Enforcers Drop Close One to Wolves

By Jonathan Kliment 

Elmira, NY - The Elmira Enforcers came home after a road trip to Danville looking for a win against the team directly behind them in the standings. 3,310 fans came out to First Arena to watch a potential playoff preview on Pink in the Rink Night, and it was the Watertown Wolves who came away with a victory.

The game got off to a quick start as both teams swapped goals in the first 1:18 of the game. An Anton Kalinin goal that snuck by Troy Passingham at only 32 seconds in was quickly answered by Brendan Hussey. The rest of the period turned into a goaltending duel between Passingham and Jared Rutledge. 

Tyler Gjurich, a former Elmira Jackal and the league leader in scoring put the Wolves back ahead at 5:22 in the second. This was followed by Lane King shooting a dart over Passingham's right shoulder, bursting his water bottle, to give Watertown a two goal advantage. Less than a minute later, Dmytro Babenko responded to bring the Enforcers back within one. However, 1:15  later a deflection from a faceoff would go by Passingham to give King his second of the night and put the Wolves back up by two goals. The Enforcers would not be discouraged though, and would score two goals within a minute of each other. The first would come with a rush by Darren Lamble who snuck past the defense and buried the puck behind Rutledge. Just 57 seconds later Stepan Timofeyev came in streaking through the zone and put one over the shoulder of Watertown's goalie to tie the game.

The third period came with a lot of chances for the Enforcers, but the only success came from a blue line shot from Aleh Shypitsyn, which ultimately gave the Wolves a 5-4 victory. This was only the Enforcers second loss in the last ten games.

The Enforcers are back in action tomorrow night from Watertown at 7:30 PM at the Watertown Municipal Arena.