Flint Looks to Even the Opening Series in Game 2 Tonight in Saginaw
Published on March 31, 2023 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Flint Firebirds News Release
Saginaw, Mich. - The Firebirds suffered an uncharacteristic 7-1 defeat in the series opener versus their in-state rivals at the Dow Event Center last night. Both teams brought a physical style of hockey into a first frame that initially appeared to set the tone for a tough back-and-forth battle. Instead, the Spirit found a higher gear and left the Birds behind. Now, Ted Dent and his squad have regrouped and now look to even the series in another road game tonight. Puck drop between Flint and Saginaw is set for 7:05 p.m. (ET) at the Dow Event Center.
Last night started out looking like the older Firebirds' club was going to take command of the series early, with Riley Piercey finding twine 1:01 into the contest. Then the Spirit answered with back-to-back power-play goals and seven unanswered tallies in total to make a statement win on opening night in the OHL postseason. Rookies Zayne Parekh and Joey Willis each scored twice in Game 1 to lead Saginaw. Dean Loukas and Matyas Sapovaliv earned three assists each. Tristan Lennox blanked Flint on 34 of 35 shots. Nathan Day and Will Cranley split time between the pipes for the Birds, posting a combined 13 saves.
Flint concluded the 68-game regular season with a record of 35-28-4-1, ranking them fourth in the West Division and fifth in the Western Conference. The Spirit ended the year ranked third in the West Division and fourth in the Western Conference with a 36-27-3-2 mark. The Firebirds posted a record of 17-15-2-0 in away games and Saginaw finished 17-16-0-1 at the Dow.
These clubs met eight times in the regular season, and the Birds had points in four of the tilts with a 3-4-1-0 overall record. At the Dow, Flint was held to a 1-3-0-0 mark. In the all-time series between these in-state rivals, the Firebirds sit at 26-32-1-3 in regular-season contests. They're also 14-17-0-0 since 2015 when playing in Saginaw.
The Firebirds went scoreless on five chances with the man advantage last night. Saginaw converted twice on five tries. In the regular season, the Spirit finished in sixth on the power play with a 23.8% success rate. The Firebirds ended the season ranked 15th with a 20.2% efficiency. When shorthanded, Saginaw had the seventh-best penalty-kill at 78.8% and Flint was just behind in eighth place with a 78.3% kill rate.
Players to Watch
Flint Firebirds (0-1-0-0, 5th Seed, Western Conference):
Amadeus Lombardi played in 67 of the 68 games during the regular season and nearly doubled his point production from his rookie campaign. He became the first Flint player to top the 100-point mark, logging 45 goals and 57 assists for 102 total points. Lombardi scored the sixth-most goals, finished tied for the sixth-most helpers, and had the third-most points in the league this year. He assisted on the lone Flint goal last night. Gavin Hayes finished the season second in scoring with 41 goals and 40 assists through 66 contests. Overager Riley Piercey concluded his overage regular season with 70 points (22 G, 48 A) in 67 tilts, and was the solo goal-scorer for Flint last night.
Dmitry Kuzmin led the Birds on defense in the regular, scoring 14 times and pitching in 45 helpers for 59 total points in 65 games. Those numbers placed him sixth in points, eighth in assists, and tenth in goals among all league defenders. Finishing second among rearguards was sophomore Tristan Bertucci with 50 points (11 G, 39 A) through 63 contests. Kaden Pitre topped the freshman class for Flint with seven goals and four assists.
Rookie netminder Nathan Day had 17 victories in 32 appearances across the 68-game 2022-23 season while recording a 3.91 goals-against average (GAA) with a .874 save percentage (SV%). He stopped six of Saginaw's ten shots in the first 26 minutes of last night's lopsided affair. Overage goaltender Will Cranley made seven saves in the balance of the night after playing in 44 regular-season contests. He posted a 3.87 goals-against average (GAA) with a .884 save percentage (SV%) in a year that saw him earn 18 victories.
NHL: The Firebirds have six players with NHL ties consisting of Will Cranley (St. Louis Blues), Amadeus Lombardi (Detroit Red Wings), Gavin Hayes (Chicago Blackhawks), Braeden Kressler (Toronto Maple Leafs), Dmitri Kuzmin (Winnipeg Jets), and Artem Guryev (San Jose Sharks). Additionally, Coulson Pitre, Tristan Bertucci, Ethan Hay, and goaltender Nathan Day were listed on the NHL Central Scouting's 2023 Midterm Rankings for the upcoming NHL Draft.
Through seven OHL seasons thus far, Alex Nedeljkovic (Detroit), Kole Sherwood (Columbus), Ty Dellandrea (Dallas), Tyler Tucker (St. Louis), and Will Bitten (St. Louis) are five former Firebirds to play in the NHL. Riley Piercey (Detroit) and Gavin Hayes (Chicago) played in NHL preseason contests this year, joining Firebirds' alumni Ethan Keppen (Vancouver), Vili Saarijarvi (Detroit), and Jalen Smereck (Arizona). The team has produced 25 signed or drafted players into the NHL.
Saginaw Spirit (1-0-0-0, 4th Seed Western Conference):
Hunter Haight ended the regular season atop the points list for Saginaw with 60 (21 G, 39 A) through 62 games played. He logged a goal and an assist in Game 1 on Thursday. Matyas Sapovaliv and rookie Michael Misa were tied for second at the end of the season with 56 points each. Sapovaliv lit the lamp 27 times and added 29 helpers, whereas Misa netted 22 tallies and helped on 34 goals through 45 games, the most among all OHL rookies. He had a goal and an assist last night and Sapovaliv recorded three assists.
Saginaw, Mich. native defenseman Mitchell Smith finished the year fifth on the club and atop the defensive unit with 14 goals and 38 assists. He scored once and assisted once at the Dow yesterday.
Fourth-year veteran netminder Tristan Lennox had donned the pads 45 times in the regular season, recording 25 victories with three shutouts. His goals-against average (GAA) ended at 3.15 and his save percentage (SV%) for the year was .888. Last night he made 34 saves on 35 shots to claim the third playoff win of his career. Shelby Township, Mich. native Andrew Oke played in 24 contests this year and logged ten wins. His GAA was 3.45 and his SV% ended at .892.
NHL: The Spirit have three players with NHL ties, consisting of Matyas Sapovaliv (Vegas Golden Knights), Hunter Haight (Minnesota Wild), and Tristan Lennox (New York Islanders). Additionally, Luke McNamara, Nic Sima, Joey Willis, Pj Forgione, and Calem Mangone were all named to the 2022 NHL Central Scouting Midterm Draft Rankings.
12 notable Spirit alumni to play in the NHL are Cody Bass, Paul Bissonnette, T.J. Brodie, Matt Corrente, Filip Hronek, Jan Mursak, Jamie Oleksiak, Dalton Prout, Tom Pyatt, Brandon Saad, Chris Thorburn and Vincent Trocheck.
Broadcast Coverage:
This evening's Playoff 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 here. Jack Sznewajs will call the play-by-play action on the Firebirds Hockey Network (FHN). Pregame coverage will begin prior to puck drop at 6:45 p.m. (ET) this evening.
The game will also be televised live across the province of Ontario on the OHL Action Pak on channel 470 (4470 HD) for both Rogers TV and Cogeco TV cable subscribers. OHL fans with cable television in Ontario can add the OHL Action Pak to their television plan to catch the Firebirds in action, home, or away all season long.
Also, all Flint Firebirds' home and away games throughout the 2022-23 playoffs can be watched anywhere in the world online at https://watch.chl.ca/ohl. CHL TV is the league's video streaming platform that delivers high-quality live and on-demand coverage of all regular season and playoff games annually. The cost in the postseason is $5.99 for a one-day pass or $44.97 to get all of the OHL's Playoff games this year.
Next Up: Games 3 and 4 of the opening round will be played at the Dort Financial Center on Monday and Wednesday. Puck drop for both games is set for 7:00 p.m. (ET) and tickets for both nights are ON SALE NOW at ETIX.COM.
Ontario Hockey League Stories from March 31, 2023
- Sapovaliv Nets Hat-Trick as Saginaw Takes Game 2 Over Flint - Saginaw Spirit
- Sapovaliv's Hat Trick Leaves Flint Trailing 2-0 in First-Round - Flint Firebirds
- Simpson Stops 40/41 as Petes Take a 2-0 Series Lead Over Wolves - Peterborough Petes
- Flint Looks to Even the Opening Series in Game 2 Tonight in Saginaw - Flint Firebirds
- Spirit Look to Widen Series Lead against Flint in Game 2 - Saginaw Spirit
- Rangers Take Game 1 Over Spitfires, 5-3 - Windsor Spitfires
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