Strong Start, Undone by Sleepy 3rd as Attack Fall to Firebirds in Game 4
The series is now a best of 3.
The Owen Sound Attack had a glorious opportunity to stake themselves to a 3-1 series lead on home ice Wednesday night, but it was the quick strike offence of the Flint Firebirds that sealed a 3-2 comeback win.
It was a dream start for the Attack as rookie defender Madden Steen opened the scoring just over the 10 minute mark of the first period, when he pulled a bank shot off Firebirds goalie Luke Cavallin from below the goal line. The goal was the first of Steen’s OHL career, and it couldn’t have come at a better time, giving the Attack a big early lead.
It was then the red hot Julian Fantino netting his 4th of the playoffs, as he took a perfect carom off the end boards from a Taos Jordan point shot, before going up stairs to stretch the lead to 2-0.
It looked as though the Attack would go into the first intermission up by a pair, but Flint forward Amadeus Lombardi sniped a perfect shot after coming out from behind the goal line, past Nick Chenard in the final minutes of the period.
A low event second period would see the teams head into the final frame the same they ended the first. With the Attack up 2-1.
The third period was anything but ideal for Owen Sound, as Flint’s Zachary Giroux was left unchecked in front of Chenard, and easily deposited the tying goal just a few minutes into the frame. Then just 5 minutes later, Vancouver Canuck prospect Ethan Keppen had a great sole dash, dancing right down to Chenard, before beating the Attack goalie over the glove to give the visitors the lead.
It looked as though Flint had doubled their lead to 4-2 just minutes later, but after a video review it was deemed that they had entered the zone off-side, keeping the score 3-2 and giving the Attack a ray of hope.
Unfortunately, a costly too many men on the ice penalty with under a minute left in the game, sealed the Attack’s fate, as they fell 3-2 in the game, evening the series at 2-2.
Game 5 is set for Sunday evening in Flint, with Game 6 going Tuesday May 3 at the Bayshore. Tickets for Game 6 are on sale at tickets.attackhockey.com and will be available at the MacVicar and McComb Sutton Realty Box Office.
