Spirit battle but fall short 5-3 to Flint Firebirds

The Spirit now trail the Firebirds 2 games to none in the I-75 Divide Cup Series between the two rival hockey cities...

    icon Nov 24, 2016
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The Saginaw Spirit (7-12-2-1) dropped a 5-3 decision to the Flint Firebirds (13-9-0-1) on the road at the Dort Federal Event Center tonight. The Spirit now trail the Firebirds 2 games to 0 in the I-75 Divide Cup Series between the two rivals. 
 
Second year Flint defenseman Fedor Gordeev (3) scored his third goal of the season at 12:51 of the third period to break a 3-3 tie and put the Firebirds ahead for good. 
 
The Spirit would strike first with a goal early in the first period, setting the tone for a back and forth rivalry game.
 
Saginaw captain Mitchell Stephens (9) put the Spirit up 1-0 with his ninth goal of the season from Matthew Kreis and Cole Coskey at 3:15 of the first period. 
 
The Firebirds took advantage of a C.J. Garcia roughing penalty at 7:57 of the first period when Alex Peters (2) scored on the power play at 9:28 of the first period to tie the game at a goal apiece. 
 
Saginaw overage forward Hayden Hodgson (8) answered with a power play goal from Stephens and Filip Hronek to go back on top 2-1 at 17:38 of the first period. 
 
Flint left wing Nicholas Caamano (11) tied the game at two goals apiece with a power play goal at 15:45 of the second period following a Kirill Maksimov penalty for holding at 14:07 of the second. 
 
Flint took advantage of another Maksimov penalty (high stick) when Mathieu Henderson (7) scored a power play goal for a 3-2 Firebirds' lead at 16:57 of the second period. 
 
Spirit free agent Kyle Bollers (1) tied the game with his first career OHL goal at 11:48 of the third period, however, the celebration would not last as Gordeev scored the game winner just over a minute later. 
 
Everett Clark would add an empty net goal at 19:24 of the third period to secure the win. 
 
Spirit rookie goal tender Brendan Bonello got the start for the Spirit, stopping 33 of the 38 shots he faced between the pipes. 
 
The Spirit will now prepare for a couple home games this weekend when they host the Kitchener Rangers on Sat. Nov. 26, for a 7:05 pm game and the Guelph Storm on Sun. Nov. 27, for a 4 pm afternoon game at the Dow Event Center.

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