Video: Peterborough Uses Strong Third Period to Record Thursday Triumph
Peterborough, Ont. – Despite leading 2-1 after 20 minutes and the game being tied 2-2 into the third period, Peterborough eventually pulled out a 5-2 victory over the Firebirds Thursday night. Evan Vierling scored his first career OHL goal, Ethan Keppen recorded a two point night for the fourth time this season and Luke Cavallin made 24 saves on 29 shots.
The Petes struck first in the contest at 15:25 of the first period. Shawn Spearing sent a shot on goal from the left point that found its way through heavy traffic in front of Flint goaltender Luke Cavallin, and snuck just under the crossbar for Spearing’s first career goal in the OHL. The assists were credited to Nick Robertson and Erik Cermak.
Just over a minute later, Ethan Keppen evened the score with a power-play tally from the doorstep. Vladislav Kolyachonok fired a high shot from the left point that caught teammate Eric Uba up high in the slot. The redirection bounced off netminder Hunter Jones and slid to Keppen at the inner edge of the left-wing circle. He buried it up high, near-side for his eighth of the campaign.
With 1:50 left to play in the opening frame, Evan Vierling scored his first career OHL goal on a breakaway. Keppen made a soft pass off the right-wing boards to hit Vierling in stride as he got to the offensive blue line. He crossed through the right circle to the slot and made a backhand-to-forehand fake that earned the commitment of Jones. Vierling slid the puck just inside of the far post under Jones’ outstretched right pad. The ‘Birds led 2-1 after 20 minutes of play, and held the edge in shots-on-goal 13-12.
The second period remained scoreless until the clock showed 1:45 remaining. While on the power-play, Adam Timleck centered the puck from the right-wing wall, finding Cermak in the near circle. Robertson rifled a shot shortside off the left post and in to tie the contest at 2. Second-period shots were 11-9 in Flint’s favor, with the two-period advantage of 24-21.
Peterborough scored three unanswered in the final frame. They claimed their first lead of the game at 3:47 of the third period. Declan Chisholm carried the puck into the Flint zone, dished a backhand pass to Christopher Paquette who had a stride on his defender. Paquette scored his 14th of the season on a shootout-style breakaway, just inside the right post. At 6:29, Brady Hinz scored his 10th of the campaign, assisted by Adam Timleck. Finally, a Flint turnover resulted in Liam Kirk picking up his ninth of the campaign on a one-timer from the slot, assisted by Paquette and Timleck, at the 8:11 mark.
Flint outshot the Petes 33-29. The Firebirds were 1-for-5 on the power-play and were 1-for-2 on the penalty kill. Ethan Keppen earned third star honors.
Next up for Flint, the Firebirds will continue their six-game road trip Friday night in Canada’s capital city, Ottawa. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. (ET) at the TD Place Arena, where Flint faces the top team in the OHL, the Ottawa 67’s. The game will be televised live in Ottawa on channel 22 / 510 (HD) for Rogers TV cable subscribers and province-wide across Ontario on the OHL Action Pak on channel 446 for both Rogers TV & Cogeco TV cable subscribers. In addition, the game will be broadcast live on the radio throughout Flint & Mid-Michigan on US 103.1 FM and us103.com. Radio pre-game coverage begins 30 minutes prior to puck drop at 6:30 p.m.
Photo Credit: Jess Van Staalduinen / Peterborough Petes
For more information:
Dominic Hennig
Director of Broadcasting & Communications
Flint Firebirds Hockey Club
[email protected]
(810) 519-9347
