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Flint Firebirds

Piercey Delivers the OT Winner in Career Game #150 as Firebirds Down Storm 5-4

January 18, 2022 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Flint Firebirds News Release


Guelph, Ont. - The Firebirds eight-game road trip concluded against a new opponent. It was the first of six meetings scheduled vs. the Guelph Storm this year and the first of three at the Sleeman Centre. The two Western Conference foes came in separated by just two points in the standings before Riley Piercey's overtime-winning goal cut the lead to one. Luke Cavallin, who earned Second Star honors, got the start in net for Flint while it was Jacob Oster for Guelph.

It was the Firebirds striking first, and early. Amadeus Lombardi stickhandled his way into the slot, took a shot on Oster, Keppen followed up on the rebound and fed it to Lombardi at the side of the net who put home his 14th of the year 1:59 into the opening frame. Zack Terry, the former Storm defenseman, picked up the secondary assist to give him six points (3 G, 3 A) his last six games.

The next 15 minutes were an up-tempo affair before the Firebirds found pay dirt again. Out of the defensive zone, James Petrovski skated up ice, dumped the puck high into the offensive end where Ethan Keppen skated behind the defense and made a nice move cutting towards the net to put one behind Oster on the glove side to make it 2-0 Flint with 4:24 left in the frame.

The period ended with a flurry of Firebirds chances that eventually led to a Michael Buchinger holding penalty. The Firebirds were unsuccessful at capitalizing with the man-advantage to end the 1st but had 1:16 of carryover PP time to begin the 2nd. Guelph outshot Flint 14-11 in the opening 20, while Flint outdrew Guelph 12-10.

The carryover powerplay turned out to be significant when Riley Piercey (playing in OHL career game #150) hit Brennan Othmann (NY Rangers) racing down the far wall just outside the Storm blue line who ripped one home low to the glove of Oster 53 seconds into the 2nd to make it 3-0 Flint. It was his 26th goal of the season. The Firebirds continued to pour it on from there. Gavin Hayes took a shot that deflected off a Guelph defender, off Oster and right back to the Westland, Mich. native who buried his 8th of the year, assisted by former-Storm Tag Bertuzzi, to make it 4-0 Firebirds not even three minutes into the 2nd.

The Storm finally had an answer. After a sequence of impressive saves from Cavallin, while the Birds were short-handed, a shot from Sasha Pastujov (Anaheim Ducks) deflected on its way to Cavallin and landed right at the feet of Matthew Poitras open at the side of the net to make it 4-1 with 13:23 left in the 2nd. The next few minutes of gameplay saw Luke Cavallin play some of his best hockey in net for Flint. The Storm outshot the Firebirds 11-1 over a 5:30 minute span that saw the OA netminder deny every shot.

The Firebirds took a penalty with exactly 1.0 remaining in the 2nd, giving the Storm nearly a full carryover powerplay to start the 3rd. Guelph outshot the Birds 17-9 in that 2nd period while Flint returned the favor in the face-off circle dominating that 14-7.

The Strom converted, picking up their 2nd PP goal of the game. A harmless wrister from the circle from Cam Allen went in and out of the glove of Cavallin, right to Braeden Bowman who put home his 12th of the year to cut the Firebirds lead to two with 18:51 remaining in the game. Guelph wasn't done. Sasha Pastujov picked up his 22nd goal of the year on a deflection, in front of Cavallin, off the Daniil Chayka (Vegas Golden Knights) shot from the circle making it just a 4-3 game with 17:37 left.

Guelph tied things up just about 12 minutes later. A loose puck in the corner of the defensive end found its way to Pastujov in the near circle who went cross-ice to Michael Buchinger oncoming from the point who put home his 1st career OHL goal with 5:43 left in the 3rd to tie things at four.

That's the way things remained as both teams headed to extra time for the third time this year with Guelph outshooting the Firebirds 45-24.

The Firebirds prevailed with just 25 seconds remaining in OT after a two-on-one saw Tag Bertuzzi pass it across to Riley Piercey cutting to the net who pulled it to his backhand around a sprawling Jacob Oster to give the Firebirds a 5-4 win and snap Guelph's five-game win streak. The Storm outshot Flint 48-29 for the game, including 30-13 across the final 40 minutes, but Flint outdrew them 26-38. The Firebirds went 1-for-2 with the man-advantage while Guelph was a successful 2-for-3.

Next Up: The Firebirds return home this Friday and Saturday vs. the Saginaw Spirit and Kitchener Rangers, respectively. Both games are set for 7:00 p.m. puck drops at the Dort Financial Center. You can purchase tix now on ETIX Here.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from January 18, 2022


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