Sarnia, Ont. – The Firebirds won a high-scoring affair in Sarnia Friday, propelled by Amadeus Lombardi’s first three-goal night en route to ‘First Star’ accolades. Gavin Hayes (Chicago Blackhawks) and Artem Guryev (San Jose Sharks) finished the game with one goal and one assist each, and Riley Piercey had a pair of helpers. Hayes was named ‘Third Star.’ Between the pipes, Will Cranley (St. Louis Blues) stopped 28 of 33 shots for his 11th victory of the season. Across the ice, Nicholas Surzycia posted a 20-save contest in a very close back-and-forth game.
Despite being outshot 10-5 in the opening 20 minutes of play, the Firebirds escaped with a 2-1 advantage on the scoreboard. Sarnia lit the lamp first when Sandis Vilmanis (Florida Panthers) found Easton Wainwright in the left circle for a far-side wrister that found twine at 4:13. Wainwright’s fourth of the season was assisted by Vilmanis and Zach Filak.
Less than two minutes later, Amadeus Lombardi stole the puck off a defender’s stick and carried it between the circles. He slipped a low shot to the blocker side that lit the lamp for his 15th at 6:02, unassisted.
Finally, Riley Piercey and Gavin Hayes emerged on a 2-on-0 break. They managed three quick passes before Hayes redirected the late pass from Piercey behind Surzycia for his 15th of the year at 16:41.
In addition to generating the most shots, the Sting also outdrew the Firebirds 10-6. Neither team took a penalty in the frame, leaving special teams out of the equation.
Artem Guryev (San Jose Sharks) potted his second of the campaign at 4:07 after a rebound was sent out to him atop the right-wing circle. While the netminder was recovering from the initial save, Guryev’s shot sailed high to the blocker side, unassisted.
Then, the Sting scored two quick goals 64 seconds apart to knot the contest at 3-3. Nolan Burke (Nashville Predators) scored his 16th goal on his 20th Birthday at 8:40. Ty Voit (Toronto Maple Leafs) and Nolan Dillingham combined for the assists. Then, Vilmanis received a pass between the circles and had time to use his skate to get the puck on the blade of his stick before roofing it up and over Cranley’s left shoulder for his 16th tally at 9:44. Wainwright was credited with the lone helper.
From there, the Firebirds scored back-to-back goals to post a 5-3 lead before the second intermission. From deep in the right corner, Piercey fed Coulson Pitre in the right circle. Pitre quickly slid the puck across the slot to Lombardi below the left circle for a quick one-timer and his second of the night at 10:46. Finally, Zacharie Giroux gained the zone and passed to Braeden Kressler (Toronto Maple Leafs) at the left point. As Giroux crashed the net, Kressler made a D-to-D pass to Simon Slavicek on the right side. Slavicek completed the tic-tac-goal with a speedy return feed to Giroux on the back-door play. Giroux’s ninth of the season at 18:28 gave the Birds a two-goal edge.
Second-period shots favored Flint 10-8, and faceoffs ended at nine for the Sting and five for the Firebirds. Sarnia finished 0-for-1 with the man advantage and held Flint scoreless on two chances.
The Bees once again pulled within a single-goal deficit at 7:18 of the third. Burke initiated the tic-tac-goal with a pass to Marko Sikic on his right. Sikic one-timed the pass back to Vilmanis on the left for the short-range redirection for his 11th of the season.
Lombardi completed his hat trick on the power play at 9:35. He picked up the puck at the right-wing half boards and sped around the lone defender before waiting and shooting far-side for goal number 17 for the season, with assists from Hayes and Guryev.
The final marker of the tilt came off the stick of Porter Martone at 11:53. Alexis Daviault carried through the left-wing circle and then fed the trailer Martone high between the circles. He snapped a high shot into traffic that snuck past Cranley for his third of the season at even strength. The Sting would pull their goaltender in the final minute and use their timeout, but Cranley came up big and preserved the victory.
Final shots ended at 33-26 with the Sting on top. Sarnia also won more faceoffs by a 28-22 margin. Both teams netted one power-play goal, with the Firebirds getting three chances and Sarnia earning two.
Next Up: Flint returns home to host Sarnia tomorrow. Saturday’s home game versus the Sting is a Toy Drive benefitting the Old Newsboys of Flint, sponsored by Dort Financial Credit Union. Fans can bring a new toy (minimum $10 value) to the game and receive a FREE ticket. The Firebirds will also be wearing specialty-themed Christmas jerseys, which will be auctioned off immediately following the conclusion of the game. Tickets for next Saturday’s contest are available from ETIX HERE.
Photography: Riley Fox / Flint Firebirds
Story: Brandon Mills / flintfirebirds.com
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