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OHL Flint Firebirds

Preview: Firebirds Travel to Mississauga to Face Steelheads

January 26, 2024 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Flint Firebirds News Release


MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - The Firebirds are set to play a pair of road games this weekend, beginning in Mississauga on Friday night. Flint won the only prior meeting this season, 5-1 at the Dort Financial Center on November 4. Now they'll look to sweep the two-game season series at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre with puck drop set for 7:00 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT: On Saturday the Sarnia Sting jumped out to an early 3-0 lead over the Firebirds at the Dort Financial and went on to secure a 6-2 victory to pull within a single point of Flint in the West Division standings. Nathan Aspinall scored his 13th goal of the season and Oliver Peer scored his fourth goal in five games as a member of the Firebirds.

SERIES HISTORY: Friday marks the second of two annual meetings between these clubs and is the lone contest to be played in Mississauga. In Flint's home win back in early November, Coulson Pitre scored twice and Nathan Day stopped 30 of the 31 shots faced to lead the charge. The all-time series between these clubs is tied at six wins each, although the Fish have won three of five games at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre.

SCOUTING THE STEELHEADS: (22-18-3-0 3rd Central Division) -

Luke Misa leads Mississauga on the score sheet with 39 assists and 57 total points this season. Porter Martone has the most goals on the squad (29) and sits second with 52 points. He's tied for the fourth-most goals scored in the OHL. Dallas Stars prospect Angus MacDonell ranks third with 37 points (15 G, 22 A).

Sophomore netminder Ryerson Leenders has appeared in 33 games for the Steelheads where he's earned 16 wins including three shutouts, which are third-most in the OHL. He carries a 3.06 goals-against average and the league's second-best save percentage of .913. Rookie Jack Ivankovic has six wins including one shutout across 11 appearances. His GAA sits at 2.83 and his SV% is .916.

On special teams the Steelheads rank 12th on the power play, converting on 19.8% of their opportunities. When shorthanded they're escaping unscathed at a rate of 77.8% which is good for 13th.

SCOUTING THE FIREBIRDS: (17-23-2-1, 3rd West Division) -

Oliver Peer tops the Firebirds in goals (26), assists (29), and total points (55) for the season. He's netted the first goal of the game seven times this year, which is tied for the most in the league. Anaheim Ducks prospect Coulson Pitre is second with 43 points, stemming from 20 tallies and 23 helpers. Nolan Dann remains in the third spot with 15 goals and 22 assists.

Nathan Day has appeared in 36 contests for Flint in the campaign thus far, earning 15 wins with a goals-against average of 3.93 and an .860 save percentage. Rookie Jacob Brown has two wins in ten appearances and holds a GAA of 4.82 with a SV% of .836.

The Firebirds have the OHL's 15th-ranked power play, scoring at a 17.1% clip. The penalty kill is getting the job done 77.8% of the time, good for 13th.

ODDS AND ENDS: Flint's best record against opponents from the OHL's four divisions is 5-2-0-0 versus the Central... The Birds have a mark of 12-11-1-0 on the road this season and Mississauga sits at 11-9-2-0 on home ice... Former Firebirds defenseman Reed Gee has played ten games with the Fish since being traded and has an assist and a +1 plus/minus rating. Friday will the his first time facing his former teammates... Oliver Peer has now recorded a point in all five of his games as a Firebird and he's on a six-game point streak (4 G, 5 A) that carries over to his last game with the Spitfires before the trade deadline... Nolan Dann saw his point streak end at 12 games in Saturday's loss to the Sting.

BROADCAST COVERAGE: This evening's game against the Mississauga Steelheads 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 pregame 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 Birds travel to Owen Sound for a Saturday night tilt with the Attack. They'll return home next Friday, February 2 to host the Barrie Colts. Tickets for the next home game versus Barrie are available from ETIX.COM.

Check out the Flint Firebirds Statistics



Ontario Hockey League Stories from January 26, 2024


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