Davison Index

Generals down Mallards in extra-session





Jamie Schaafsma looked for an open passing opportunity for the Generals last week.

Jamie Schaafsma looked for an open passing opportunity for the Generals last week.

FLINT
— After starting the weekend in less than perfect fashion, the International Hockey League’s Flint Generals (8-16-1-2) managed to go out with a bang, clawing their way to victory in what was their third game in just as many days.

Last Sunday, the Generals hosted the Quad City Mallards, coming back from a 5-1 first-period deficit to win, 6-5, in overtime. For Flint, goalie Rob Nolan started out a little shaky, allowing goals on the first two shots he faced before Kyryll Katrych bounced one of the crossbars to give Quad City an early 3-0 lead. That’s when Steve Silver made it a 3-1 game for the Generals on the assist by Pascal Rheaume about halfway through the initial period, leading Flint coach Jason Muzzatti to pull Nolan in favor of newly acquired net minder Nick Niedert.

It wasn’t long before Niedert’s inexperience reared its ugly head, though, coming out of the net and misplaying a puck, allowing Juris Stals to extend the Mallards’ advantage yet again, which teammate Patrick Levesque followed with a poke through the five-hole to make it a 5-1 game. In the second, Flint came out ready, with Ben Boudreau knocking one in on a pass from Bryan Smolinski just one minute into the period. Rheaume then won the ensuing faceoff, allowing John Mori to hit nothing but net from the slot to cut the Generals’ deficit to 5-3.

That’s how things would stay until there were a mere three minutes left in regulation, with Flint’s Jake Pence lighting the lamp with help from Mori and Tony Tuzzolino, only to see Jamie Schaafsma tie the game up for the Generals with 14 seconds to play. In the extra session, Ronan completed the comeback by putting one past Quad City goaltender, Jerad Kaufman, with 76 seconds left, giving Nolan the win in goal for Flint with 17 saves on 20 shots after returning to the game. Neidert had four saves in his time between the pipes on six shots.

Last Saturday, the Generals were in Ohio to take on the Dayton Gems, losing, 5-1. Flint got down early in this one, allowing initial period goals by Sam Bloom and Mike Vaskuvio to end the first down 2-0. In the second, things wound up taking a very similiar path, with Vaskuvio and John Ornelas connecting to give the Gems a 4-0 lead, which Generals defenseman Craig Cescon answered with a rocket from the point for his team’s only score of the game at 6:17.

While Dayton seemed ripe for an upset, it simply was not to be for the Generals, with John Snowden scoring the Gems’ final goal on his team’s seventh powerplay opportunity of the night. Despite the outcome, Neidert was still strong in net, setting aside 46 of the 51 shots he faced.

Flint hosted the Port Huron Icehawks last Friday, falling, 6-3. The Generals actually got off to a good start in this one, scoring just 31 seconds into regulation off the stick of Alec Kirschner on the assist by Schaffsma, but the lead would be short-lived as Nolan was tested time and time again until he simply ran his magic bag out of spectacular trick-saves.

The next period was deceiving, with the Generals’ Jake Pence going top shelf for the session’s only goal with help from Tuzzolino to put Flint up, 2-0. The third session of play is when things really unraveled for the Generals, getting outscored 6-1 for the period, with Smolinski posting his team’s only score of the final session on a pass from Tuzzolino

The Generals also spent some time with fans last Monday at the Hurley Medical Center, delivering the Teddy Bears collected last Sunday. Flint hosted Port Huron last Tuesday and welcomes Dayton and Fort Wayne to town Dec. 26 and 27.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.