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OHL Flint Firebirds

Firebirds Drop 6-2 Contest in Kitchener

October 16, 2022 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Flint Firebirds News Release


Kitchener, Ont. - The Firebirds surrendered their second game in as many days at the hands of the Rangers in Kitchener, Ont. by a final of 6-2 Sunday afternoon. Nathaniel Day made his second start in goal for the Birds and made 18 saves on 23 shots through 40 minutes. Boe Piroski made his OHL debut between the pipes for the final 20 minutes of play, making 10 saves on 11 shots-faced. Brennan Othmann (New York Rangers) and Gavin Hayes (Chicago Blackhawks) scored for Flint. For the Blueshirts, Carson Rehkopf netted his first hat trick of the season, Joseph Serpa logged his first two tallies of the campaign, and recently-acquired netminder Marco Costantini posted 39 saves en route to Kitchener's first win of the season.

The Firebirds started off without the sign of fatigue expected on day three of a three-games-in-three-days road trip. They took the early lead in shots 4-0 in just over two minutes of play, then 6-1 after five minutes and 10-1 after nine minutes. Costantini keep them off boards for more than 11 minutes before Brennan Othmann deflected one past him. Zacharie Giroux fed Dmitry Kuzmin (Winnipeg Jets) at the right point. Kuzmin walked the line and then charged on net through the left circle. He slapped a short-range shot that Othmann got a stick on for his seventh of the season at 11:46.

The Firebirds started off without the sign of fatigue expected on day three of a three-games-in-three-days road trip. They took the early lead in shots 4-0 in just over two minutes of play, then 6-1 after five minutes and 10-1 after nine minutes. Costantini keep them off the boards for more than 11 minutes before Brennan Othmann deflected one past him. Zacharie Giroux fed Dmitry Kuzmin (Winnipeg Jets) at the right point. Kuzmin walked the line and then charged on the net through the left circle. He slapped a short-range shot that Othmann got a stick on for his seventh of the season at 11:46.

Joseph Serpa made the initial pass that led to him scoring the game-tying goal three minutes later, feeding Reid Valade in stride as he entered the offensive zone up the right. Valade carried to the outer edge of the right circle before centering back to Serpa on the near side of the slot. Serpa one-timed home his first of the season at 14:59.

Then the teams traded a pair of four-on-three power-play markers in less than two minutes. First, the Rangers set up and made two good perimeter passes, starting with Hunter Brzustewicz in the left circle feeding Tomas Hamara (Ottawa Senators) centered inside the blue line. Hamara set up Carson Rehkopf for a one-timer from Day's left that struck twine mid-height, near-side for his second of the season at 16:09. Then Othmann fed Piercey when the man-advantage switched hands, and Piercey lasered the puck across the top of the crease to an open Gavin Hayes for the back-door goal at 17:52. It was Hayes' third of the campaign.

The teams were knotted at a pair after 20 minutes. The Birds outshot the Blueshirts 15-9 but were outdrawn by Kitchener 11-8 in the frame. Both teams scored one power-play goal, Flint in two chances and the Rangers with three tries.

Kitchener extended their lead with two more tallies early in the middle frame, both from familiar names. First Rehkopf stopped a Flint clearing attempt and launched a bullet on Day from the top of the left circle, beating him high glove-side at 1:32 for his second of the day. Then Brzustewicz slipped a pass to Valade in the slot, and rather than one-timing the puck on goal he one-timed a pass to Serpa high between the circles. Serpa dropped to one knee for maximum flex on his heavy one-timer that snuck in down low for his second at 8:10.

As the momentum continued to tilt in favor of the Blueshirts, Valade delivered a big hit in front of his bench. The hit resulted in a loose puck for Serpa to carry back into the offensive zone. A late feed to Mitchell Martin across the slot was redirected behind Day for Martin's first of the year at 18:39.

Neither squad could solve their opposing netminder for the balance of period two. Shots ended at 15-14, advantage Firebirds. Kitchener won four of the only five faceoffs in a period with few whistles, and no penalties were called.

Rookie netminder Boe Piroski took over goaltending duties for the final 20 minutes for the Firebirds. The lone goal was another power-play marker from Rehkopf, this time a one-timer from the right circle off a give-and-go play with Hamara. Brzustewicz Earned his third assist of the night on the tally, logged at 6:50.

The shot clock showed Flint with a 41-34 edge through 60 minutes of play, and Kitchener finished with a slight advantage in the faceoff circles by a margin of 30-28. The Birds scored once on four chances with the man advantage, while killing off three of five penalties called against them.

Next Up: The Firebirds return to Flint on Wednesday, October 19, as they host the Sarnia Sting. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. (ET) in Flint and tickets are available now from Etix HERE. Members of Dort Financial Credit Union can get up to four tickets for free to Wednesday's game.

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