Firebirds Pot Three to Tie it in Third but Fall to Windsor, 5-3
LASALLE, Ont. – The Flint Firebirds erased a 3-0 deficit with three goals in the third period but a late goal gave the Windsor Spitfires the lead back as they went on to beat the Firebirds, 5-3, in the preseason finale on Thursday night at Vollmer Culture and Recreation Complex.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
With the Firebirds trailing, 3-0 at the outset of the third period, they struck in the opening minute while working on a two-man advantage. Chris Thibodeau cycled the puck to Evan Konyen, who fed Marko Stojkov for a one-timer from above the right circle. He blasted the shot top shelf and past Carter Froggett, cutting the Windsor lead to 3-1.
The Birds struck again just four minutes later. Flint controlled the offensive zone as Thibodeau found Jack D’Arcy along the right wing. D’Arcy hit Konyen in the slot, who then slung a wrist shot past Froggett’s blocker to make the score 3-2.
Flint then tied the game with seven and a half minutes remaining. Jimmy Lombardi took the puck at the bottom of the right circle and fired a shot that Froggett stopped. The rebound found its way back to Lombardi who flipped a shot up and over the sprawling Froggett, evening the score at three.
But Windsor responded and took the lead late in the third. Evan Hjelholt held in a Firebirds clearing attempt just inside the blue line and strode to the left-wing wall. He sent a wrist shot on net that snuck under Brown’s pads and put the Spitfires on top, 4-3.
Noah Morneau added an empty-net goal with a minute and a half to play, pushing the score to its 5-3 final.
The Spitfires opened the scoring in the first period when Ethan Belchetz ran the puck down in the Firebirds zone and flicked a shot on net. Brown turned it aside but it caromed off a Flint defenseman and trickled through Brown’s pads to make the score 1-0. Belchetz struck again late in the second after Windsor forced a turnover in the Flint zone. Nathan Gaymes fed Belchetz at the right circle for a snap shot that beat Brown on the glove side and the Spitfires lead grew to 2-0.
Windsor got one more in the second period after Owen Outwater took the puck in neutral ice and gained the zone on the right wing. Outwater fed Jack Nesbitt for a back-door tap-in that extended the Spitfires advantage to 3-0.
The Firebirds finished the preseason with a record of 0-2-0-1 while Windsor, which has one preseason game remaining, improved to 4-0-0-0.
POSTGAME NOTES:
Evan Konyen’s goal and assist represented his first two points of the preseason and as a Firebird…Flint went 1-for-6 on the power play…the Firebirds were outshot by the Spitfires, 33-23.
UP NEXT:
The Firebirds will open their regular season on Friday, September 27 in London against the Knights. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Budweiser Gardens. Flint will then return home for its home opener on Saturday, September 28, also against London. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. at the Dort Financial Center.
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