Firebirds Earn Third-Consecutive Season Opening Victory
September 23, 2017 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Flint Firebirds News Release
Firebirds Earn Third-Consecutive Season Opening Victory
(Flint Firebirds)
Kitchener, Ont. - For the third consecutive season, the Flint Firebirds started their campaign with a victory. In a game that was televised on The CW throughout Mid-Michigan, the Firebirds scored a team record three power-play goals on the road, Ty Dellandrea scored twice, Nick Caamano recorded three assists and both Maurizio Colella and Nicolas Mattinen each tallied two helpers en-route to a 5-3 victory over the Kitchener Rangers before more than 6,700 fans at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Friday.
Three third period goals with less than three minutes to play in the game earned the Flint Firebirds an exciting come-from-behind victory in the Firebirds' first road game of the season.
Kitchener's Adam Liska opened the scoring at 6:15 for the Rangers. Greg Meireles dug the puck out from the left-corner and fed it to the right-point. Connor Hall (Pittsburgh Penguins) fired the puck on goal and Liska redirected it past Forrest to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead.
The Firebirds would tie the contest at 11:51 of the opening frame when Ty Dellandrea converted on a nice pass from Nick Caamano (Dallas Stars) for his first-of-two goals on the night. Nicholas Mattinen (Toronto Maple Leafs) picked up his first assist in a Firebirds' uniform after being acquired in a trade from the London Knights on Monday.
Flint made a bid to go ahead late in the period with 55 seconds remaining as C.J. Clarke let go a shot from the right-circle that Rangers' goaltender Richardson got a piece of. The puck trickled past him, hit the left post and stayed out. The play was ruled no goal after video review.
Despite being tied 1-1 after 20 minutes of play, Flint led in shots 12-6.
At 5:40 of the middle period, the Rangers would find twine six seconds into a man-advantage when Adam Mascherin (Florida Panthers) finished off a three-way passing-play, scoring from the right-circle.
The Firebirds tied the game once again on a power-play effort at 10:24. While holding-off a defender, Nick Caamano back-handed the puck from the goal-line to Hunter Holmes in front of the net. Holmes buried for his first of the season and Mattinen picked up his second assist of the night.
Riley Damiani was credited with Kitchener's third and final goal of the game. While attempting to center the puck to a Ranger teammate, his pass deflected off a Firebird in front of the goal and redirected into the net on the power-play.
The Rangers led 3-2 after two periods of play and the Firebirds were outshooting Kitchener 24-19.
The Firebirds scored the next three goals in the third period. While on the power-play, Maurizio Colella made an amazing pass to Gordeev at the point who fired the puck off the cross-bar and into the net, glove-side, with 2:22 remaining in the game. 37 seconds later, Caamano forced the Rangers to turnover the puck in their own zone and dished it on net. Dellandrea picked up the rebound and slid the disc past Richardson for the eventual game-winning goal with 1:45 remaining. Colella would make another smart pass, finding Jake Durham at center ice who converted on an empty net while on the man-advantage to earn Flint a 5-3 victory.
Flint outshot Kitchener 39-33 and scored three times on eight power-play's. Firebirds' goaltender Garrett Forrest turned aside 30-of-33 Kitchener shots. Kitchener won 27 face-off draws compared to Flint's 20. The game was Firebirds' Associate Coach Paul Flache's first victory behind the bench as an OHL coach.
Next up for Flint, the Firebirds will travel to Owen Sound, Ont. for a Saturday night battle against the Attack. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. The game can be heard live on US 103.1 FM throughout Flint & Mid-Michigan and around the world online at www.us103.com (http://us103.com/?mc_cid79c90e7017&mc_eid[UNIQID]) . Pregame coverage with Dominic Hennig begins at 7 p.m.
Upcoming Home Game: The Firebirds will return to the Dort Federal Event Center for the Opening Night in Flint on Saturday, Sep. 30. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. against the Ottawa 67's and all fans in attendance will receive free rally towels and magnet schedules, sponsored by Dort Federal Credit Union and Little Caesars. Opening Night tickets can be purchased at the Dort Federal Event Center Box Office, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (ET), by calling (810) 744-0580 or online at ticketmaster.com
Images from this story
 Firebirds Earn Third-Consecutive Season Opening Victory |
Ontario Hockey League Stories from September 23, 2017
- Firebirds Earn Third-Consecutive Season Opening Victory - Flint Firebirds
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
