OHL Flint Firebirds

Birds Seek Third-Straight Win Saturday Night on Home Ice

November 18, 2023 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Flint Firebirds News Release


FLINT, Mich. - The Firebirds return home on Saturday hot off a 7-4 Friday night triumph over the Western Conference's third-ranked London Knights. Now the Birds look to defend the Dort from the visiting Attack who blanked the Sarnia Sting, 4-0, at Progressive Auto Sales Arena on Friday. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Dort Financial Center.

FRIDAY KNIGHT HIGHLIGHTS: The Knights scored three times in the third period to turn up the heat last night, but the Birds skated away with a big win over London in front of more than 9,000 fans at the Budweiser Gardens. Coulson Pitre recorder a natural hat trick, the first hat trick of his OHL career, and 12 different Firebirds logged points in front of a steadfast Nathan Day. The power play went 3-for-5 against the OHL's fifth-best penalty-kill unit and the Birds held the sixth-ranked power play scoreless in three opportunities in a bright spot for special teams. With the win, Flint has now picked up points in eight of their last ten games.

SERIES HISTORY: The Firebirds won two of four meetings with Owen Sound a season ago, with half of the battles ending with just a one-goal differential. Their all-time record in the series stands at 10-19-0-0 overall and 5-9-0-0 on home ice. So far this year the Firebirds have gone 3-3-0-1 when facing opponents from the Midwest Division, but all seven points have been earned on the road so far.

SCOUTING THE ATTACK: (9-9-2-0, 4th Midwest Division) -

Overagers Deni Goure and Sam Sedley pace the Bears and are tied for seventh in the league with 27 points each after 20 games. Goure leads in goals with 12 and rearguard Sedley tops the club with 24 helpers, which are second-most in the OHL. Montreal Canadians prospect Cedrick Guindon has 20 points from nine tallies and 11 assists to rank third.

Backstopping the Attack this season are veteran netminder Corbin Votary and rookie Carter George. George has carried the majority of the workload so far, earning six victories across 16 appearances including two shutouts. His GAA stands at 2.93 and his SV% is .905. Votary has three wins in eight appearances with a 4.35 GAA and a .869 SV%.

On power play this season the Attack have converted at the league's second-best clip of 29.0%. Their 81.5% rate of success when shorthanded is good for seventh.

SCOUTING THE FIREBIRDS: (9-8-1-1, 3rd West Division) -

Toronto Maple Leafs prospect and overager Braeden Kressler remains atop the leaderboard for Flint. He's scored ten times and assisted on 13 goals for 23 points in 16 games. Zacharie Giroux sits second with 21 points (8 G, 13 A) through 19 games played. Gavin Hayes, a Chicago Blackhawks prospect, is third with 20 points (12 G, 8 A) in 17 contests.

Between the pipes, Edmonton Oilers prospect Day has seven wins through 16 appearances. His goals-against average (GAA) continues to improve and is now 4.01 while his save percentage (SV%) sits at .866. Rookie Jacob Brown has two wins in five appearances and his GAA sits at 4.37 with an .852 SV%.

The Birds improved to 17th with the man advantage after converting three of five chances last night. They're now clicking at a 13.8% rate. The penalty kill went 3-for-3 and cracked the league's top ten at 80.6%.

PROMOTIONS: Saturday's contest is themed '90's Night.' The team's goal song will be 1993's smash hit "Whoomp! (There It Is)," and plenty of throwbacks to a few decades ago. Media Reload will provide retro gaming consoles for fans to play around the concourse. There's still plenty of time to frost your tips and purchase tickets online from ETIX HERE.

BROADCAST COVERAGE: This evening's game against the Owen Sound Attack can be heard live on the radio throughout Flint & Mid Michigan on US 103.1 FM, online at www.us103.com, or by downloading the US 103 app. Brian Gardner will call the play-by-play action on the Firebirds Hockey Network starting with the pre-game show at 6:45 p.m.

All of the Flint Firebirds home and away games throughout the 2023-24 season can be watched anywhere in the world online at https://watch.chl.ca/ohl.

COMING UP: Flint has a quick turnaround with a 2:05 p.m. matinee in Sarnia to complete the three-game weekend. The next home game is Wednesday versus in-state rival Saginaw. Wednesday's tilt is also Game 4 of the eight-game I-75 Divide Series, where the Spirit hold a two-games-to-one advantage. It'll also be Coats for Kids Night, sponsored by ABC12. Fans can receive a FREE ticket to the game with the donation of any new/unused coat to benefit the Salvation Army.

Check out the Flint Firebirds Statistics



Ontario Hockey League Stories from November 18, 2023


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