Game Day, Game 61, Firebirds vs Bulldogs - 7 p.m.

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OHL Flint Firebirds

Game Day, Game 61, Firebirds vs Bulldogs - 7 p.m.

March 7, 2025 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Flint Firebirds News Release


GAME 61 - Firebirds vs Bulldogs

Dort Financial Center

Flint, Michigan

7 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT: Chris Thibodeau scored twice and Matthew Mania had a goal and an assist but the Firebirds were beaten by the Saginaw Spirit, 5-3, on Wednesday night at the Dort Financial Center. Flint's five-game winning streak came to an end with the loss.

THE PLAYOFF PICTURE: Flint enters Wednesday night's game sitting in sixth place in the Western Conference with nine games remaining in the regular season. The Firebirds trail the fifth-place Erie Otters by five points. They are seven points up on the seventh-place Soo Greyhounds and eight points ahead of the Sarnia Sting and Owen Sound Attack, who are tied for eighth. Flint's magic number to clinch a playoff spot is 11. Any combination of 11 points gained by the Firebirds or lost by the Attack would put Flint in the playoffs.

PENALTIES BEWARE: The Firebirds went 2-for-2 on the penalty kill during Wednesday's loss to Saginaw and have now killed off 17 consecutive penalties. The Birds are 24-for-25 on the penalty kill in their last eight games and have raised their season-long PK percentage from 75.3%, which was the 17th-best in the OHL, to 77.5%, which is the 13th-best.

BEASTS OF THE EAST: The Bulldogs come into Friday's game sitting in first place in the Eastern Conference. Brantford lost to the London Knights on Wednesday night, 5-0, but prior to that had seven of its past eight games. Nick Lardis leads the Bulldogs and the OHL with 66 goals and is second in the league with 108 points. The Chicago Blackhawks prospect is four goals away from becoming only the eighth player in OHL history to score 70 goals, and the first to do so since John Tavares put up 72 in 67 games for the Oshawa Generals in the 2006-07 season. Lardis scored one goal in Brantford's 5-2 win over Flint on January 8.

ODDS AND ENDS: Matthew Mania had a goal and an assist on Wednesday and now has 38 points on the season. He has matched his career-high, set during the 2022-23 season with the Sudbury Wolves... Chris Thibodeau registered his fifth two-goal game of the season on Wednesday. He has scored 10 of his 17 goals in those five games...Flint is 4-1-2-0 all-time at home against the Bulldogs.

UP NEXT: The Firebirds will stay at home and take on the Sarnia Sting on Saturday night. Puck drop at the Dort Financial Center is set for 7 p.m.

Check out the Flint Firebirds Statistics

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