Firebirds Weekly Roundup, November 25 – December 1
FLINT – The Firebirds were scheduled to play three games in the past week but due to unforeseen circumstances from Mother Nature, ended up playing just two. The Firebirds picked up all four possible points, with a home in on Wednesday over the Sarnia Sting followed by a road win on Friday in St. Catharines over the Niagara IceDogs.
Flint’s lone home game of the week took place on Wednesday, with the Firebirds hosting the Sarnia Sting on Teddy Bear Toss Night. Conner Clattenburg made it rain stuffed animals early, and Jeremy Martin lifted the Birds to a 2-0 advantage early in the second. The Sting rallied back to a 2-2 tie after 40 minutes that held through the end of regulation and the five-minute overtime frame. Nathan Aspinall potted the lone marker in the shootout, giving the Firebirds the 3-2 victory. Nathan Day stopped 20 of 22 shots again, including blanking all three shootout attempts.
On Friday, the Birds faced Niagara at the Meridian Centre. They hung five unanswered goals on the IceDogs through the first two periods and cruised to an 8-2 triumph. Matthew Wang scored twice, and both Matthew Mania (1 G, 2 A) and Aspinall (3 A) recorded 3 points. Karlis Flugins also logged the first multi-point game of his OHL career with a pair of helpers. Day made 17 saves on 19 shots faced and earned his second assist of the season in his tenth win of the campaign.
Flint was scheduled to play in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, but the game was postponed due to inclement weather and unsafe travel conditions.
Across the two-game week, the Birds went 2-for-9 (22.2%) on their power play opportunities. The penalty kill allowed one goal through eight shorthanded situations (87.5%). Flint outshot the opposition 65-49 throughout the two games.
LEADERBOARD
Chris Thibodeau leads the squad in assists (14) and total points (19) through 22 games. There’s a three-way time for second. Kaden Pitre leads the club with nine goals plus eight assists, Aspinall has seven tallies and ten helpers, and Jimmy Lombardi has five goals and 12 assists.
COMING UP
The Firebirds will ocntinue their stretch of what was originally six, but is now five, consecutive games on the road. They’ll be in Barrie on Thursday, Sudbury on Friday, and then North Bay for a 2:00 p.m. matinee game on Sunday. The radio broadcast of all three games will air on 103.1 FM through Flint and mid-Michigan or online via the US 103.1 app.
Story: Brandon Mills / flintfirebirds.com
