Flint, Mich. – After dropping the first two games of the First Round best-of-seven series on the road last week, the Firebirds returned home Monday looking to post their first victory of the playoffs. They did just that, with Nolan Dann netting the game-winner in extra time. Rookie goaltender Nathan Day got his third-consecutive start between the pipes for the Firebirds, making 33 saves on 37 shots. Overage netminder Tristan Lennox also made his third-consecutive start for the Spirit, posting 38 saves in the effort.
The Spirit controlled the opening ten minutes, outshooting the Firebirds 6-0 halfway into the first period and holding the majority of the time of possession. Nathan Day stood tall though, keeping everything in front of him. The game remained a scoreless tie through 15 minutes of play until Coulson Pitre made a slap-pass to Zacharie Giroux alone in the slot. Giroux settled the pass, faked a shot to get Lennox to dive, then lifted it over the netminder’s left pad for his first of the playoffs at 15:07.
Saginaw tied the game at 17:43 on a wrist shot through traffic from the high slot by Zayne Parekh. With several skaters between the shot and Day, the puck made its way just inside the left post low to the ice. Dean Loukus and Michael Misa assisted Parekh’s third of the postseason.
Through 20 minutes of play, the game was tied at one, despite the Spirit outshooting the Birds 13-7. Flint outdrew the visitors 14-7. Saginaw went 0-for-2 with the man advantage while the Firebirds were scoreless on one power play chance.
The Spirit earned their first lead of the night at 10:44 of the second period. Joey Willis shot from the high slot and Day made the save. The rebound came to rest to his right in the blue paint and rookie Michael Misa was in position to tap it in for his second of the postseason. Saginaw native Mitchell Smith had the second assist.
With less than two minutes to play in period two and Flint on a fresh power play, Ethan Hay won an offensive-zone draw back to Tristan Bertucci at the left point. The sophomore defender sniped a wrist shot high glove-side that found twine for his first playoff goal at 18:11, knotting the contest at two.
Flint had the upper hand in shots in the middle frame 14-11 and faceoffs 21-6. The Firebirds scored their first power-play tally of the series, finishing the period 1-for-3. The Spirit were scoreless on two tries with man-advantage.
The Birds reclaimed the lead in the third after winning a puck battle along the endboards behind Lennox. With four players tied up in a scrum behind the net, Ethan Hay finally knocked the puck loose to linemate Coulson Pitre. As he was falling to the ice from contact, Pitre managed to send the puck to defenseman Marko Stojkov centered high above the circles. Stojkov wound and fired through traffic, lighting the lamp for his first goal of the playoffs at 8:09.
Then with north of five minutes remaining in regulation, Dmitry Kuzmin fed Amadeus Lombardi between the circles in the defensive zone and the Detroit Red Wings’ prospect skated coast-to-coast. Once in the offensive zone, he used a burst of speed to get around the lone defender in the right circle and carried in on Lennox. From just atop the goal crease he roofed the puck over the goalie’s right shoulder for his first of the postseason at 14:52.
Saginaw answered quickly, cutting the deficit to a single marker once again at 15:41. Mitchell Smith queued up a slapper from the left point and sent a heavy shot into traffic. Matyas Sapovaliv was able to deflect the shot past Day for his fourth playoff goal, assisted by Smith and Parekh.
With nearly three-and-a-half minutes remaining in the third period, the Spirit called a timeout and Lennox remained on the bench for the extra attacker. They kept control of the puck in Flint’s zone, using perimeter passes and sending several shots on Day. With the clock showing less than 60 seconds to go, Misa took a wide-angle shot from the bottom of the right circle. The puck deflected off a defender’s equipment and came to rest between Day’s left pad and the near post. Sapovaliv poked it across the goal line for his second of the night at 19:02.
Lennox returned to his crease and time expired with the score even at four. Third-period shots were 12 for Saginaw and ten for the Firebirds. Once again Flint controlled the faceoff dots by a margin of 19-11. Both teams came up empty on one power-play opportunity in the third.
Overtime was plenty of intense back-and-forth action with the crowd holding their breath at times and shouting encouragement at other times. That was until Flint’s second power-play chance of the extra frame. Set up in the zone with the man-advantage, Dmitry Kuzmin slapped a shot from the right point. Lennox made the save, but the rebound slipped into the slot. Ethan Hay and Nolan Dann were both on the doorstep, and Hay managed to slide it free of Lennox’s reach for Dann to knock home the overtime game-winner at 12:41.
Final shots ended at 43-37, advantage Flint. Faceoffs ended 61-28 in the Birds’ favor as well. In total, the Spirit were held scoreless on six power plays. The Firebirds converted on two of eight power-play chances and finished 1-for-2 in the overtime period.
Next Up: Game 4 of the opening round will be played at the Dort Financial Center on Wednesday. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. (ET) and tickets are ON SALE NOW at ETIX.COM.
Story: Brandon Mills / flintfirebirds.com
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