Kitchener, Ont. – The Firebirds showed no sign of slowing down Friday night, now having won seven of their last eight games and pulling within a single point of first place in the Western Conference standings. Seven different Firebirds recorded points in the contest, led by Dmitry Kuzmin (Winnipeg Jets) with his first two-goal game in the OHL, and Amadeus Lombardi with two assists. Zacharie Giroux, Tag Bertuzzi, and Samuel Assinewai each lit the lamp for the Birds, as well. The story for Flint was in the goaltending category. Luke Cavallin made 30 saves on 32 shots, several of them worthy of the highlight-reel. For Kitchener, Marcus Vandenberg made 34 saves on 38 shots in his first OHL start, Jacob LeBlanc netted his second goal of the season, and Joseph Serpa led the Rangers with a goal and an assist.
The first period was a tale of two tempos, as Flint liked to slow things down and pass around the perimeter to create opportunities. Kitchener was speedy on the breakout and forced a trio of two-on-ones that resulted in quality shots on net. The veteran goaltender Cavallin was up to the challenge, displaying acrobatics on a few occasions. Across the ice, the 17-year-old rookie netminder Marcus Vandenberg faced a flurry of shots from the patient Firebirds but looked comfortable turning all but one aside, which came off a Flint power play.
Brennan Othmann made the cross-ice feed to Sahil Panwar to set up the game’s first goal. Panwar one-timed it from the left circle, and Vandenberg made the stop. The rebound fell to the blue ice and it became a brief free-for-all. Zacharie Giroux claimed it first and sent it under the left pad for his 11th of the season at 16:19.
Shots after one were 16-9 to the Birds’ advantage. Faceoffs favored Flint 14-6. On special teams, the Firebirds scored once on two power-play chances and held Kitchener scoreless on their loan opportunity.
The Rangers controlled the tempo for the first half of the middle frame. The outshot Flint 8-1 after ten minutes of play. Cavallin stood tall, preserving the lead. Tag Bertuzzi scored his tenth of the season on an all-out breakaway from the blue line in. He gathered a loose puck in the neutral zone and entered the zone a stride ahead of two Kitchener defenders. He faked five-hole before lifting a wrister high to the blocker-side at 13:25.
With under two minutes to play in the middle stanza, Mitchell Martin won an offensive zone draw back to Joseph Serpa on the right-wing boards. Serpa fed Jacob LeBlanc as the first-year blue-liner walked the line toward center ice. LeBlanc unleashed a howitzer that struck twine for his second OHL goal at 18:32.
Flint led 2-1 after 40 minutes of play. Kitchener outshot Flint 14-9 but trailed in faceoffs 16-10 in the second period. The Rangers went 0-for-1 on the power play.
The teams combined for four goals in the final frame. First, Amadeus Lombardi fed Dmitry Kuzmin from the right-wing wall, and the defenseman sent a heavy shot on the rookie goaltender. Vandenberg made the save, but Kuzmin chased his own rebound and lifted it blocker-side for his third of the season at 3:34.
Ethan Keppen (Vancouver Canucks) intercepted a pass in the neutral zone and was off the races up the right side of the ice. He crossed the blue line and fed Amadeus Lombardi up the center. Lombardi fed Samuel Assinewai on the left side of the slot, and the rookie buried it for his fifth of the campaign at 10:31.
Kitchener cut the deficit to a pair with 2:03 remaining in regulation. Cavallin was behind his goal with the puck on his stick. He attempted a bank-pass off the end boards to his defender in the corner, but an irregular bounce off the boards put the puck in play for Joseph Serpa. The veteran centerman faked a wraparound and held patiently until he found the five-hole for goal number six this season.
Reid Valade was interfered with on a breakaway just inside the final minute of play, and a penalty shot was awarded at the 19:02 mark. He skated from left to right on Cavallin, but Flint’s netminder was high above his crease to challenge. The shot went high to the blocker-side, and Cavallin waffle-boarded it aside to preserve the lead.
Kitchener pulled Vandenberg after the penalty shot, and Kuzmin potted the final goal of the game on the empty net with 42 seconds remaining to seal the victory. Zack Terry and Riley Piercey assisted on Kuzmin’s second marker of the night.
Flint outshot Kitchener 39-32, and outdrew them 40-25. The Birds finished 1-for-3 with the man-advantage and killed off all three penalties taken.
Next Up: The Firebirds will play host to the Kitchener Rangers at the Dort Financial Center in Flint Wednesday evening. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. (ET). Tickets are on sale NOW here: ETIX.
Story: Brandon Mills / flintfirebirds.com
Photography: Todd Boone / Flint Firebirds
You must be logged in to post a comment.