Firebirds Drop Tight One With Otters, 5-3
FLINT – The Flint Firebirds fell in an early, two-goal hole, battled back to tie the game twice in the second period but ultimately were beaten by the Erie Otters, 5-3, on Saturday night at the Dort Financial Center. Jeremy Martin and Matthew Mania each scored their first goal of the season in Flint’s losing effort.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Erie got the scoring started just over halfway through the first period. Alexis Daviault found Sam Alfano behind the net before Alfano sent a no-look pass towards the goal crease. Malcolm Spence was there to collect the puck and flicked a wrister to beat Nathan Day, putting the Otters up by one.
Not long after, Dylan Edwards connected with Daviault at center ice where he carried the puck through Flint’s defense. Daviault hit Martin Misiak with a pass in the right face-off dot, where he buried a one timer, near side past the lunging Day, which pushed the score to 2-0.
Flint got on the scoreboard just one minute later as Blake Smith and Alex Kostov worked the puck out of their defensive zone. Kostov sprung Martin down the left wing, who then danced past two Erie defenders on his way to the net. He backhanded the puck past Charlie Burns to earn his first goal of the season and cut the deficit to one.
Flint then tied at two early in the second. Matthew Mania carried the puck along the boards with speed and found an open lane to close in on net. He put a move on and snuck a shot through Burns to light the lamp for the first time as a Firebird.
Shortly after the Birds tied it, Pano Fimis regained the Otters lead off a power play goal. Ty Henry and Misiak worked the puck across the blue line before saucing a pass over to Fimis who nailed a wrister from the dot.
The Birds evened the score again, after 15 minutes of play in the second. Nathan Aspinall worked with linemate Cole Zurawski to move the action up the ice. Zurawski sent the puck towards Erie’s goal crease, where Chris Thibodeau tipped the puck past Burns five-hole, squaring things at three.
The Otters found their way on the scoresheet yet again with less than a minute to play in the second. Gabriel Frasca connected with Spence at center ice, who then sent a forward pass to Alfano. Alfano fired a shot far side past Day and Erie regained the lead for good, 4-3.
Despite Flint leading in shots on goals in the third, Spence cashed in with a final-minute power play goal, which secured the Otters a win over the Firebirds, 5-3. Flint dropped its third straight and fell to 4-5-0-0 while Erie extended its point streak to four games and improved to 5-2-1-0.
UP NEXT:
The Firebirds hit the road for Sarnia on Wednesday for a rare morning game with the Sting. Puck drop at Progressive Auto Sales Arena is scheduled for 10:30 a.m.
POSTGAME NOTES:
Matthew Mania’s goal in the second period was his first as a Firebird…Jeremy Martin netted his first goal of the season after being held without a point in his first eight games…Cole Zurawski recorded an assist which extended his point streak to four games, matching the longest of the season for a Firebird.
Photo: Todd Boone
