Firebirds slip by 67’s in overtime
The Ottawa 67’s were good in spurts, Saturday afternoon, but it wasn’t a complete enough effort to come away with a victory against the Flint Firebirds.
The 67’s saw a 2-0 lead evaporate, before tying the game at 3-3 in the third period, but a Marko Stojkov overtime winner was the difference in a 4-3 loss, spoiling Max Donoso’s 27-save performance.
It was a day of returns for Ottawa, with Chris Barlas, Kaleb Lawrence, and Charlie Hilton returning to a lineup that boasted just nine forwards on Wednesday. Fittingly, it was Barlas opening the scoring 10:16 in, taking a nice feed from Will Gerrior, and firing a quick snapshot under the glove of Nathan Day.
That was all the scoring until the early second period. With Ottawa on the powerplay, Nic Whitehead hit Luca Pinelli with a cross-ice feed, and the captain made no mistake for his 19th of the season, and eighth on the powerplay.
Pinelli’s marker, unfortunately, gave way to a three-goal run kicked off by Kaden Pitre late in the frame. He scored again early in the third, and with just over eight minutes to play, Gavin Hayes gave Flint their first lead of the game.
Just 11 seconds later, though, Cooper Foster scored his 10th of the season, tying the game.
Both teams traded chances in the overtime frame, but it was Stojkov capping off an odd-man rush with just 24 seconds to play, forcing the 67’s to settle for a single point.
Ottawa is right back in action tomorrow, hosting the North Bay Battalion at 2:00pm, in the annual Teddy Bear Toss Game. Fans are asked to bring new stuffed toys to be donated to Toy Mountain, or purchase a 67’s Brickley Bear at the arena, with proceeds going to CHEO.
GAME NOTES:
- Henry Mews has 15 points in his last 14 games.
- Chris Barlas has four points in his last five games.
- Cooper Foster is up to nine in his last nine.
