Birds Best 67's in a Shootout, 4-3
Published on February 28, 2026 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Flint Firebirds News Release
Flint Firebirds on game night
(Flint Firebirds)
FLINT- A wild shootout battle took place at the Dort Financial Center on Saturday night between the Ottawa 67's and the Flint Firebirds. Chris Thibodeau netted the game winner as Flint took the game by a score of 4-3.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Firebirds led, 1-0 early in the third period when the 67's got on the board thanks to Ondrej Ruml. He found himself loose in the slot and a smooth wrist shot hit the back of the net knotting the game at one. Ottawa then struck again while on the power play less than two minutes later. Ruml flipped a pass over to Nic Whitehead who fired a laser into the net which gave the 67's their first lead of the game.
Flint would not stay down for long though and evened the score off an offensive zone faceoff win. Urban Podrekar sent a one-time chance to Nathan Aspinall on the right wing and he slammed the puck home tying the game 2-2.
One minute later, Chris Thibodeau waited patiently behind the net of the 67's, flung a pass up to Podrekar who sniped a shot short side to give the Firebirds a 3-2 lead. But Ottawa responded to tie it again when David Bedkowski corralled the puck near the blue line, and threw a shot into traffic that Vaccari never saw until it was in the net.
Overtime was not enough for these two teams to decide a winner as the game entered a shootout. Aspinall scored first followed up by Spencer Bowes for Ottawa. Thibodeau would net the game winner on a beautiful backhand-forehand move before putting the puck in the net, to secure the extra point for the Firebirds.
Flint's first goal was scored by Brady Smith late in the first period. The Firebirds improved to 39-14-4-2 with the shootout win while Ottawa dropped to 40-14-1-3.
POSTGAME NOTES: Nathan Aspinall and Urban Podrekar charted two points.... Brady Smith scored his eighth goal of the year... Kevin He and Luka Graziano added an assist each.... Chris Thibodeau had an assist and the game winning shootout goal.
Images from this story
 Flint Firebirds on game night |
Ontario Hockey League Stories from February 28, 2026
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- Birds Best 67's in a Shootout, 4-3 - Flint Firebirds
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