OHL Flint Firebirds

Firebirds Shutout in North Bay Thursday

Published on December 8, 2016 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Flint Firebirds News Release


North Bay, Ont. - The Firebirds were unable to light the lamp against the Battalion in a 6-0 loss at the North Bay Memorial Gardens Thursday night.

After controlling the first six minutes of play, leading in shots 8-0, the Battalion scored the game's first goal on a breakaway shorthanded. Everett Clark was stripped of the puck at the right-circle of North Bay's zone and Riley Bruce chipped it out of the zone to McKenzie who was behind the Firebirds' defense at center ice. McKenzie went backhand, forehand and beat Garrett Forrest blocker-side to earn the Battalion a 1-0 lead.

Steve Harland doubled North Bay's lead with his 17th goal of the season on the power-play. Brady Lyle fed a pass to McKenzie at the top of the right-circle. McKenzie fired a shot on net that was deflected by Zach Poirier in the slot to the tape of Harland who found the back of the net, earning the Battalion a 2-0 lead with 4:21 remaining in the opening frame. Despite trailing 2-0, Flint owned an 11-7 shot advantage after 20 minutes of play.

North Bay extended their lead to three after Justin Brazeau scored his sixth goal of the season on a wrap-around. Rookie Daniel Walker collected a rebound at the left-circle and tapped the puck to Riley Bruce who fired a slap-shot wide. Brazeau picked-up the miss-fire behind the cage and slid the puck past a diving Forrest blocker-side to earn the Battalion a 3-0 lead.

Daniil Vertiy scored his sixth goal of the season 15 seconds later and increased North Bay's lead to four. Zach Shankar passed the puck to Kyle Potts at the right-circle of the Battalion zone who one-touched a pass to Vertiy at the blue-line. Vertiy tapped the puck to Brazeau who quickly gave it back to him before he skated over the Firebird's blue-line. Vertiy snapped a wrist-shot that beat Forrest top-shelf blocker-side to earn North Bay a 4-0 lead with 44 seconds remaining in the middle period.

The Battalion scored their fifth consecutive goal on a five-on-three power-play when Brazeau scored his seventh goal of the season and second of the night after the puck bounced in off Dennis Busby's skate.

Potts scored his sixth goal of the season on a partial breakaway and extended the Battalion's lead to six. Vertiy deflected a pass off his skate at North Bay's blue-line all the way to the Firebird's left-circle where Potts picked-up the puck and quickly fired a wrist-shot that beat Forrest high-glove to make the score 6-0 with 6:33 remaining in the final frame. The Firebirds fell to the Battalion 6-0.

Flint outshot North Bay 34-24. The Battalion were two-for-four on the power-play, while the Firebirds were scoreless on four opportunities. Forrest made 19 saves on 25 shots.

The Firebirds return back to action when they face the Sudbury Wolves Friday night. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. at the Sudbury Community Arena (4,640).

Next Home Game:

The Firebirds next home game is Wednesday Dec. 28th at 7 p.m. against the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Wednesday's game is College Night featuring $2 beers & $2 hot dogs for all fans in attendance. In addition, college student's with valid I.D. receive $2 off their tickets. Flint is then home again on Friday, Dec. 30th against the Saginaw Spirit for Star Wars Night also at 7 p.m.. Star Wars Night will feature a live jersey auction immediately following the game.

Single game tickets for the Flint Firebirds 2016-17 season are $12 for Bronze, $15 for Silver, $19 for Gold and $25 for VIP seating. Prices are unchanged from last season and all seats are reserved / assigned seating. Parking has been reduced to $5 dollars which is new this season. Fans can purchase tickets at the Dort Federal Event Center Box Office or online by clicking ticketmaster.com.

Check out the Flint Firebirds Statistics

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from December 8, 2016


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