Rangers Fight Back, Beat Firebirds, 3-2
FLINT– The Flint Firebirds jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to a pair of second period goals, but the Kitchener Rangers responded with three unanswered goals and went on to beat the Firebirds, 3-2, on Wednesday night at the Dort Financial Center. Kitchener’s Trent Swick finished with two goals and an assist in his first game of the season to pace the Rangers’ attack.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Firebirds opened the scoring in the second period while working on a 5-on-3 power play. Flint passed the puck around the perimeter and Nathan Aspinall eventually fed Kaden Pitre at the right circle. He snapped a shot that beat Jackson Parsons on the glove side to give the Birds a 1-0 lead.
Matthew Wang would then extend the Firebirds lead later in the second after Rylan Fellinger held the puck at the blue line. He hit Wang, who skated to the high slot and fired a wrister past Parsons to make the score 2-0.
Swick and the Rangers then answered fast and scored, just 18 seconds later to cut the Flint lead in half. Adrian Misaljevic fed Swick for a one-timer that got past Nathan Day to get Kitchener on the board. Later, a delay of game penalty gave the Rangers a power play that Misaljevic used that to tie the game. Swick put a shot on goal that Day stopped but Misaljevic poked it home, evening the score at two.
In the third, Luca Romano slid the puck to Swick who stepped into another one timer that glanced off the post and past Day, giving the Rangers their first lead, 3-2. Flint would pull Day for an extra attacker late but could not even the score and Kitchener held on for its third consecutive win.
Day made 26 saves on 29 shots and Parsons stopped 18 of 20 in the Rangers net. Flint fell to 3-2-0-0 in the loss while Kitchener improved to 3-2-1-0.
POSTGAME NOTES:
Matthew Wang’s goal in the second period was his first of the season… Kaden Pitre scored for the second consecutive game and now has three goals on the season…Max Anderson got the secondary assist on the Wang goal, which represented his first career OHL point.
UP NEXT:
The Firebirds will return home on Saturday night to take on the Oshawa Generals. The game will be Hockey Fights Cancer Night, sponsored by McLaren Flint Foundation. The players will be wearing specialty jerseys that will be auctioned live after the game. Proceeds from the auction will benefit the McLaren Flint Foundation. Puck drop at the Dort Financial Center is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Photo: Natalie Shaver, OHL Images
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