MOTOR CITY ROCKERS at PORT HURON PROWLERS

ROCKERS COME BACK TO DEFEAT PROWLERS

by Will Wiegelman

Port Huron, MI - The Port Huron Prowlers fell on Military Appreciation Night to the Motor City Rockers 3-2 at McMorran Place on November 11. It was the third time in four meetings the Rockers came back to beat the Prowlers.

“Disappointed with the effort last night, really happy with the effort tonight,” said Prowlers head coach Matt Graham. “I think our power play and special teams let us down a little bit.”

The scoring started in the second when Brandon Picard, who had hit the crossbar earlier in the shift, found a loose puck in the slot and beat Trevor Babin to the glove side. The goal was Picard’s fourth and all four have been the first goal of the game.

With time ticking down in the period, Port Huron got an offensive zone faceoff which Evan Foley won cleanly to Bryan Parsons. His shot looked like it hit a Motor City defender and went in to double the lead.

The Prowlers got into penalty trouble in the third and that’s when the Rockers made them pay. Derek Makimaa found Declan Conway on the doorstep for a tap-in goal and then 1:11 later, Josh Colten smacked home a loose puck on the back door to tie the game.

With just over five minutes to go, Jameson Milam settled down a puck in the slot and fired it home to give his team its first lead of the night. That held up as the game-winner.

Tucker Tynan made 32 saves in his pro hockey debut for Port Huron.

“You can tell that he’s played at a high level before,” Graham said. “I thought he played well, he gave us a chance to win.”

Makimaa had two helpers while Babin stopped 41 shots.

The Prowlers head on a seven-game road trip starting November 17 and 18 in Baton Rouge. Those games will be available live on the PHP Network YouTube channel.

Motor City Erases Two Goal Deficit To Beat Port Huron 3-2

by Ben Szilagy

Port Huron, MI - Motor City found itself in a familiar position at McMorran Place on Saturday night as the Rockers had to use the power play to erase a two goal deficit to beat Port Huron 3-2. 

Motor City has won the first four games of the I-94 Rivalry this season, and has won 13 out of 20 games played between the two Michigan teams going back to last year.

The Prowlers were able to jump out to a 2-0 lead on the sticks of Brandon Picard and Bryan Parsons. The two goals came 9:18 apart in the second period.

All three of Picard’s goals this year have been openers, and his fourth was no different. Matt Graham fed the puck to Tucker Scantlebury who found Picard in the nearside circle and beat Trevor Babin low glove side for a 1-0 lead with 9:23 to play in the middle frame.

Parson’s goal was scored off the face off with 5.8-seconds left in the period as he collected the puck from Evan Foley and fired a blast through a crowd that beat Babin for a 2-0 lead. 

The third period was the same story Motor City has written before here at McMorran Place as it erased a two goal deficit to take the game. 

The Rockers used a 5-on-3 to get back into the game to beat an unsolvable Tucker Tynan. 

The first goal came 42-seconds into the man advantage when Derek Makimaa fired a shot on net. The rebound found Declan Conway at the far side post, and he put the puck away for his second power play goal of the weekend to cut into the lead, 2-1.

1:10 later, Josh Colton also banged home a Makimaa shot that fell to his skates for his first of the season to knot the score at 2-2 before Jamie Milam gave Motor City the lead with a goal deep in the slot in between the hashes for a 3-2 lead with 5:15 remaining. 

Motor City has a off week next week, and then will travel out east to face Watertown the night before Thanksgiving at Watertown Arena.

CAROLINA THUNDERBIRDS at BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS

Binghamton Accomplishes The Mission on Military Appreciation Night

by Brooks Hill

Binghamton, NY -  The Binghamton Black Bears defeated the Carolina Thunderbirds 4-2 on Saturday night. Binghamton uses a three-goal third period to clinch the weekend series, earing four of the possible six points.

Carolina was first on board once again in the back-to-back weekend slate. Tucker Firth made the best of a broken play, as Black Bears goaltender, Nolan Egbert, knocked the puck away from the first man, but Firth was able to bury the rebound. The Thunderbirds got three power play opportunities in the opening frame but were unable to convert. Binghamton led the shots on goal 15-13 but trailed 1-0 after the horn. 

Binghamton cashed in on their first power play of the night, coming three minutes into the second period. Gavin Yates scored his second power play goal in as many nights to even the score at 1-1-. The tied game would be short lived, as Carolina took advantage of a bad line change. Kessler Skye earned his first goal of the season on a breakaway, giving the Thunderbirds a 2-1 lead. Binghamton was unable to convert on their final two power plays in the period, outshot the T-Birds 20-3 in the frame, but still trailed 2-1 after 40 minutes. 

Binghamton flipped the script on Carolina, scoring three goals in the final period. Austin Thompson tied the game at 2-2, five minutes into the period, igniting the crowd of 4,187. The team defense for the Black Bears gave the Thunderbirds no quarter, suffocating and offense Carolina could mustard up. Binghamton grabbed their first lead of the series as Brenden Stanko deflected a pass from Mathieu Boislard past the Carolina goalie, giving the home team a 3-2 lead. 

Nikita Ivashkin scored an empty netter in the final minute to secure the insurance for the Black Bears, as they defeat the Carolina Thunderbirds for the first time in two years. Military Appreciation Night ends with Binghamton defeating Carolina 4-2 in regulation time. Binghamton improves to 6-0-3 with 21 points, still atop of the Empire Division. They remain the only team in the FPHL without a regulation loss. 

DANBURY HAT TRICKS at ELMIRA RIVER SHARKS

River Sharks Drop Back and Forth 

Affair, 6-5

by Jon Kliment

Elmira, NY -  The River Sharks closed out their longest homestand of the year on Saturday night against the Danbury Hat Tricks. Both sides came in struggling to begin the year and looking to right the ship.

Elmira got off to their hottest start of their season scoring eight minutes into the first period as Luke Richards tallied his first of the season past Connor McCollom to give the River Sharks the 1-0 lead. The Hat Tricks answered back with a goal of their own from Jacob Ratcliffe a little over four minutes later to tie the game at one a piece. The newest River Shark Houston Wilson was all over the ice in his debut and on the power play three minutes later took a Cameron Yarwood pass and fired it over the shoulder of McCollom to put Elmira up 2-1 after one. The assist also gave Yarwood his 200^th career professional point. 

Stavros Soilis wasted no time getting the action going in period two as just 1:22 into the frame he beat McCollom to give the River Sharks a 3-1 lead. That was where the tides turned as Ratcliffe and Bohdan Zinchenko tallied back for Danbury to tie things up after two and Zinchenko scored again to begin the third period just 2:44 in to give Danbury their first lead of the night. Despite giving up the lead Elmira's Wilson found his touch again burying his second of the night 1:37 later.

At this point the back and forth game continued to slide as while Elmira had a power play Zinchenko scored a hat trick goal shorthanded for the 5-4 lead. 1:04 later after the penalty came to an end Soilis found the back of the net for his second of the night to tie the game again, but a ghost from Elmira's past Kyle Gonzalez tallied the final dagger 11:14 into the final period for the 6-5 win. 

Danick Rodrigue stopped 19 of 25 in the loss.

The River Sharks are back in action Friday night in Binghamton before returning to the First Arena Saturday night to take on the Danbury Hat Tricks at 6:07pm. Tickets are available on Ticketmaster or by calling the box office at 607-734-PUCK. #FeartheFin 

MISSISSIPPI SEA WOLVES at WYTHEVILLE BOBCATS

BOBCATS BLITZ SEA WOLVES 12-5 FOR FIRST EVER WIN AT APEX CENTER

by Brett Wiseman

Wytheville, VA - To say the Blue Ridge Bobcats were buzzing on Saturday night would be a vast understatement. It was a night that teams and players dream of having, and a night filled with franchise firsts. The 12-5 victory over the Mississippi Sea Wolves was historic in multiple ways. 

Josh Newberg and Kyle Stevens both scored hat tricks, with Newberg's being the first ever in franchise history. Justin Daly continued his hot start with two goals of his own. Fabian Granqvist and Andrei Ivanov each put home their first goals of the season, and Vladislav Vlasov rounded out the Bobcats dozen-goal barrage.

The win was the first home win for the Bobcats ever at the Apex Center, and the first regulation win in franchise history.