FPHL ICE CHIPS 11/11/2022

MOTOR CITY ROCKERS at BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS


BINGHAMTON STORMS BACK TO DEFEAT MOTOR CITY 
by Brooks Hill



BINGHAMTON, NY- The Binghamton Black Bears scored four goals in the final period to storm back and defeat the Motor City Rockers 6-3 in front of a sellout crowd. Tyson Kirkby tallied his second hat trick of the year, scoring three goals in the third period.

After a pregame military tribute on the ice, the Black Bears and Rockers would get out to a quick start. An early penalty to Jake Schutlz put the struggling Motor City power play on the ice early. The Black Bears had a couple to chances to exit the zone, but the sustained pressure from the Rockers would lead to the game’s first goal. Scott Coash would squeak a one-timer past Riley McVeigh and the Rockers were not finished there.

Just two minutes later, the Rockers were able to double their lead to 2-0. Newly acquired Declan Conway cashed in to make it 2-0 in a blink of a eye. The Black Bears would step up the pressure late in the period, and with a favorable bounce, Mac Lewis would put Binghamton on the scoreboard. After 20, the visitors from Michigan had a 2-1 advantage.

Newly signed forward, Jamie Bucell, would tie the game on the first shot of the second period. Bucell would redirect a wrist shot from Jesse Anderson that made its way past the goaltender evening things up at 2-2. The teams would enter a chess match, hoping the other team would make a mistake. Once again, it was Motor City breaking the tie, and grabbing a 3-2 lead on the Derek Makimaa power play goal. After 40 minutes, the Rockers still led by one, 3-2.

Coach Reynolds mention before the game how important the first minutes of a period can be, and his team took those words to heart. 30 seconds into the final frame the Black Bears would tie the score at 3-3 thanks to Tyson Kirkby tallying his fourth of the season. Later in the frame, the Binghamton power play hit the ice with a mission to grab the lead for the first time and who better to answer the call than Tyler Gjurich. Gjurich connected on a onetimer from Kirkby propelling the Black Bears into the lead for the first time. Kirkby continued his hot night, as he would leak one through Babin to give the team an insurance goal nearly halfway through the third period. The Black Bears would have to kill off one final penalty and with an empty net, Kirkby netted his second hat trick of the season. The hats rained down from the sellout crowd of 4893 inside the arena and fans continued to cheer for the final 90 seconds of the contest. Black Bears win 6-3 after being down 2-0 in the first period, ending Motor City’s four-game winning streak.

The same two teams will be at it once again tomorrow night at 7:00P.M


WATERTOWN WOLVES at COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS


RIVER DRAGONS WIN HOME OPENER 6-2
Croop Leads Offense With Two Goal Effort

by Tom Callahan



COLUMBUS, GA - The Columbus River Dragons finally got to play a home game after opening the season with six on the road, and treated fans to a show with a 6-2 win over the Watertown Wolves on Friday night.

Jay Croop scored twice including the game winner, with both goals coming just 2:08 apart in the second period. The River Dragons also received goals from Alex Storjohann, Josh Labelle, Cody Wickline and Michael Greco in the win.

Bailey MacBurnie was solid in earning his fourth win of the season, turning aside 25-of-27 shots for the victory.

The game also featured the return of River Dragons captain Josh Pietrantonio to the lineup after a five-game absence, contributing an assist in the win.

The same two teams are back at it on Sunday night at 6 pm ET to wrap up the only visit for the Wolves to Georgia this season. The Air Force Heating and Air pregame show kicks off a half hour before puck drop on the River Dragons Broadcast Network.


DELAWARE THUNDER at CAROLINA THUNDERBIRDS


CAROLINA ROLLS THUNDER ON VETERANS NIGHT

by Brett Wiseman

Winston-Salem, NC- On a special Veterans Night in Winston-Salem, two fan favorites made their return, another made his debut and the team rolled all over the Delaware Thunder by a 7-3 final score.

Delaware jumped out to an early lead, but after constant pressure on Thunder goaltender Michael McHale, Jacob Schnapp finally got one past him to tie the game. Less than two minutes later, the Thunderbirds struck again after Lucas Rowe finished off a beautiful saucer pass from Justin Pringle. 

Delaware responded with the first goal of the second, but the Thunderbirds were unfazed and sustained their assault on McHale's crease in the second period. Gus Ford scored his first of two on the night on a wrist shot from the slot. Not to be outdone, Dawson Baker followed with a top shelf one-time shot just six seconds into a Carolina power play.

The Thunderbirds remained on the gas in the third, with Schnapp adding his second tally just over two minutes into the final frame. Ford notched another before Petr Panacek scored in his return to the Thunderbirds on a patented one-timer from the slot. 

Carolina's relentless attack notched 54 shots on goal, seven of them finding the back of the net. Boris Babik notched his third win of 2022, stopping 17 of the 20 shots he faced including a spectacular sprawling glove save in the second period on a shorthanded scoring chance by Delaware's Kyle Hetizner.

The Thunderbirds finish the back end of this home-and-home series Saturday night in Delaware.


PORT HURON PROWLERS at MISSISSIPPI SEA WOLVES


Four-Goal Period Leads Prowlers Over Sea Wolves
by Nick Roesch



Biloxi, MS – The Mississippi Sea Wolves saw their losing streak advance to four games on Friday night with a 6-1 loss to the (3-4-2) Port Huron Prowlers at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.

The opening period went scoreless with Mississippi holding a 10-6 edge in shots on net. The Sea Wolves took a 1-0 lead on Philip Wong’s first goal with the team at 2:13 of the second period.

After the deficit, Port Huron kicked up their offense and scored four goals. Evan Foley (6:55), Dalton Jay (11:59), Joseph Deveny (13:27) and Matt Graham (17:28) combined for the 4-1 Prowlers lead entering the second intermission.

Port Huron continued the momentum into the third period on a Tucker Scantlebury goal from the low slot after just 3:14 of play. Larry Vartianen capitalized on a power play just 1:23 later for the final goal of a 6-1 final score.

The special teams were the story of the game for the Prowlers, going 3-4 on the power play. The Sea Wolves were unable to convert on their lone man-advantage of the evening.

The Prowlers’ Vartianen and Foley each recorded one goal and two assists. Goaltender Wyatt Hoflin shined in his professional debut after stopping 30 of 31 shots faced.

The Sea Wolves and Prowlers round out the weekend series tomorrow, November 12 in Biloxi. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05pm at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.


ELMIRA MAMMOTH at DANBURY HAT TRICKS


Hat Tricks Double Up on Mammoth, 8-4


by Chris Lynch



Danbury, CT- In front of a jam-packed crowd on Veterans Day, the Danbury Hat Tricks kept their home record perfect in their first meeting with the Elmira Mammoth. They did so with a dominant first and third period while the pace dipped in the second frame.

Danbury opened the scoring 1:34 into the game when Jonny Ruiz, deked around a defender and roofed a puck over Mammoth goalie Trevor Micucci. Just 46 seconds later, Tristan Mock pumped a highlight, spin-o-rama goal in net for the 2-0 lead. Gordie Bonnell ended the first period scoring fun with his first goal of the season at the 8:30 mark of the frame to make the game 3-0 at intermission. The 3-0 outburst chased starting goaltender Trevor Micucci from the net and put Thomas Proudlock in his stead.

The scoring fun continued with Dustin Jesseau potting the first of his two goals 28 seconds into the second stanza.

The remainder of the frame belonged to Elmira’s Parker Moskal, who recorded a hat trick with goals at 4:32, 12:09, and 12:44 of the frame. The last two goals came on an extended power play for the Mammoth. Moskal also recorded an assist on Tate Leeson’s goal which came eight seconds after Jesseau’s goal early in the second stanza. Moskal’s rampage was broken up by Gordie Bonnel’s second goal of the night on the power play which kept the Hat Tricks in the lead into the second intermission.

The game turned on the Hat Tricks penalty kill that straddled the second and third period. Xavier Abdella, playing in his first game in Danbury, took a double minor for high sticking late in the second. His teammates killed off the remaining power play time and cranked the offense after Elmira’s chance to tie the game went by the wayside. Dustin Jesseau scored his second goal of the game at the six-minute mark. Only 1:30 later, Dmitry Kuznetsov picked off a Mammoth pass and deposited the puck in Elmira’s net for his third goal in three games since returning to Hat City. Brendan Sheehan ended the night’s scoring off nifty passing from Jesseau and Richards at the 11:52 mark. Danbury muscled through a few messy points to end the scoring at 8-4 and improve to 6-0-1 on the season, including a perfect 5-0 on home ice.

Elmira drops to 0-8-1, still looking for the franchise’s first victory.

Brian Wilson stopped 20 of 24 shots in net for the Hat Tricks.

After entering, Thomas Proudlock stopped 20 of 25 shots on net.
Dustin Jesseau recorded a two goal, two assist night for four points and 18 points on the young season through the first five games of the Scarborough native’s pro hockey career.

Jonny Ruiz added three points, including a goal. Luke Richards notched three assists as well for the Hat Tricks.

The teams rematch on Saturday night at 7 PM at the Danbury Ice Arena. Saturday night will feature appearances from Steve Hanson and Doug the Thug in downtown Hat City.