Firebirds Look to Even Series Wednesday in Owen Sound
Flint, Mich. – After splitting the first two home games with the visiting Attack, the Firebirds then dropped the first of two back-to-back games in Owen Sound. Flint has never won more than one game in a playoff series, having only made one prior appearance back in 2017. Puck drop for Game 4 of the best-of-seven series is set for 7:00 p.m. (ET) at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre in Owen Sound, Ont. Wednesday evening.
After concluding their most successful regular season in franchise history, the Firebirds kicked off their second playoff appearance with a 6-3 loss to Owen Sound Friday. They followed the opening defeat with a 6-3 victory to even the series on Saturday. On Friday, the teams were tied at three with five minutes remaining in regulation. Once the Attack scored their fourth goal, the Firebirds were given a chance on the power play. After a timeout, Flint’s coaching staff called netminder Luke Cavallin to the bench for an extra skater. Owen Sound scored two empty-netters in the waning minutes to round out the 6-3 final. On Saturday, the Birds held a 2-1 lead with 10 minutes remaining in the game. Flint went on to score three times in 60 seconds and four times in a span of 2:16 to set new franchise records for the fastest goals in a playoff goal. The Bears netted two more late goals but ran out of time as Flint tied the series at 1-1 before heading to Owen Sound.
On Monday, the Firebirds and Attack played a very tight Game 3. In the end, it was the series scoring leader Julian Fantino netted the game-winner and earned ‘First Star’ honors for his efforts. The goaltenders were named second and third stars, with the Attack’s Nick Chenard earning the victory off 38 saves and Flint’s Luke Cavallin stopping 36 of 38 shots faced. Braeden Kressler (Toronto Maple Leafs) scored his first of the playoffs and first goal since December 29 after missing most of the latter half of the season due to injury. Cedrick Guindon potted the other goal for the Attack. In total, the clubs combined for 11 minor penalties, one major, and a game misconduct, despite there being less physicality from either side.
Flint entered the playoffs ranked third in the Western Conference with a regular-season record of 42-21-1-4. The Attack was seeded sixth in the Western Conference with a 34-26-5-3 record. On the road this year, Flint posted the OHL’s best record of 24-7-1-2. Owen Sound’s home record was 19-12-2-1. In the final 10 contests of the regular season, the Attack went 6-3-1-0 while the Birds finished 7-3-0-0.
All-time, the Firebirds carry a regular-season record of 7-17-0-0 against the Attack, with an away record of 3-9-0-0 in the series. This year, Flint held a record of 1-3-0-0 in four contests, with two of the tilts ending in a one-goal differential. Topping the scoresheet for Owen Sound versus Flint during the regular season were Colby Barlow (4 G, 2 A), William Portokalis (3 G, 3 A), and Cedrick Guindon (2 G, 4 A). Riley Piercey (5 G, 1 A) topped the charts for the Firebirds, with Brennan Othmann (3 G, 1 A), Colson Pitre (2 G, 2 A), Gavin Hayes (2 G, 2 A), and Luca D’Amato (1 G, 3 A) ending with four points each.
On special teams, the Firebirds finished with the OHL’s top-ranked penalty kill, finding success at a rate of 84.2%. Through three playoff games so far, they rank ninth with an 84.6% efficiency. The Attack killed penalties at a 75.7% clip during the 68-game campaign, the league’s 16th-best. They’re currently 10th in the playoffs at 83.3%. Flint converted with the man-advantage at a 19.7% regular-season rate, which ranked them 12th in the 20-team OHL. Owen Sound scored on 18.0% of their chances, which was the 16th-best in the league. Statistically, the Birds are sixth-best so far in the 2022 playoffs at 16.7%, and the Bears sit eighth at 15.4%.
Players to Watch
Flint Firebirds (42-21-1-4, 3rd Western Conference):
Brennan Othmann (New York Rangers) ranked first on the team and second in the league with 50 goals. He’s scored twice in the playoffs so far and picked up an assist for three points in three games. both playoff games, plus added an assist for a 1.50 points-per-game start. Amadeus Lombardi ranked second with 59 points (18 G, 41 A) in 67 games. He also has three points (1 G, 2 A) across the three playoff games so far. Riley Piercey finished the regular season ranked third with 27 tallies and 31 helpers. He has two helpers so far in the series. Todd Bertuzzi and Ethan Keppen (Vancouver Canucks) were lights-out the latter half of the regular season for Flint, and each already have two points (1 G, 1 A) in the playoffs.
Westland, Mich. native Gavin Hayes finished atop the scoresheet for rookies on the roster with 49 points (19 G, 30 A) in 65 games. He holds the franchise records for assists and points in a single season by any Flint rookie and already has an assist versus the Attack. Coulson Pitre led the team’s freshman class in goals (23) and had 44 total points through 52 contests. He is the club’s all-time goal-scoring leader, and he only needed one game to log his first playoff goal on Friday.
On defense, Dmitry Kuzmin (Winnipeg Jets) finished with 18 goals and 26 helpers to lead the rearguards. His 18 markers found him tied for third in the OHL in defensive scoring. He has an assist through three playoff games. Tyler Deline had seven tallies and 31 assists to rank second among the Flint blue-liners. His 17 power-play helpers were tied for 8th-most among defensemen. He tops the team in playoff assists thus far with three. First-year defender Luca D’Amato also has a goal and assist in the postseason to date.
Luke Cavallin finished with the league’s seventh-best goals-against average (GAA) of 3.16 and the league’s third-best save percentage (SV%) at .910 through 56 appearances. He earned the most wins in the league and the most in Flint history, ending at 36 victories during the regular season. Through three playoff games, his GAA is 3.04 and his SV% is at .907. Behind Cavallin are two rookie goalies. Ian Michelone has now appeared in ten games and picked up four victories. He carries a GAA of 4.37 and a SV% of .884. Michelone was one of only two goalies in the league to earn a shutout this season. Nathaniel Day has two victories in eight appearances, with a 3.63 GAA and a .883 SV%.
NHL: The Firebirds have four players on their roster with NHL ties consisting of Ethan Keppen (Vancouver Canucks), Braeden Kressler (Toronto Maple Leafs), Dmitry Kuzmin (Winnipeg Jets), and Brennan Othmann (New York Rangers). Also, Gavin Hayes and Simon Slavicek were named to the 2022 NHL Central Scouting Midterm Draft Rankings.
Despite Flint playing in just five OHL seasons thus far, Alex Nedeljkovic (Carolina Hurricanes / Detroit Red Wings), Kole Sherwood (Columbus Blue Jackets), Ty Dellandrea (Dallas Stars), and Vladislav Kolyachonok (Arizona Coyotes) are four former Firebirds to play regular-season games in the NHL. Brennan Othmann (New York Rangers) and Firebirds’ alumni Ethan Keppen (Vancouver Canucks), Vili Saarijarvi (Detroit Red Wings) and Jalen Smereck (Arizona Coyotes) have all played in NHL pre-season contests. In total, the team has produced 22 signed or drafted players into the NHL.
Owen Sound Attack (34-26-5-3, 6th Western Conference):
Deni Goure led the Attack on the scoresheet through the regular season with 24 goals and 39 helpers in 63 games played. He had an assist on Monday. Rookie Cedrick Guindon ranked second on the club and was tied for the second-most goals and points among OHL rookies, finishing with 59 points (30 G, 29 A) through 68 contests. He’s picked up a goal two assists in three playoff games. Fellow freshman Servac Petrovsky finished third on the team with 54 total points (28 G, 26 A) in 65 tilts, and has now scored a goal in two of three playoff games. Rookie winger Julian Fantino is the player with three goals through three postseason games for Owen Sound.
On the blue line, defenseman Sam Sedley topped the unit by scoring four times and pitching in 38 helpers for 42 total points in 64 games during the campaign. He has two assists in the current series. First-year rearguard Cal Uens finished second, also with four tallies plus 14 helpers in all 68 games. Igor Chibrikov is the lone blue-liner with a postseason goal so far, and he’s added an assist.
Between the pipes, Nick Chenard made 45 regular-season appearances and finished tied for seventh with 24 victories. He carried a 3.01 goals-against average (GAA) and a save percentage (SV%) of .901, both of which ranked sixth-best among OHL starting netminders who played at least 2,000 minutes. In three playoff appearances, Chenard carries a GAA of 3.14 and a .922 SV%. Rookie netminder Corbin Votary made one save on two shots in a late-game appearance Saturday. He finished the campaign with a record of 5-9-1-1 along with a 4.35 GAA and a .863 SV%.
NHL: The Attack are currently without any players with NHL ties. However, Servac Petrovsky, Cedrick Guindon, and Gavin Bryant were named to the 2022 NHL Central Scouting Midterm Draft Rankings.
The list of notable Owen Sound alumni to play in the NHL includes Sean Avery, Wayne Simmonds, Mark Giordano, Bobby Ryan, Kirk Maltby, Josh Bailey, Joel Ward, Wayne Primeau, Brad Richardson, Andrej Sekera, Trevor Lewis, Andrew Shaw, Cody Ceci, Brian McGrattan, Kevin Weekes, and Paul Bissonnette.
Broadcast Coverage:
Wednesday evening’s contest against the Owen Sound Attack can be heard live on the radio throughout Flint & Mid-Michigan on US 103.1 FM, online at www.us103.com, or by downloading the US 103 app here. Jack Sznewajs will call the play-by-play action on the Firebirds Hockey Network (FHN). Pregame coverage will begin prior to puck drop at 6:40 p.m. (ET) Monday evening.
Also, all Flint Firebirds’ home and away games throughout the 2022 playoffs can be watched anywhere in the world online at https://watch.staging.chl.ca/ohl. CHL TV is the league’s new and improved video streaming platform that delivers high-quality live and on-demand coverage of all regular season and playoff games annually. Complete OHL Playoff passes are available for $59.99 plus tax, or you can tune in to Round 1 only for $19.99. There are also CHL All Access playoff passes available to watch all CHL playoff games.
Next Up: Game 5 will be played in Flint Sunday, May 1 at 4:00 pm. Tickets for Game 5 are available from ETIX HERE, at the Dort Financial Center Box Office or by calling 1-800-514-3849.
Story: Brandon Mills / flintfirebirds.com
For more information, contact:
Jack Sznewajs
Director of Broadcasting & Communications
Flint Firebirds Hockey Club
[email protected]
(810) 742-2004 ext. 223
