Sports · Flint
Darian Anderson scores twice in the third as the Flint Firebirds rally past Owen Sound 3-2, a night after an overtime loss at No. 1 Guelph
FLINT, Mich. — Darian Anderson scored the tying and go-ahead goals in the third period, the second while Flint was shorthanded, and the Firebirds beat the Owen Sound Attack 3-2 on Saturday night at the Dort Financial Center.
The win lifted Flint to 6-2-1-0 in the Ontario Hockey League and came a night after a 3-2 overtime loss at the Guelph Storm, which held the No. 1 spot in the Canadian Hockey League’s latest weekly Top 10. Owen Sound fell to 2-8-0-0.
How it happened. Flint outshot Owen Sound 13-5 in the first period but could not beat goaltender Ryerson Leenders. Pierce Mbuyi scored twice in the second period for the Attack, the first on a power play. Captain Jimmy Lombardi answered in between on a setup from Anderson, so Flint trailed 2-1 after two.
Anderson took a penalty midway through the third. After Flint killed it, Ryland Cunningham found him driving to the net, and Anderson slipped a shot five-hole to tie it at 2. With just under three minutes left, Owen Sound went back on the power play, but Flint won an offensive-zone faceoff while shorthanded, and Anderson beat Leenders with a backhand to the short side for the winner, according to the team’s recap.
The numbers. Anderson finished with two goals and an assist, his third multi-point game of the season. Lombardi has four multi-point games in his last five. Defenseman James Paul added an assist, his sixth, the most among Flint’s blue-liners. Mason Courville stopped 19 of 21 shots for his third straight win.
Friday at Guelph. Josh Bonnyman and Charlie Murata scored for Flint at the Sleeman Centre, and Trenten Bennett made 26 saves in his Firebirds debut. Owen Griffin won it for Guelph in overtime, ending Flint’s three-game win streak and extending the Storm’s to eight. The overtime loss still earned Flint a point.
Around the team. The OHL moved Flint up to No. 3 in its weekly power rankings last week, crediting two wins and three first-year contributors. Forward Cole Guizzetti was named to one of Canada’s rosters for the U17 World Challenge, Nov. 1–7 in Oakville, Ontario.
Up next. Flint plays at the Saginaw Spirit on Friday, Oct. 23, at 7:05 p.m. at the Dow Event Center, the latest meeting in the I-75 Divide Cup series between the two Michigan clubs.
Sources:
Flint Firebirds, “Anderson’s Three Points Lifts the Firebirds Over Owen Sound, 3-2,” Oct. 17, 2026, https://chl.ca/ohl-firebirds/article/andersons-three-points-lifts-the-firebirds-over-owen-sound-3-2/
Flint Firebirds, “Firebirds Fall to Guelph in Overtime, 3-2,” Oct. 16, 2026, https://chl.ca/ohl-firebirds/article/firebirds-fall-to-guelph-in-overtime-3-2/
Ontario Hockey League, “OHL This Week: October 15 to 18, 2026,” Oct. 15, 2026, https://chl.ca/ohl/article/ohl-this-week-october-15-to-18-2026/
Photo: Michael Barera, “Niagara IceDogs vs. Flint Firebirds December 2024 06 (in-game action).jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Niagara_IceDogs_vs._Flint_Firebirds_December_2024_06_(in-game_action).jpg
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