Flint, Mich. – The Flint Firebirds scored twice with the man-advantage Saturday evening, once while shorthanded, and three times at even strength to earn the victory over the visiting Kitchener Rangers. With the win, Flint gains a position to sixth in the Western Conference standings. Amadeus Lombardi extended the OHL’s longest active points streak to 12 games with another two-point game (1 G, 1 A). Gavin Hayes tacked on to his points streak as well, chipping in three helpers on the night. Nathan Day backstopped the Birds, making 30 saves on 31 shots for his tenth win of the campaign. The Rangers went with Marcus Vandenberg between the pipes, and he made 35 games in the effort.
Penalties piled up early in the game, starting with 4-on-4 play just over a minute in. Then Kitchener was called for an additional minor and the Firebirds made them pay. Amadeus Lombardi carried across the blue line and initiated a quick give-and-go with a pass to Tristan Bertucci centered between the points. Bertucci returned the feed to the right faceoff dot, where Lombardi was wound back and ready. The ensuing one-timer lit the lamp for his 35th of the season at 2:30, with assists going to Bertucci and Gavin Hayes.
It appeared that the Rangers tied the game in the seventh minute, but after review, the play was determined to be offsides.
The Birds scored another on the power play to take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission. Riley Piercey had the puck on his stick to the left of Vandenberg. He attempted to pass across the goal crease to a teammate on the far side, but instead, the puck hit the goaltender’s equipment and wound up bouncing up and over his right pad for Piercey’s 19th of the year. Bertucci and Hayes assisted on the marker, recorded at 16:34.
Flint outshot the visiting Rangers 19-13 through the first 20 minutes and outdrew them 13-6. The Firebirds scored on two of their three power-play opportunities while leaving Kitchener’s power-play untested.
Flint would strike again early in the middle frame to extend the lead to three. Defender Dmitry Kuzmin settled a pass on a 3-on-2 rush and snapped a quick shot past a diving defender in the right circle. The puck went just inside the far post and under the blocker for his 12th of the campaign at 1:22, assisted by Coulson Pitre and Simon Slavicek.
The Firebirds’ offensive attack continued late in the second. First, Nolan Dann made a nifty pass through traffic from the left circle to set up goal number four. His pass found Zacharie Giroux all alone on the far side of the slot facing a practically empty net, as he simply slid the puck forward to score his 17th of the season at 14:45. Dann combined with Kuzmin for the assists.
The Birds scored a shorthanded tally with just under two minutes to play when Hayes made a bank pass off the boards in the neutral zone and Artem Guryev was off to the races from the left point in. He used the forehand-to-backhand deke as he went across the low slot before lifting the puck over Vandenberg’s outstretched left pad for his fourth of the year, logged at 18:08.
In the waning seconds of the middle frame, Lombardi escaped a battle along the left-wing half boards and slap-passed the puck to the crease. Coulson Pitre had his stick on the ice and deflected the pass up high over Vandenberg’s glove for his 21st goal of the year at 19:35. Riley Piercey was credited with the second assist.
Once again the Firebirds held the edge in shots, this time by a margin of 15-8. Faceoffs were nearly equal with Kitchener winning 14 of 27 draws. Flint went scoreless on one power-play chance while killing off all three shorthanded scenarios.
Kitchener would net the early goal of the third period on their first power play of the frame. The first pass came from the top of the left circle to Filip Mesar at the left of the goal crease. Mesar opted to send the puck through the traffic jam in the slot to Francesco Pinelli at the top of the right circle. Pinelli fired a quick shot back through the screen and into the top corner on the blocker side for his 33rd of the season at 1:11.
After 60 minutes of play, the Firebirds outshot the Rangers 41-31 and outdrew them 34-28. Flint held Kitchener to just one power-play goal on six chances while scoring twice in four opportunities with the man advantage.
Up Next: The Firebirds will travel to Sarnia for an annual School Day Game on Monday afternoon after 2:05 p.m. (ET). The team returns to home ice on Saturday when the Batallion invade the Dort on 80’s Night. Puck drop for the totally rad matchup with North Bay is set for 7:00 p.m. (ET) at the Dort Financial Center, and tickets are available now from ETIX HERE.
Photography: Todd Boone / Flint Firebirds
Story: Brandon Mills / flintfirebirds.com
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