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OHL Flint Firebirds

Firebirds Head North to Saginaw with Five-Game Winning Streak on the Line

February 21, 2024 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Flint Firebirds News Release


SAGINAW, Mich. - The Firebirds are on a season-high five-game winning streak and have points in eight of their last ten games. On Wednesday the meet their rivals the Saginaw Spirit who also have points in eight of ten and are one of three Western Conference clubs who've clinched a playoff spot. Flint holds onto the eighth and final playoff spot and is just one point behind the Erie Otters in seventh. Puck drop for this Wednesday night battle is set for 7:05 p.m. at the Dow Event Center.

WINNING WEEKEND: The Birds gained all four available standings points over the weekend, first defeating the Sting Friday night in Sarnia. Five different Firebirds scored and Nathan Day made 22 saves on 24 shots as Flint rolled to a 5-2 win. Connor Clattenburg had a goal and an assist in his 100th career OHL game and Tristan Bertucci finished with three assists.

Then on Saturday, Flint extended its season-long winning streak to five games by beating the Windsor Spitfires, 3-2, in OT in front of a standing-room-only crowd of 4,049 fans at the Dort Financial Center. Alex Kostov scored his first goal on home ice as a Firebird and is now on a four-game point streak (3 G, 3 A), Nolan Dann scored to extend his point streak to 10 games, and Jimmy Lombardi buried the game-winning goal in overtime. Rookie goaltender Jacob Brown made 29 saves on 31 shots in the win.

SERIES HISTORY: Wednesday's game is the seventh of the eight annual regular-season meetings between the Firebirds and Spirit and marks the fourth and final contest at the Dow Event Center. Flint has gone 1-5-0-0 thus far in the series with the lone victory having taken place at the Dort Financial Center in late October. The Birds are 27-37-1-3 all-time in the series and hold a 14-20-0-0 mark on the road.

SCOUTING THE SPIRIT: (39-14-0-1, 1st West Division) -

Defenseman Zayne Parekh leads Saginaw on the scoresheet with 27 goals and 52 assists. He ranks third in the OHL in assists, total points (79), and power-play assists (22), and has points in eight consecutive tilts (5 G, 8 A). Owen Beck ranks second with 60 points (28 G, 32 A), and rides a six-game point streak (7 G, 6 A) into tonight's contest. Michael Misa sits one point back in third with 26 tallies and 33 helpers.

Shelby Township, Mich. native Andrew Oke has 23 wins across 34 appearances this season, including one shutout. His goals-against average of 3.04 ranks fourth in the OHL and his save percentage sits at .887. Nolan Lalonde is credited with 16 victories through 29 appearances and he carries a 3.28 GAA and an .869 SV%.

Saginaw ranks third on both the power play the season, scoring 27.4% of the time. Their penalty killers are successful 83.1% of the time, ranking second-best in the league.

SCOUTING THE FIREBIRDS: (24-25-3-1, 3rd West Division) -

Oliver Peer leads the Firebirds on the scoresheet with 31 goals and 33 assists for 64 points this season. Since becoming a Firebird he has scored nine times and picked up eight helpers for 17 points in 14 games. Fellow overager Nolan Dann remains on a tear with eight goals and seven assists through his active ten-game point streak. He's second in scoring for Flint with 23 goals and 29 assists for 52 total points. Coulson Pitre is third with 22 goals and 23 assists for 45 points, followed by Simon Slavicek with 35 points (11 G, 24 A).

Nathan Day has 20 wins through 44 appearances in net, including victories in his last three starts. His goals-against average is 3.81 with a .863 save percentage. Jacob Brown carries a 4.19 GAA and an .855 SV% with four wins through 12 games.

The Firebirds rank 17th overall in the league on the power play with a success rate of 17.6%. In road games, however, that figure improves to 20.4% which is tenth-best. The penalty kill ranks 12th overall at 78.3% but again improves drastically away from home for the sixth-best rate of 83.7%.

ODDS & ENDS: Flint's remaining regular season schedule features ten home games and only five road games, including tonight's contest in Saginaw. Six of the final 15 games are versus either Windsor (3), Sarnia (2), or Erie (1) who are also in the bottom four positions of the Western Conference... The Birds record in away games this year sits at 17-11-1-0 while Saginaw has gone 21-6-0-1 at the Dow... Parekh's 79 points are now the most ever held by a Spirit defenseman. He's ranked inside the top-20 by multiple rankings of eligible players for the 2024 NHL Draft, and is inside the top ten among North American skaters.

BROADCAST COVERAGE: This evening's game against the Saginaw Spirit 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 pregame 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. Tonight's game will also be televised nationally on the NHL Network.

COMING UP: The Firebirds return home for a pair of home games next weekend against the Bulldogs and Battalion. Friday's contest is Youth Sports Night, sponsored by Crim Sports. All children & students 17 & under wearing their youth sports jersey will receive a ticket with the purchase of a full-priced adult ticket at the Dort Financial Box Office Window. Tickets for both contests are available now from ETIX.com.

Check out the Flint Firebirds Statistics



Ontario Hockey League Stories from February 21, 2024


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