Deline, Firebirds Take Care of Pesky Sting 4-3 in Overtime
October 21, 2022 – Ontario Hockey League (OHL) – Flint Firebirds News Release
Sarnia, Ont. – For the second time in three nights the Flint Firebirds took on the Sarnia Sting with the series shifting to Progressive Auto Sales Arena tonight for the first time this year. Friday night’s action was a fiery affair that saw the Firebirds take care of Sarnia in overtime, 4-3. Tyler Deline scored the game-winning goal in overtime while adding two assists earning First Star honors. In his first game back this year, Braeden Kressler (Toronto Maple Leafs) added a goal and an assist picking up Third Star honors. Sandis Vilmanis was named Second Star. Just like on Wednesday, Will Cranley got the start in net for the Firebirds and Benjamin Gaudreau (San Jose Sharks) for the Sting.
The game started with a bang 19 seconds in. Off an offensive zone face-off, the Sting’s Nolan Burke took a quick shot from the draw. Cranley didn’t know where it was before looking for the puck behind him. The replay showed that Dmitry Kuzmin had kept the puck out of the net behind Cranley and the call on the ice was originally no goal. However, after a review, the officials overturned the call giving Burke his sixth of the year.
The Firebirds wouldn’t let it stand for long. Tyler Deline sent a pass off the boards and out to center ice. Simon Slavicek pick the puck up and deked right around Chandler Romeo (Ottawa Senators) to find himself in all alone on Gaudreau. He pulled the puck to his backhand and roofed it upstairs to tie the game at one with his first of the year. James Petrovski added the secondary assist on the tying goal at the 5:59 mark of the first.
After being unable to convert with a man advantage late in the first, Sarnia ended up retaking the lead in the final minute of the first. Great passing from Nolan Burke to Ty Voit (Toronto Maple Leafs) in the offensive ended up on the stick of Voit all alone at the backdoor to bury his sixth of the year at the 19:06 mark. Romeo picked up the secondary assist.
Flint outshot the Bees 12-9 in the opening frame and killed off the only penalty of the period. It was Sarnia outdrawing the Birds 13-4.
A fiery middle stanza saw each team pick up a powerplay chance, multiple four-on-fours take place and a couple of scraps as well. Finally, the Firebirds tied things up. Amadeus Lombardi (Detroit Red Wings) sent the puck to Gavin Hayes (Chicago Blackhawks) atop the zone, he spun around and fired one toward the net. Brennan Othmann (New York Rangers) tipped the puck in behind Gaudreau’s right pad tying things up at two 16:34 into the period. It was Othmann’s league-leading eighth goal of the year.
The Sting outshot the Firebirds 12-10 in the 2nd while also outdueling them in the dot 10-7.
The two teams continued to fill the penalty box early in the third period. Flint had back-to-back powerplay chances in the opening 10 minutes of the period but were unable to beat Gaudreau.
Finally, they got the go-ahead tally. While on the powerplay, with under four minutes, remaining Luca D’Amato and Tyler Deline played catch along the blue line. Deline finally let a shot go and Braeden Kressler (Toronto Maple Leafs) tipped it home while cutting across the slot to put the Firebirds up 3-2 with 3:47 remaining in the game.
Sarnia wouldn’t go away quietly. In the final minute, the Firebirds got caught up deep in their own end. Voit sent it to the point for Ryan Mast (Boston Bruins) who let one go. With Cranley fighting through a screen, the rebound kicked off his right pad and ended up atop the high circle where Sandis Vilmanis found it and blasted it home high to the glove side to tie the game at three with 57 seconds remaining.
All that meant for Sarnia was an extra point as the two teams headed to 3-on-3 overtime which didn’t last for long. Tyler Deline, Zacharie Giroux and Braeden Kressler executed a perfect breakout play from their own end to enter the offensive zone. Kressler received the pass from Giroux up the far side, skated up the boards and found Deline who slipped into the slot and put home the game-winner exactly 2:00 into overtime.
Final shots read 36-32 in favor of the Sting, they won the faceoff battle 35-24 as well. The Firebirds finished 1-for-5 with the man advantage making it three straight games they scored a powerplay goal, and went a perfect 3-for-3 a man down.
Next Up: The Firebirds return to home ice this Saturday to host the Windsor Spitfires for the first time since surrendering the Western Conference Finals in game seven to conclude last year’s record-breaking campaign. Saturday’s game will be Hockey Fights Cancer Night, benefitting the McLaren Flint Foundation. The 50/50 proceeds will also go to the McLaren Flint Foundation. The Firebirds will wear lavender-colored jerseys recognizing all cancers with different colored ribbons in the numbers. A live jersey auction will follow the conclusion of the game. Tickets for Saturday’s 7:00 p.m. (ET) rivalry battle are available now.
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