Firebirds Rally to Force Game 7 With 4-3 Overtime Victory on Saturday
Flint, Mich. – Flint trailed 3-2 in the series and 3-1 in the game going into the third period Saturday at the Dort Financial Center. Then Nolan Dann scored his second of the night and Zacharie Giroux tied the game late. In the overtime period, Coulson Pitre put the game and series on his stick and brought the majority of the 3,900 fans to a frenzy with the winning tally. Joey Willis (3), Zayne Parekh (4), and Hunter Haight (3) found twine for the Spirit. Nathan Day and Tristan Lennox were tasked with defending the goals for their respective clubs for the sixth-straight game in the series. While Lennox posted 27 saves on 31 shots, it was the rookie Day who picked up his third postseason win of the year with a spectacular 22-save performance.
Flint would get the lone power-play opportunity of the contest, beginning 90 seconds into the first period. Unfortunately, the best scoring opportunity of the two-minute man advantage went to the Spirit on a shorthanded breakaway. Rookie netminder Nathan Day showed the poise and confidence of a veteran while turning the shot aside. In total, Saginaw outshot the Birds 13-8 but the scoreboard showed a pair of zero’s after 20 minutes. Flint outdrew the visitors 8-5.
A turnover in the neutral zone led to a quick transition by the Spirit early in the middle frame. Hunter Haight was along the left-wing half-boards and fed Mitchell Smith inside the near circle. Smith found a wide-open Joey Willis charging in from the left point, and the setup pass was hit home glove side for Willis’ third of the playoffs at 3:51.
The Firebirds answered as Nolan Dann carried behind the Spirit net 90 seconds later. As he curled around to the near side of the right circle, Dann lifted a wrister that found a sliver of daylight between Lennox’s mask and the near post just under the crossbar. It was Dann’s third of the postseason, recorded at 5:27 and assisted by Alex Bradshaw.
Saginaw took a 2-1 lead at 13:43 with the teams skating 4-on-4. Dean Loukus picked a Flint defender’s pocket and sent the puck to Matyas Sapovaliv in his defensive end. Sapovaliv saw Zayne Parekh rushing through the neutral zone ahead of the nearest Firebirds’ skater, and the pass created a breakaway for Parekh from the blue line in. From below the hash marks, he wristed a shot just over Day’s right pad but below his blocker for goal number four of the playoffs.
Three minutes later, Joey Willis dumped the puck around the boards behind Day from the left point. Calem Mangone gathered the puck behind the net and sent it to the side of the goal crease to Day’s right. Mancini was able to get a stick on it and slip it through skates to Hunter Haight on the far side of the blue paint. Haight knocked it home behind Day for his third at 16:59.
The Firebirds hit the locker room trailing 3-1 after 40 minutes. Second-period shots were 12-8 to Saginaw’s advantage, and they also had the edge in the faceoff circles 16-14. Neither team’s power play was tested in the center stanza.
The Firebirds came out and plastered Lennox with shots to start the third period. The veteran goaltender had an answer for all of them, including a highlight-reel glove save on a one-timer from point-blank range that energized his squad and the Saginaw faithful that made the trip to Flint for the game. Then the home crowd erupted at the 10:19 mark of the third when Dmitry Kuzmin centered a pass to Nolan Dann from the bottom of the right circle. Dann one-timed it five-hole for his second of the night, assisted by Kuzmin and Amadeus Lombardi.
With just under six minutes remaining in regulation, Dmitry Kuzmin carried into the offensive zone along the right wall and delivered a tape-to-tape pass to Zacharie Giroux charging up the middle. Giroux lifted a quick snapshot from just above the hash marks that went high glove to light the lamp and tie the tilt at three. The marker was Giroux’s third of the playoffs, scored at 14:10.
A minor penalty was assessed to the Firebirds with 3:23 remaining in regulation, leaving the fate of the season resting on the penalty-kill unit. They were successful, keeping the majority of the shots away from Day by clogging up the lanes with sticks and bodies. After a few tense moments on both ends of the rink in the waning seconds, the horn sounded and overtime was needed to settle the score.
Total shots through the end of regulation were 32-30, giving the visiting Spirit a slight edge. Flint dominated the faceoffs, winning back 40 of 66 draws. Both teams were scoreless in one power-play chance through the first three periods.
Then the puck dropped and Saginaw controlled the tempo of the game for nearly five minutes. Day was tested with three quality shots, but he turned all three aside. Then Flint had a chance in the other direction, with the puck on Coulson Pitre’s stick. He won the battle with the lone defender back and made the lone overtime shot for Flint. He tucked it five-hole on Lennox for his first of the postseason, extending the First Round series to Game 7 in Saginaw on Monday.
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.
Photography: Todd Boone / Flint Firebirds
Story: Brandon Mills / flintfirebirds.com
For more information, contact:
Jack Sznewajs
Director of Broadcasting & Communications
Flint Firebirds Hockey Club
[email protected]
