Sudbury Wins Physical Contest in Flint 4-2 Saturday
October 8, 2022 – Ontario Hockey League (OHL) – Flint Firebirds News Release
Flint, Mich. – The Firebirds dropped a difficult 4-2 decision at the hands of the visiting Sudbury Wolves Saturday. Owen Pitters scored his first of the campaign and Gavin Hayes netted his second. Two goals weren’t enough against the Sudbury offense. Quentin Musty logged two goals and a pair of assists to top the stats for the night. Alex Pherand also had a pair of tallies and finished with a three-point night. Will Cranley (St. Louis Blues) got his third start in goal for Flint, while fellow overager Joe Ranger backstopped the Wolves to the victory.
Both teams brought a physical brand of hockey right from the initial puck drop. Just beyond three minutes in both teams got together in front of Sudbury’s bench. Gloves stayed on and cooler heads prevailed, but pushing and shoving continued after whistles and several penalties were assessed. Seconds after killing off their first shorthanded situation of the night, Alex Pharand shot on Cranley from the bottom of the left circle. Cranley kicked the shot aside, but Quentin Musty was at the bottom of the opposite circle to redirect the puck past the diving goaltender for his second of the season at 7:54. The second assist went to David Goyette (Seattle Kraken).
With under five minutes to play in the opening frame, Goyette carried up the right-wing boards and slipped a backhand pass to Musty all alone crossing the blue line at center. He sniped a wrist shot that found twine in the top corner, blocker side for his second of the night at 15:29.
The Wolves carried the two-goal lead into the first intermission. They outshot the Birds 12-5 in the opening frame, but Flint held an 11-10 advantage in the faceoff circles. Neither team converted on the power play, with Sudbury getting three chances and the Firebirds getting one.
Sudbury’s lead increased to three early in the second period. While on the power play, Alex Pharand emerged from a battle along the right-wing boards and carried to the right faceoff dot. He lifted a wrister up high to the far side for his second of the season at 3:47, assisted by Kocha Delic and Musty.
The Firebirds cut the deficit with an even-strength tally at 7:22 of the middle stanza. Matthew Jenkin fed Daks Klinkhammer at the right point, and the first-year forward launched a low slapshot into traffic. Owen Pitters was able to deflect the shot past Ranger for his first of the season.
Tempers continued to heat up for the balance of period two. One player from each side left early with a 10-minute misconduct for another exchange in front of the Wolves bench. Gloves came off near the six-minute mark after a Firebirds’ rearguard took a questionable hit deep in his defensive corner.
A seemingly harmless shot from Sudbury’s outer edge of the right circle resulted in a rebound trickling through the slot. Pharand was in the right place to quickly bury the loose puck before Cranley could reposition himself. His second marker of the night was logged at 17:12, unassisted.
Second-period shots favored the Wolves 18-10, and they also outdrew the Firebirds 16-11. Sudbury scored once on two chances with the power play, and the Birds were scoreless on their lone opportunity.
Brennan Othmann (New York Rangers) won a battle along the end boards and hit Zacharie Giroux in the right corner. Giroux sent a set-up pass to Gavin Hayes (Chicago Blackhawks) all alone between the hash marks. Hayes wound back and launched a heavy one-timer past Ranger for his second of the season at 16:46.
The Firebirds used their timeout with just under two minutes remaining. Cranley remained on the bench, as the faceoff was set for the offensive zone. The Firebirds won the next few faceoffs, and the Wolves were unable to find the empty cage from their own end. Ranger and his defense held strong for the 4-2 final score.
Shots ended at 38 for Sudbury and 28 for the Firebirds. Faceoffs were 35-33 after 60 minutes. The Wolves scored once on six power plays and Flint went 0-for-4. Cranley made 34 saves on 38 shots and it was Joe Ranger stopping 28 of 30 for the victory.
Next Up: The Firebirds will depart on a three-game road trip next weekend, with stops in Erie (Fri), Niagara (Sat), and Kitchener (Sun). They return to Flint for their next home game on Wednesday, October 19 to host the Sarnia Sting. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. (ET) in Flint and tickets are available now from Etix HERE.
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