spots with Nathan Day. Day played the final 35 and a half minutes of the night, stopping 11 of 12 shots faced. Mathias Onuska got the start in goal for the Spits, making 32 saves on 37 shots for his fourth win of the campaign.
The Spitfires got off to a hot start, getting one past Cranley just 37 seconds into the opening frame. Oliver Peer dumped the puck into the right corner from outside the zone and won the race to reclaim it. He slid a backhand pass across the slot just beyond Cranley’s reach to Colton Smith, whose one-timer just inside the left post lit the lamp for his third of the season. Peer and Anthony Cristoforo were credited with the assists.
A minute and a half later, Dmitry Kuzmin (Winnipeg Jets) unleashed a heavy slapper from the left point that hit a body in front. The rebound laid in the slot for Gavin Hayes (Chicago Blackhawks) to one-time glove side for his fourth of the campaign, logged at 2:15 and assisted by both Kuzmin and Amadeus Lombardi (Detroit Red Wings).
Flint would claim their first lead of the night two minutes later when a Windsor clearing attempt from deep in their own end was intercepted by Riley Piercey inside the offensive blue line. He fed Zacharie Giroux at the left circle, and the ensuing saucer pass hit Ethan Hay on the stick behind Onuska for a quick one-timer behind the goalie. The goal was Hay’s fourth of the campaign, netted at 4:23.
Flint extended the lead to a pair Lombardi carried the puck and two defenders from the right corner behind Onuska, wrapping the puck between the left pad and the post for his fifth of the season at 8:16, assisted by Bradshaw and Kuzmin.
From there, the Spits would deposit three unanswered to escape the first period with the lead. First, a turnover in Flint’s defensive zone led to a shorthanded breakaway for Peer. His forehand-to-backhand deke in the slot was enough to lift a backhander under the crossbar for goal number four, unassisted at 12:39.
Then, Alex Christopoulos sniped the top glove-side corner from the center of the right circle while on a five-minute power play at 14:55. Matthew Maggio (New York Islanders) and Ryan Abraham assisted on the tally. Still on the same power play, Cristoforo slap-passed to the left of the slot for Liam Greentree, who redirected the puck up high behind Cranley. It was his first of the year, recorded at 17:55 and assisted by Cristoforo and Ethan Miedema.
Despite being outshot 18-8 in the opening 20 minutes of play, the Birds only trailed by one. Flint outdrew the Spitfires 16-10, went 0-for-2 on the power play, and killed three of five penalties successfully.
At the 3:20 mark of period two, the Spits struck paydirt once more at even strength. Thomas Johnston carried across the blue on a two-on-one breakaway up the left side, and rifled a cross-ice pass to Maggio streaking up the right side. Maggio converged on goal and wristed one past Cranley from the right side of the slot for his fifth of the season. Nathan Day relieved Cranley following the marker.
The Birds put on a passing clinic on a power play a few minutes later. They generated several shots, but the defenders and Onuska kept them out of the net. The ice quickly tilted for the Spits, as they captured a deflected pass and turned it into a breakaway on Day. Flint’s netminder made the save, resulting in a three-on-one rush up-ice and the puck on the stick of Lombardi. He crossed the blue line, passed to Othmann on the left, and the Captain made a cross-ice connection with Hayes. The result was Hayes’ second of the night to pull the Firebirds within one at 7:28.
The teams swapped a pair of 5-on-3 power plays, which resulted in solid defense and goaltending on the both ends of the ice. The score remained 5-4 until a late even-strength tally put the Firebirds down by two. Ryan Abraham passed from low in the right circle to Christopoulos behind Day for a simple redirection goal. His second goal of the night was assisted by Abraham and Smith, scored with only 18.7 seconds showing on the scoreboard.
Second-period shots ended at 14-7 to Flint’s advantage. They also outdrew the Spits 15-4. With the man advantage, Windsor went 0-for-2 and the Firebirds finished 0-for-3 in period two.
Braeden Kressler (Toronto Maple Leafs) closed the gap to a single goal 3:50 into the third period. Hayes fed Kuzmin in the neutral zone to spring him loose with Kressler on a two-on-one. Kuzmin held deep into the left circle before passing around the lone rearguard. Kressler quickly caught and snapped a low shot blocker-side for his second goal in as many nights.
Windsor was awarded back-to-back 5-on-3 power-play chances, but the Firebirds showed no hesitation in throwing bodies in front of shots to hold the Spitfires’ special teams at bay.
With a 5-on-4 opportunity called in the 16th minute, Bench Boss Ted Dent used his lone timeout and gathered the troops at the bench. The one-man edge turned into a brief two-man advantage with 3:08 on the game clock when a Spitfires’ D-man cleared the puck over the boards for a delay of game minor. Flint maintained the zone with perimeter passing, but a strong penalty kill and some acrobatic goaltending kept them out of the final through the final minutes.
Flint ended the night outshooting the Spits 37-32 and dominated the face-off circle 44-17 as well. Windsor finished 2-for-10 with the man-advantage and the Birds went 1-for-8.
Next Up: The Firebirds face in-state rival Saginaw for the first time this season renewing the I-75 Divide Cup (sponsored by Coors Light) on the road Wednesday night. They’ll return home next Saturday to host the Oshawa Generals at 7:00 p.m. (ET). Tickets for next Saturday’s home game are available now from Etix HERE.
Photography: Todd Boone / Flint Firebirds
Story: Brandon Mills / flintfirebirds.com
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