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OHL Flint Firebirds

Firebirds Host Sting on Saturday Night in Flint

January 20, 2024 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Flint Firebirds News Release


FLINT, Mich. - The Firebirds enter Saturday night's action in the midst of a see-saw of sorts, having won back-to-back games a week ago before dropping their last two on the road. Sarnia has also lost consecutive tilts including a lopsided 9-1 defeat on home ice at the hands of the Soo Greyhounds on Friday night. Both clubs look to rebound in Saturday's battle in Flint. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Dort Financial Center

LAST TIME OUT: Flint fought back from a two-goal deficit twice in Guelph on Friday, but an eventual empty-netter sealed a 5-3 victory for the Storm. Team captain Coulson Pitre scored twice and picked up an assist for a three-point night and Oliver Peer scored his third goal in four games since joining the Firebirds. Nolan Dann picked up two assists to extend his point streak to 12 games and Nathan Day finished with 20 saves in his 75th OHL game.

SERIES HISTORY: Saturday marks the fourth of eight meetings between these division rivals and is the second of four games to be played at the Dort Financial Center this season. After winning the first two tilts on the road, the Birds fell 5-2 on home ice to the Bees a month ago. Flint's all-time mark against Sarnia stands at 33-24-2-0 with an 18-10-1-0 record at home.

SCOUTING THE STING: (16-25-2-0 4th West Division) -

Overage forward Marko Sikic leads Sarnia on the scoresheet with ten goals and 27 assists for 37 points. Tyson Doucette is second with 14 tallies and 11 helpers. Northville, Michigan's Zach Filak is third with 23 total points (13 G, 10 A).

Nick Surzycia has backstopped the Bees in 31 games this season, earning eight victories and sporting a 3.97 goals-against average and an .871 save percentage. Rookie Karsen Chartier has six wins in 18 appearances. His GAA sits at 3.77 and his SV% is an .868.

Sarnia has the OHL's 19th-ranked power play, scoring at a 14.2% clip. Their penalty sits 18th with a 74.5% success rate.

SCOUTING THE FIREBIRDS: (17-22-2-1, 3rd West Division) -

Overage forward Oliver Peer tops the Firebirds in scoring with the league's eighth-most goals (25) plus 29 assists for 54 points in 41 games. In four games with Flint since the trade deadline Peer has seven points (3 G, 4 A). Team captain and Anaheim Ducks prospect Coulson Pitre ranks second with 42 points (20 G, 22 A) in 40 games. Overager Nolan Dann sits third with 15 tallies and 22 helpers and rides a 12-game point streak (7 G, 10 A) into Saturday's contest.

Between the pipes, Nathan Day has 15 wins across 35 appearances. He carries a 3.90 goals-against average and a save percentage of .862. Rookie netminder Jacob Brown carries a 4.82 GAA and an .836 SV% with two wins through ten appearances.

The Birds rank 15th in the league with the man advantage, converting on 17.5% of their opportunities. The penalty kill is 14th-best at a 77.7% rate.

ODDS AND ENDS: Sarnia trails the Firebirds by only three points in the West Division standings with five head-to-head meetings remaining. These clubs will square off twice in the final eight days of the regular season... The Sting have four players from Michigan on their roster. In addition to Filac, rookie forward Dennis Lominac (Commerce Twp) plus defenders Lukas Fischer (Brighton) and rookie Hughston Hurt (Oakland Twp) all hail from the mitten state... Flint overage forward Nolan Dann was originally drafted by the Sting in 2019 and played his first 65 OHL games with them... The Birds are 5-11-1-1 on home ice this season while Sarnia's mark on the road is 9-10-1-0.

BROADCAST COVERAGE: This evening's game against the Sarnia Sting 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.

COMING UP: The Birds hit the road again with a pair of away tilts next Friday and Saturday in Mississauga and Owen Sound. They'll return home on Friday, February 2 to host the Barrie Colts. Tickets for the next home game versus Barrie are available from ETIX.COM.

Check out the Flint Firebirds Statistics



Ontario Hockey League Stories from January 20, 2024


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