Flint Drops Kingston, 4-2
KINGSTON, Ont. – Alex Kostov scored twice, Mason Vaccari made 24 saves and the Flint Firebirds beat the Kingston Frontenacs, 4-2, on Friday night at Slush Puppie Place. Both Nathan Aspinall and Darels Uljanskis picked up two assists in Flint’s win.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Kingston took an early lead just over two minutes into the game. Tyler Hopkins threw a shot off Vaccari’s pads from even with the goal line and banked it in to give the Frontenacs a 1-0 lead.
The Firebirds then took the lead with a pair of second period goals. First, just after a power play expired, Kostov skated to the bottom of the right circle. He sent a snap shot through Gavin Betts and the game was tied. Flint went ahead later in the second thanks to a power play goal. Aspinall lasered a shot from the top of the left circle that was deflected in front of the net by Darian Anderson. It skipped past Betts and the Firebirds went ahead, 2-1.
Kingston again tied the game late in the second after Riley Clark carried the puck below the goal line and found a trailing Aleks Kulemin in the slot. He sent a one-timer past Vaccari’s glove, evening the score at two.
Flint took the lead back in the third period on Kostov’s second goal of the game. With the Birds on a power play, Kostov circled in the attacking zone and again found his way to the left circle. He darted a wrist shot through traffic and past Betts to make it 3-2.
The Firebirds added an insurance goal late in the third as Ihnat Pazii sped through center ice and into the offensive end. Pazii flicked a shot by Betts’ glove to push the score to its 4-2 final.
Flint improved to 20-7-1-1 with the victory and Kingston fell to 10-15-2-2.
POSTGAME NOTES:
Alex Kostov extended his point streak to 12 games and recorded his fourth multi-goal game of the season…Nathan Aspinall extended his point streak to 10 games…Darels Uljanskis has back-to-back multi-point games…Ihnat Pazii scored his first goal with the Firebirds.
UP NEXT:
Flint will finish its road trip on Sunday afternoon in Ottawa against the 67’s. Puck drop at TD Place is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Photo: Robert John Boucher, Kingston Frontenacs
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