Firebirds Host Spirit Tonight in Flint for Game 6

Flint, Mich. – A night after staying alive with a big 5-2 win in Saginaw, the Flint Firebirds still find themselves trailing three games to two in the First Round of the OHL Playoffs against their in-state rival Saginaw. Game 6 is tonight at the Dort Financial Center, and a win would force a monumental Game 7 on Monday at the Dow Event Center. For now, all the focus is on winning Game 6 on home ice. Puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m. (ET), and tickets are still available from ETIX HERE. 

The Firebirds have scored first in all five games in the series so far. In three of those games, the first goal stood as the lone goal for them. Game 1 ended in a disheartening 7-1 defeat before Matyas Sapovaliv’s hat trick in Game 2 led to a 4-1 final score. On home ice Monday, the Birds scored five times, including the eventual overtime-winning tally from Nolan Dann. Wednesday’s game was a great defensive performance from both teams, with Nathan Day earning ‘Third Star’ accolades for his 34-save effort and Tristan Lennox making 28 saves to obtain the ‘First Star’ honors.

Last night in Saginaw, five different players found twine for the Birds. Day earned the ‘First Star’ for making 38 saves on 40 shots in his second win of the postseason. Zacharie Giroux (1 G, 1 A) was the ‘Third Star,’ as he joined Gavin Hayes (2 A), and Tristan Bertucci (2 A) with two points each in the 5-2 victory. Dmitry Kuzmin was named ‘Second Star’ for scoring what became the eventual game-winner. Tristan Lennox stopped 19 of 23 shots faced in his fifth-straight playoff start. Matyas Sapovaliv had the only two-point (2 A) performance for Saginaw and leads all players in the series with 10 points across the five games.

On special teams, Flint ranks 14th on the power play in the postseason with a 12.5% conversion rate. The Spirit rank tenth, scoring on 15.4% of their chances. The Birds now rank seventh in the playoffs with an 84.6% rate of success. The Spirit are killing penalties at an 87.5% clip, good for third.

Players to Watch

Flint Firebirds (2-3-0-0, 5th Seed, Western Conference):

Amadeus Lombardi, Ethan Hay, and Tristan Bertucci now lead the Birds in playoff points with four points each. Lombardi became the first player in Firebirds’ history to break the 100-point plateau in the regular season, finishing with 102 (45 G, 57 A). He has three goals and one assist in five playoff games to date. On the tail-end of their draft-eligible year, Bertucci and Hay each have one goal and three helpers in the series. Ethan Hay has the second-highest faceoff win percentage (61.3%) among all 20 OHL’ers with at least 70 attempts in the playoffs.

Rookie netminder Nathan Day has started in all five games, earning two victories thus far. He carries a goals-against average (GAA) of 3.17 and a save percentage (SV%) of .899. Overage goaltender Will Cranley made seven saves on ten shots in 34 minutes of action in Saginaw last Thursday.

NHL: The Firebirds have six players with NHL ties consisting of Will Cranley (St. Louis Blues), Amadeus Lombardi (Detroit Red Wings), Gavin Hayes (Chicago Blackhawks), Braeden Kressler (Toronto Maple Leafs), Dmitri Kuzmin (Winnipeg Jets), and Artem Guryev (San Jose Sharks). Additionally, Coulson Pitre, Tristan Bertucci, Ethan Hay, and goaltender Nathan Day were listed on the NHL Central Scouting’s 2023 Midterm Rankings for the upcoming NHL Draft.

Through seven OHL seasons thus far, Alex Nedeljkovic (Detroit), Kole Sherwood (Columbus), Ty Dellandrea (Dallas), Tyler Tucker (St. Louis), and Will Bitten (St. Louis) are five former Firebirds to play in the NHL. Riley Piercey (Detroit) and Gavin Hayes (Chicago) played in NHL preseason contests this year, joining Firebirds’ alumni Ethan Keppen (Vancouver), Vili Saarijarvi (Detroit), and Jalen Smereck (Arizona). The team has produced 25 signed or drafted players into the NHL.

Saginaw Spirit (3-2-0-0, 4th Seed Western Conference):

Matyas Sapovaliv has five goals and five assists to lead Saginaw this postseason. He’s tied for the OHL lead in playoff goals and is third in total points. Rookie Michael Misa (2 G, 5 A) and Dean Loukus (1 G, 6 A) are tied for second on the Spirit roster with seven points each. Loukus is tied for fourth in the league in helpers in the playoffs, and Misa leads all rookies in points so far in Round 1.

Fourth-year veteran netminder Tristan Lennox has backstopped Saginaw in all five games of this First Round series. He ranks fifth in the postseason for both his goals-against average (GAA) of 2.30 and his save percentage (SV%) of .918. Shelby Township, Mich. native Andrew Oke played in 24 regular-season contests this year and logged ten wins. His GAA was 3.45 and his SV% ended at .892.

NHL: The Spirit have three players with NHL ties, consisting of Matyas Sapovaliv (Vegas Golden Knights), Hunter Haight (Minnesota Wild), and Tristan Lennox (New York Islanders). Additionally, Luke McNamara, Nic Sima, Joey Willis, Pj Forgione, and Calem Mangone were all named to the 2022 NHL Central Scouting Midterm Draft Rankings.

Among the notable Spirit alumni to play in the NHL are Cody Bass, Paul Bissonnette, T.J. Brodie, Matt Corrente, Filip Hronek, Jan Mursak, Jamie Oleksiak, Dalton Prout, Tom Pyatt, Brandon Saad, Chris Thorburn, and Vincent Trocheck.

Broadcast Coverage:

This evening’s Playoff Game against the Saginaw Spirit 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 here. Jack Sznewajs will call the play-by-play action on the Firebirds Hockey Network (FHN). Pregame coverage will begin prior to puck drop at 6:45 p.m. (ET) this evening.

The game will also be televised live across the province of Ontario on the OHL Action Pak on channel 468 (4468 HD) for both Rogers TV and Cogeco TV cable subscribers. OHL fans with cable television in Ontario can add the OHL Action Pak to their television plan to catch the Firebirds in action, home, or away all season long.

All of the Flint Firebirds’ home and away games throughout the 2022-23 playoffs can be watched anywhere in the world online at https://watch.chl.ca/ohl. CHL TV is the league’s video streaming platform that delivers high-quality live and on-demand coverage of all regular season and playoff games annually. The cost in the postseason is $5.99 for a one-day pass or $44.97 to get all of the OHL’s Playoff games this year.

Next Up: If necessary, Game 7 will be played Monday evening in Saginaw. Puck drop will be set for 7:05 p.m. (ET), and tickets are available HERE for the Firebirds’ faithful willing to travel.

Story: Brandon Mills / flintfirebirds.com

For more information, contact:

Jack Sznewajs
Director of Broadcasting & Communications
Flint Firebirds Hockey Club
[email protected]