Firebirds top Otters 3-1 in Stratford exhibition

Led by a 34-save performance from Mason Courville, the Flint Firebirds came from behind to beat local star Jake Murray and the Erie Otters 3-1 in front of an energized crowd at the William Allman Memorial Arena on Sept. 12.

Murray loved coming back to the town where he played for his minor hockey career, where he captained the Huron-Perth Lakers U16 triple-A last season before being drafted to the Otters this past spring.

“I have played for Huron-Perth (Lakers) for four years. So coming back here was pretty special. The town is pretty special,” Murray said.

Selected by Erie in the first round of the 2025 OHL Priority Selection, Murray embraces the opportunity to play with the Otters and looks forward to playing in the National Hockey League someday.

“It’s great. I mean, when I heard my name with Erie is obviously something special. First couple of weeks here has been unreal with me,” said Murray.

“I think the NHL is everyone’s dream, so it’s just one step at a time, and we’ll see how it goes out.”

Otters broadcaster Trevor Kubeja says the overall experience of the exhibition game in the Allman Arena was very positive.

“It was pretty awesome. We were just doing stats tonight, but the view from the booth was terrific and really awesome rink,” Kubeja said. “I was telling Tim (Quinn), my broadcast partner, we had never really been in a rink anywhere close to like this, right? So really awesome barn and really pleasure to be here tonight.”

Flint’s Courville and Erie’s starting netminder, Noah Erliden, put on a goaltending duel in the first period and kept the game scoreless. After a lengthy delay that lasted over an hour, the second period got underway, and the Otters found paydirt first by a goal from Tyler Cooper 2:30 into the period.

But Flint responded with a goal from Xavier Tessier at 7:29 and the eventual game-winner from Josh Bonnyman with 2:40 left in the period. Christopher Thibodeau added insurance midway through the final period, and the Firebirds’ defense held off two consecutive five-on-three Erie power plays and preserved the win.

Courville got the win for the Firebirds while Charlie Burns, who relieved Erliden midway in the second period, took the loss for the Otters.

Kubeja believes Stratford can host another Otters exhibition game at the Allman again in the future.

“Who knows? I think the door is always open, and that was something that was talked about a lot earlier on today, so we’ll see. It’d be a pretty cool opportunity to certainly come back,” Kubeja said.