Enforcers Win 8th Straight
By Jonathan Kliment
Elmira, NY - The Elmira Enforcers came out with something to prove against the Mentor Ice Breakers after going to overtime the last time these two teams met. The Enforcers would delight the 3,287 in attendance with a solid 5-2 victory for their 8th consecutive win.
Ahmed Mahfouz and Kyle Stevens wasted no time connecting as Mahfouz followed Stevens into the zone, picked up the puck, and put it behind starting goalie John Sellie-Hanson. Sellie-Hanson’s night didn’t get any easier as the Enforcers got a power play and as Stepan Timofeyev bore down on him the puck was knocked away, but landed right on the stick of Mitch Atkins who buried the goal for the Enforcers to make it 2-0. The Ice Breakers wasted no time in replacing Sellie-Hanson with former Enforcer Derek Moser, but it would stop the bleeding. With 14 seconds left in the first period Timofeyev rushed in again and passed the puck over to Stevens who buried it as Timofeyev was bowled into the net.
The second period saw a revitalization of Mentor as they peppered Troy Passingham with shot after shot, but the next goal would still belong to the Enforcers when Dmytro Babenko buried a Timofeyev setup to put Elmira up, 4-0. The incessant shooting would pay off as the Ice Breakers finally put one past Passingham on the power play off a side to side pass from Nathan Farrington. The end of the period saw a lot of verbal altercation as fans looked ahead to the final frame.
The third period began with the Enforcers down a man which led to Declan Conway scoring the second goal for the Ice Breakers on the power play less than two minutes in. The rest of the game would be back and forth with physicality, including an altercation between Babenko and Patrick Porkka. The Enforcers closed out all doubt with an Ondrej Gabrhelik goal at 14:48 off a pass from Mahfouz to end it.
The Enforcers have now won 8 straight games and will face off once again with the Ice Breakers tomorrow night at 7:05 PM at First Arena. Tickets are still available at (607) 734-PUCK.