One of the new additions to the Guelph Storm contributed in helping the team end their three-game slide.
Brody Crane scored twice to lead the Storm past the Flint Firebirds 5-3 on Friday night. The 19-year-old has three goals in four games since being acquired from the Niagara Ice Dogs at the OHL trade deadline.
Crane opened the scoring late in the first period, his first goal at the Sleeman Centre as a member of the Storm. His second came with 1:56 left in the third that proved to be the difference.
“I thought one was nice, two was nice and I hope to get more,” said Crane who now has six goals on the season with Guelph, Niagara, and London.
Crane also showed off his physical presence in the game which turned out to be a pretty chippy affair.
“I played in London for a while, always had rivalries with Kitchener, Guelph,” he said. “I liked the chippy game… it’s a battle.”
Head coach Chad Wiseman said Crane has been a great addition to the club.
“He’s got elite speed, really high IQ, he’s a lot of poise, manages the puck well,” he said. “I think long term, he’s going to be a good asset to our group that can play in our Top Six.”
Five of the eight combined goals were scored in the third period. Two came off the stick of Coulson Pitre (2 goals, 1 assist) of the Firebirds (17-22-2-1) who answered each time the Storm tried to pull away.
Michael Buchinger, Max Namestnikov, and Braeden Bowman also scored for the Storm (27-16-2-1).
For the first two periods, the game seemed to belong to the goaltenders with Damian Slavik and Nathan Day making big saves. Slavik stopped 19 shots for the Storm while Day had 20 saves for the Firebirds.
“He did his job,” said Wiseman of Slavik. “He stopped the puck, made the saves when they were needed it, and I thought he played well.”
There were power plays aplenty for both teams but Guelph only managed one goal in seven opportunities. Flint scored once on six chances.
The Storm have the rest of the weekend off. Their next game is next Friday night when they host the Sarnia Sting.
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