Jimmy Lombardi and Darian Anderson scored in the shootout, and the Flint Firebirds beat the Saginaw Spirit 4-3 on Friday night at the Dow Event Center after Saginaw erased a three-goal deficit. Flint (7-2-1-0) moved into second place in the OHL’s West Division with 15 points. Saginaw (6-3-2-1) also has 15 points and sits third.
Scoring summary
- 1st, 4:32 — FLNT: Martins Klaucans (Charlie Hotles, Cooper Williams). 1-0 Flint.
- 1st — FLNT: Jimmy Lombardi, power play (Martins Klaucans). 2-0 Flint.
- 1st, 11:27 — FLNT: Brady Smith. 3-0 Flint.
- 2nd — SAG: Jacob Cloutier. 3-1 Flint.
- 2nd, 14:55 — SAG: Braidy Wassilyn (Dima Zhilkin). 3-2 Flint.
- 3rd, 12:33 — SAG: Brody George (Brody Pepoy). 3-3.
- Shootout — FLNT: Jimmy Lombardi and Darian Anderson scored; SAG: Dima Zhilkin scored. Flint won the shootout 2-1.
How it happened
Flint built a 3-0 lead before the midway point of the first period on goals by Martins Klaucans, Jimmy Lombardi on the power play, and Brady Smith. Saginaw chipped away in the second: Jacob Cloutier scored the 50th goal of his OHL career early in the period, and Braidy Wassilyn cut it to one late in the frame off a feed from Dima Zhilkin. Rookie Brody George then tied it at 12:33 of the third with his first OHL goal.
Zhilkin, who came in leading the OHL in points, stretched his point streak to 12 games with his assist and scored Saginaw’s only goal of the shootout. The Spirit outshot Flint 38-25, including 2-1 in a scoreless overtime.
Goalies and special teams
Trenten Bennett made 35 saves for Flint. Brady Knowling stopped 22 of 25 shots for Saginaw. Flint went 2-for-5 on the power play and Saginaw 1-for-7.
What’s next
The home-and-home finishes Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Dort Financial Center in Flint, the third meeting of the 2026-27 I-75 Divide Cup during the OHL’s Rivalry Week. The game streams on FloHockey.
Leave a Reply