Sports stats



OHL Flint Firebirds

Firebirds Welcome Wolves for Friday Night Tilt

December 15, 2023 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Flint Firebirds News Release


FLINT, Mich. - The Firebirds host the Sudbury Wolves for the final game of their season series on Friday night and the only matchup that will take place in Flint. Back in late October, the Birds skated to a 4-3 road win at the Sudbury Community Arena. Now it's Flint with home-ice advantage as puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Dort Financial Center.

LAST TIME OUT: The Saginaw Spirit claimed the I-75 Divide Cup for the fifth time in the heated in-state rivalry on Thursday with a 5-3 victory over the Firebirds at the Dow Event Center. Matthew Jenken scored his first of the season and added an assist and both Marko Stojkov (1 G, 1 A) and Kaden Pitre (2 A) contributed a pair of points, but the Spirit scored three late goals to claim their fifth win in six meetings with Flint.

SERIES HISTORY: Being from opposite conferences, Flint and Sudbury meet only twice each season. The Birds have an all-time record of 7-5-1-0 versus the Wolves and are 4-1-1-0 on home ice in the series. Last season Sudbury claimed both victories.

SCOUTING THE WOLVES: (15-10-2-1, 2nd Central Division) -

A trio of forwards with NHL ties lead Sudbury in scoring this season. Seattle Kraken prospect David Goyette has the league's fourth-most assists (30) and tops the Wolves' roster with 43 total points. St. Louis Blues prospect Dalibor Dvorsky is tied for second with a team-leading 18 goals and 16 assists and rides a five-game point streak into tonight's contest. San Jose Sharks prospect Quentin Musty and also has 34 total points (13 G, 21 A) on the season. Musty enters Friday with a six-game point streak (8 G, 11 A).

Netminder Jakub Vondras has appeared in the most games this season (19) out of the trio of goaltenders for Sudbury. He's earned ten wins including one shutout and carries a 3.43 goals-against average with a save percentage of .873. Marcus Vandenberg has four wins in 14 appearances and sports a 3.96 GAA with an .886 SV%. Nate Krawchuk also has four wins but in ten contests and carries a 3.68 GAA and a SV% of .879.

The Wolves rank 16th in the OHL on the power play and are converting at a 16.7% clip. When down a man they're killing penalties at a rate of 78.8%, which is good for 12th.

SCOUTING THE FIREBIRDS: (13-14-2-1, 3rd West Division) -

Gavin Hayes has joined the 2024 U.S. National Junior Team as a member of their preliminary roster. As such, Zacharie Giroux and Braeden Kressler are tied for the lead among the Firebirds' active roster with 33 points each. Giroux combines 14 goals with 19 assists while the Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Kressler has 13 tallies and 20 helpers. Coulson Pitre, a prospect for the Anaheim Ducks, ranks third with 13 goals and 14 assists.

Nathan Day, an Edmonton Oilers prospect, has now appeared in 25 games and earned 11 wins. He carries a 3.91 goals-against average and a .864 save percentage. Jacob Brown is credited with two wins in seven appearances, and his GAA sits at 4.26 with an .857 SV%.

The Birds now rank 14th on the power play, scoring on 17.1% of their chances this season. Flint's penalty killers are finding success 78.1% of the time, good for the 13th.

ODDS & ENDS: Rookie Jeremy Martin is tied for the third-most goals by a rookie in the OHL this season with eight... The Firebirds are 4-1-0-0 this season when facing opponents from the Central Division... The Wolves' Nick DeAngelis rides the longest active point streak into tonight's tilt at 11 games (1 G, 16 A)... Sudbury has scored the fourth-most goals in the league this season (125) compared to Flint who ranks ninth (108).

BROADCAST COVERAGE: This evening's game against the Sudbury Wolves 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 pre-game 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 Firebirds are right back at it Saturday for another home game versus the Sarnia Sting on Saturday. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. and tickets are available online from ETIX.COM.

Check out the Flint Firebirds Statistics



Ontario Hockey League Stories from December 15, 2023


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.

OurSports Central