Oke stops 29, Spirit fall late to Flint
Flint, Mich. – The Saginaw Spirit fell to the Flint Firebirds 5-2 in the fourth game of the Coors Light I-75 Divide Cup Series on Wednesday, December 18th. Calem Mangone and Zayne Parekh both scored for the Spirit. Andrew Oke made his eighth consecutive start, recording 29 saves on 32 shots. Nathan Day was the starting goaltender for Flint and stopped 34 of 36 shots.
Flint opened the scoring early on Wednesday. Connor Clattenburg buried a back hand shot into the roof of the net just 1:12 into the game. Nolan Collins and Urban Podrekar recorded the assists.
The Firebirds added another as Kaden Pitre tucked in his own rebound to give Flint an early 2-0 lead. Christopher Thibodeau picked up the assist.
After 1: SAG 0 – 2 FLNT (Total Shots: 7 – 16)
Saginaw lit the lamp first in the second period as Calem Mangone picked up the loose puck on the side of the net and buried a shot short side. Mangone’s 13th goal of the season cut Flint’s lead to 2-1 at 4:58 in the second period.
The Spirit tied the game as Zayne Parekh moved in front of the net with some fancy skating and sent a pass across the crease. The puck deflected off the skate of a Flint defender and found the back of the net. Sebastien Gervais tallied the assist.
After 2: SAG 2 – 2 FLNT (2nd Period Shots: 16 – 9 Totals Shots: 23 – 25)
Less than two minutes into the third period, Flint took a 3-2 lead as Alex Kostov scored while on a breakaway.
With 28.3 seconds left in the third period Nathan Aspinall intercepted a pass and buried a shot into Saginaw’s empty net.
Just 20 seconds later, Flint added another empty net goal this time coming off the stick of Connor Clattenburg. His second of the game gave the Firebirds a 5-2 lead.
FINAL: SAG 2 – 5 FLNT (3rd Period Shots: 13 – 9 Total Shots: 36 – 34)
Powerplays: SAG 0/3 FLNT 0/2
Goaltenders: SAG Andrew Oke (29 Saves / 32 Shots L) FLNT Nathan Day (34 Saves / 36 Shots W)
Saginaw returns home to face the Flint Firebirds on Friday, December 20th at the Dow Event Center for the fifth game of the Coors Light I-75 Divide Cup Series. Puck drop is set for 7:05 PM.
Photo: Natalie Shaver – OHL Images
