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OHL Flint Firebirds

Firebirds Drop Close Decision to Saginaw on Third-Annual Tropics Night

February 17, 2018 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Flint Firebirds News Release


Flint, Mich. - The Firebirds scored two third period goals to tie the contest at three in the final frame but Saginaw pushed through to earn a 5-3 victory over Flint in front of a near capacity crowd of more than 4,000 fans at the Dort Federal Event Center on the third-annual "Tropics Night" Saturday. The game was the eighth and final of the season between Flint and Saginaw, as part of the I-75 Divide Cup, presented by Coors Light.

Rookie netminder Luke Cavallin made 31 saves on 34 shots faced. C.J. Clarke extended his goal-scoring streak to five consecutive games and Riley McCourt extended his point-streak to four games with two assists in the contest.

The game didn't start the way the home team hoped it would, with the visiting Spirit finding twine on the first shot of the game. At the 28-second mark of the first period, Saginaw's high-powered top line took advantage of a broken play in the Spirit zone, resulting in a three-on-one the other way. Rookie Blade Jenkins netted his 17th of the season from the bottom of the left wing circle, assisted by DJ Busdeker and Damien Giroux.

Flint put on a strong offensive effort for the remainder of the opening frame, but were unable to solve netminder Evan Cormier (New Jersey Devils). Shots on goal favored the Firebirds 12 - 9 after twenty minutes.

The Firebirds evened the score 3:58 into the middle stanza on Jake Durham's seventh goal of the season. Riley McCourt picked up a loose puck in the Firebirds' zone and skated across both blue lines before finding Ryan Littlejohn with a cross-ice pass. Littlejohn took a shot from just inside the left wing circle that was sailed wide. Littlejohn sent it to the slot to Jake Durham, who one-timed it on goal. Durham's initial shot hit a defender's skate just outside the goal crease. The puck trickled to the right-wing circle, where Durham buried his own rebound far-side, before Cormier could reset.

After 40 minutes of play, the in-state rivals were tied at one. Shots on goal were also tied at 23 per side. In the faceoff circle, the Spirit had won 22 and Flint won 22. Both teams were 0-for-1 with the man-advantage. Statistically, the game was as close as it could get between the rival clubs.

Early in the third period, the Spirit scored back-to-back goals just 34 seconds apart. First, Giroux netted his 17th of the season on a backdoor play, assisted by Busdeker and Jenkins. Mason Kohn scored his 17th a half-minute later from the right circle, far side, with Kyle Bollers earning the lone helper.

The 'Birds responded with back-to-back goals less than a minute apart. The first was a shot from the point by the captain Jalen Smereck, finding twine at 6:54 of the third. Ty Dellandrea carried the puck along the right-wing wall, and made a drop pass back to Smereck at the point. His shot through traffic on the power-play beat Cormier over his right shoulder, just under the crossbar. Dellandrea and Maurizio Colella collected the assists.

The next goal came off the stick of the red-hot C.J. Clarke, who now has goals in five straight games. As Riley McCourt carried the puck in front of the benches and into the offensive zone, Clarke was replacing his broken stick on a quick handoff from Flint's alert equipment manager, Mike Hildenbrand. McCourt took a sharp-angle backhand shot that struck a defender and fell between the circles, where Clarke was able to rejoin the play and bang it home for his 14th of the season. The lone assist on Clarke's tally went to McCourt, his second of the contest. The game was tied at three with 12:14 left to play.

With just over eight minutes remaining in regulation, the visitors lit the lamp again, putting the Tropics-themed Firebirds back to a one-goal deficit. Jenkins escaped two Firebirds in the right-wing corner and skated out in front before dishing the puck to Jake Goldowski backdoor who scored for his ninth of the season. Jenkins and Kohn were credited with assists at 11:49.

Flint was forced to kill a penalty late, putting them in defensive mode until only three minutes remained in regulation. The penalty kill was successful, and the Firebird's offense turned up the heat. With under two minutes remaining, rookie netminder Luke Cavallin was called to the bench for the extra attacker. However, in an effort to prevent an empty-net goal by the visitors, Flint would take another penalty. Marcus Crawford potted an empty-netter with the man advantage with only 18.3 seconds on the game clock. Giroux and Kohn earned the assists.

Flint is now 7-4 all-time in specialty jersey nights and are 6-1 in the past two seasons.

Next up for Flint, the Firebirds will head to Windsor for a Sunday tilt against the Spitfires. Puck drop is set for 2 p.m. at the WFCU Centre in Windsor. The game will be televised live in Windsor on channel 11 / 700 (HD) for Cogeco TV cable subscribers and across the province of Ontario on channel 437 for Rogers TV cable subscribers and channel 478 for Cogeco TV cable subscribers. The game will also be broadcast live on the radio on US 103.1 FM in Flint & Mid-Michigan and worldwide online at www.us103.com. Pre-game coverage begins at 1:30 p.m.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from February 17, 2018


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