BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS at DANBURY HAT TRICKS 

 Hat Tricks Shut Out in Fourth Straight Loss

by Wyatt Kopelman

Danbury, CT -  Nolan Egbert logged his first career shutout as the Hat Tricks were blanked by the Binghamton Black Bears, 4-0, for Danbury’s fourth consecutive loss. The Black Bears lead the season series 3-1 with back-to-back wins coming this weekend.

Egbert made a career-high 33 saves and Tyson Kirkby had the go-ahead goal on the man advantage at 6:05 in the second. Kirkby has five goals over the past four games and a league-high 21 points.

Blake Tosto finished off a two-on-one 10:12 after the Black Bears scored first. Gavin Yates assisted on Tosto’s goal, picking up a point in back-to-back games with the game-winning goal in Binghamton’s 2-1 win on Friday.

Neither team scored in the first 20 minutes but Binghamton outshot Danbury 18-16. Black Bears forward CJ Stubbs was assessed a game misconduct at 13:42 of the frame for abuse of officials.

The Hat Tricks finished the game 0-for-9 on the power play and are now 2-for-40 on the man advantage over the past five games.

At 16:35 in the third, d-man Daniel Stone scored for the first time this season to extend the Black Bears’ lead to three. Cameron Clark added an empty-net goal in the final 17 seconds of regulation.

Egbert won in his fifth start this season, tying Connor McAnanama for the FPHL’s second-most.

About 11 minutes into the first, Josh Labelle appeared to have scored the game’s opening goal before it was overturned for goalie interference.

Conor McCollum had 49 saves for the Hat Tricks, marking his third start this season with at least 40.

Up next, the Hat Tricks visit the Hudson Valley Venom with a chance to end a four-game losing skid on Friday. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. in Newburgh, N.Y.

Egbert Stands Tall On The Road

by Cole Parenti

Danbury, CT -  The Black Bears and Hat Tricks clashed for the third time this year in Danbury. This would be the second trip for the Black Bears to the Danbury Ice Arena. The contest was highlighted by the two goalies who were both magnificent.

The first period started with a bang as Gleb Bandurkin scored off a redirect in the opening minute. The Black Bears would quickly respond as Cam Clark found the equalizer from just inside the circle. The two teams would take this tie into the locker room.

The second period was much of the same as both teams had their chances but each goalie came up with huge saves when asked. It looked like the teams would head to the locker room with the same score as they started. But Gavin Yates had other ideas as he deposited the go-ahead goal giving the Black Bears their first lead of the night.

The third period was a hard-fought battle as the Hat Tricks applied consistent pressure while on the power play. The combined effort of the penalty kill and Nolan Egbert propelled the Black Bears to the eventual 4-0 victory.

MOTOR CITY ROCKERS at HUDSON VALLEY VENOM

Venom Win Streak Ends in 2-1 Loss to Rockers

by Jim Cerny

Newburgh, NY - The Hudson Valley Venom fired 42 shots on goal Saturday night at Ice Time Sports Complex, but only one found the back of net in a frustrating 2-1 loss to the Motor City Rockers. The loss ended Hudson Valley’s three-game win streak; and the Rockers snapped a five-game losing skid with their third victory of the season.

Rockers goalie Ricardo Gonzalez was sensational, finishing with 41 saves. With the game on the line in the final minutes, he preserved Motor City’s lead with a pair of sensational glove saves against two of Hudson Valley’s top scorers, Dustin Jesseau and Davide Gaeta.

Motor City scored the only goals they’d need on this night on their first two shots of the game. Eli Rivers opened the scoring just 12 seconds into play, blazing into the Venom zone and beating goalie Eli Bowers with a right-wing snipe, his fifth goal of the season. Just 29 seconds later, TJ Sneath scored his fourth goal when left alone in front of Bowers.

So, 41 seconds into the first period, the Venom trailed 2-0. Bowers didn’t falter the rest of the way, though, stopping all 28 shots he faced after the first two went into the net, including 11 in the second period.

Hudson Valley cut its deficit in half before the first period ended. Eimantas Noreika zipped a power-play shot from the right circle short side past Gonzalez at 14:41 to make it 2-1.

The goal was Noreika’s 12th this season, and his league-leading eighth on the power play. He extended his point streak to six consecutive games. Gaeta and defenseman Austin Pickford assisted on the goal. Gaeta now has points in seven straight games and Pickford has a five-game point streak.

But the most important Venom streak –the winning streak – ended with the tough luck defeat. They had extended the win streak to three games on Friday, when the Venom defeated Gonzalez and the Rockers 6-4 in the first of a two-game weekend set.

Rivers and Sneath each had a goal and an assist for the Rockers. Their linemate, Carson Baptiste, had two assists.



Hudson Valley returns to action next Friday when it hosts the Danbury Hat Tricks in the second game of their I-84 rivalry.

BLUE RIDGE BOBCATS at PORT HURON PROWLERS

Prowlers Claw Back to Stun Bobcats in Shootout

by Will Wiegelman

Port Huron, MI - The Port Huron Prowlers mounted a late comeback to steal a shootout win from the Blue Ridge Bobcats 3-2 at McMorran Place on November 16. Austin Fetterly ended things with his second shootout winner of the season.

“I played against him in my career as a goalie and he’s not a fun guy to face,” said Prowlers assistant coach Chris Paulin. “We had all the confidence in the world in him, he had all the confidence in the world in himself. He’s unbelievable in the shootout.”

Port Huron fell behind in the first period when Daniel Martin took a shot that slipped through Valtteri Nousiainen and wide. Savva Smirnov put it back in front and it banked off of Nousiainen’s pad and in. 

The Bobcats thought they found the dagger when Aaron Ryback finished off a perfectly worked three-on-two rush to make it 2-0 with under nine minutes left in regulation.

Alex Johnson drew a penalty with just over six to go and five seconds into that power play, he ripped a wrist shot past Hunter Virostek to get the Prowlers on the board.

With less than three minutes on the clock, Lukas Lacny carried the puck into offensive territory and dropped it to Luke James who fired a pass to Ludwig Thellström breaking down the back side. He took a look and picked his spot to put home his first as a Prowler and send the game to overtime.

“He’s a warrior,” Paulin said. “He’s been battling through a hand injury but it doesn’t look like it when he puts the puck on net like that.”

Port Huron got chances to end it in the extra session but Virostek came up with four more saves to get to a shootout. After a scoreless first two rounds, Ryback’s attempt hit Nousiainen’s stick to put the game on Austin Fetterly’s stick. The Prowlers captain beat Virostek five-hole and got his team the extra point. 

Fetterly added an assist to the shootout winner. Nousiainen made 31 saves in net and has now stopped all seven shootout attempts he’s faced this season.

Virostek took the loss after a 36-save performance.

The Prowlers hit the road to Louisiana for games on Nov. 21, 22 and 23. All three games will be streamed live on the PHP Network YouTube channel.

DASHERS at DANVILLE at WATERTOWN WOLVES

Wolves Win Big

Winning Streak at 5

by Jeff Barrett

Watertown, NY - Game two of the weekend between the Watertown Wolves and Danville Dashers took place in the Watertown Municipal Arena on this Saturday night. 

Following last night's 9-4 win, the Wolves found themselves looking to extend their win streak to 5 games, while the Dashers were trying to break a game skid.

The Wolves would pick up right where they left off on Friday, opening the scoring flood gates just :56 seconds into the when Ross Bartlett one time a Trevor Grasby pass slipping it behind Dashers starter Oscar Wahlgren making it 1-0.

Watertown added a second goal at the 3:30 mark with a Chiwetin Blacksmith marker, assisted by Mike Mercurio and Dustin Perillat.

Dylan Infantino, who was back in the lineup after missing a few games, gave the Wolves a third goal at the 11:21 mark, with Perilatte getting his second assist of the period, with Bartlett also credited with the helper.

Watertown wasn't done yet as Lare Pahtayken lit the lamp at 14:17, on his return to the ice after a lengthy time healing an injury, making the score 4-0. Assists on the goal belonged to Kyle Heitzner and Trevor Neumann.

The Wolves added one more for good measure at 14:26 on a Blacksmith goal assisted by Mercurio and Heitzner.

The Wolves took the 5-0 score to the locker at the end of the first twenty.

Period number two would be a mirror image of the first twenty minutes as the Wolves added 5 more goals to their total.

First it was Trevor Lord getting on the board at 2:05 of the period assisted by Carter Thornton making it 6-0.

It would only take a 1:49 for Watertown to strike again, this time it was Mercurio netting the goal assisted by Trevor Grasby and Lord, lengthening the lead to 7-0.

At the 8:28 mark, Declan Flanagan would get his first goal of the season with Blacksmith getting the helper, making the score 8-0.

Chase DiBari was next to add his name to the list of goal scorers at 13:36 of the period with assists going to Ross Bartlett and Carter Thornton.

At 19:51 it was Trevor Lord again lighting the lamp with a one timer off a Thornton pass, sending the teams to the locker room with the Wolves up 10-0.

The Dashers had a little more hop in their step to start the third period, but Carter Thornton would shut that down, adding Watertown's 11 goal of the game at the 9:50 mark, assisted by Ross Bartlett and Trevor Neumann.

The Dashers Marian Pazitka put a stop to the Wolves goalkeeper Anton Borodkins shutout bid when he netted the Dashers on goal of the night at 12:59 of the third.

Watertown ends up outshooting Danville 54-33 for the night, and extends the win streak to five in a row.

Next weekend on the 22nd and 23rd, the Wolves travel to Fraser Michigan to battle the Motor City Rockers, while the Dashers will host the Blue Ridge Bobcats for two games next week. 

Wolves Throttle Dashers 

by Devin Dobek

Watertown, NY - Saturday posed as a must win game for a struggling Dashers Hockey Club coming off a 9-4 loss. Not being able to practice for 2 weeks, a Justin Brausen-less Dashers squad were destroyed on the road for their 8th regulation loss. 9 different goal scorers lit up the scoresheet for the Wolves, as they breezed their way to an 11-1 victory.

Oscar Wahlgren led the Dashers out with a fresh start in period 1. On the opening draw, Marian Pazitka searched for a dance partner to start off the game with a fight, but no one answered the call. Instead, the Wolves picked up right where they left off and immediately pounced on the Dashers. 56 seconds into the frame Ross Bartlett scored on a puck that Wahlgren regrettably should’ve held. Just over 2 minutes later, Chiwetin Blacksmith doubled the margin and made it 2-0. Despite 3 first period Watertown penalties, the Dashers couldn’t manage any offense. In the back half of the period, the Wolves scored 3 goals 3:05 apart. Dylan Infantino scored the 3rd, followed by Lare Pahtayken and Chiwetin Blacksmith scoring the 4th and 5th just 9 seconds apart. The score quickly escalated to 5-0 Watertown , with nothing but a Jacob Gagnon crossbar to show for the Dashers.

Period 2 was deja vu. The Wolves came out firing once again and it took just 2:05 for Trevor Lord to nab the 6th tally. 104 short seconds later, Mercurio buried a one timer off a cross crease feed from Trevor Grasby to give the Wolves a touchdown lead. The wheels continued to fall off the wagon when just over 4.5 minutes later Declan Flanagan made it 8-0. The Dashers could barely catch their breath in between tallies and the bleeding continued. Frustrated and defeated, Zach DeMarce threw a big hit which sparked a large scrum. A handful of penalties were dispensed, with the Wolves making it out on a powerplay. On the ensuing man advantage, Chase DiBari made it 9-0. After all the madness the Dashers had a few good scoring opportunities but couldn’t cash in. With 9 seconds remaining in the period, Trevor Lord shoveled home a 10th goal to make it 10-0 as the teams headed to their dressing rooms for the second break.

Period 3 was all that stood between the Dashers and an 8 game homestand. Out of the break, they came out fast and hungry for any sort of offense. Through the first half of the frame, they led in shots 10-5. However a Yosuke Jomonji hooking penalty gave the Wolves the momentum back and Carter Thornton twisted the knife with a powerplay goal to push the lead to 11-0. Just over 12 minutes into the frame, the Wolves had a goal waved off. On the next faceoff, two unlikely candidates dropped the gloves. For the Dashers it was 5’7” Trey Fischer squaring off with Ross Bartlett standing at 5’9” for the Wolves. After a brief exchange, Fischer landed enough fists to tip over Bartlett and the two were separated. Minutes later, Marian Pazitka scored for the second straight night to get the Dashers on the board to make it 11-1. That would conclude a night of a dozen goals with the Wolves succeeding in shots 54-33.

The Dashers return home to begin their 8 game home-stand with a record of 1-8-1 through the first 10 games. They will host the Blue Ridge Bobcats for a pair of games this Friday and Saturday at 7:05 CST. As for the Wolves, they improve their scorching hot start to 9-1-1 and will travel to Fraser, Michigan to take on the Motor City Rockers on Friday at 7:35 EST and Saturday at 7:05 EST inside Big Boy Arena.

MONROE MOCCASINS at CAROLINA THUNDERBIRDS

Carolina Blanks Monroe, 3-0

Cavaliere becomes all-time winningest goalie in franchise history

by Brendan Reilly

Winston-Salem, NC - After taking over in the 1st period on Friday evening and picking up his first win of the year, the Carolina Thunderbirds turned to goaltender Mario Cavaliere again on Saturday night as he stopped all 30 shots he saw on the evening with Carolina shutting out Monroe, 3-0, in front of 3,150 fans at the Fairgrounds Arena. 

Carolina (5-1-3) started the scoring for the second night in a row in the 1st period. With the ‘Czech Line’ back together for their third game, Jan Salak and Petr Panacek assisted Jiri Pestuka on his second goal of the weekend at the 10:36 mark, giving the Thunderbirds a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes. 

In the 2nd period, Monroe (3-5-3) had multiple opportunities to tie the game, but Mario Cavaliere stood tall in goal, saving a flurry of 16 shots across the middle 20 minutes, keeping the 1-0 lead heading to the 3rd. 

After being outshot in the 2nd, Carolina responded quickly in the 3rd. The Thunderbirds were given a power play 59 seconds into the 3rd period, and made the Moccasins pay. Salak sent home a one-timer from Panacek at the near dot doubling Carolina’s advantage with 17:33 to play in the period. With a 2-0 lead, Cavaliere continued to stifle Monroe’s attack, stopping seven out of seven shots in the 3rd, with Salak picking up his second goal of the night on an empty netter with 1:35 remaining as Carolina finished off the sweep of Monroe, 3-0. 

With the win tonight, Cavaliere picked up his 45th win all-time with the Thunderbirds, surpassing Christian Pavlas who previously held the record with 44 wins. 

After finishing a five-game home stand, the Thunderbirds hit the road next weekend to see the Columbus River Dragons for a two-game series starting on Friday evening at the Columbus Civic Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:35 p.m. from Columbus, Georgia. 

BATON ROUGE ZYDECO at MISSISSIPPI SEA WOLVES 

Late Comeback Not Enough Sea Wolves Fall 2-1

by Jon Kliment

Biloxi, MS - Mississippi came home for just the second time this season as the Zydeco made the trip down for the second half or a home and home. The Sea Wolves looking to right the ship as it had been a tough first 9 games of the season.

Coming out strong the Sea Wolves peppered netminder Bailey Stephens with 17 shots, but couldn't find the back of the net. The Zydeco on the other hand only took 9 shots, but Elijah Wilson picked his spot for the second night in a row and found the back of the net against Sam Best to make it 1-0 14:32 into the period.

In the second frame it was a different story as Baton Rouge got multiple power play opportunities that went for naught but took advantage of tired defense to poke home another at 7:02 as Shane Haggerty buried a rebound to make it 2-0 Zydeco.

Don Carter Jr brought Mississippi within one at 12:35 of the third but even pulling the goalie didn't have the magic for the Sea Wolves tonight as they fell 2-1.

Best stopped 19 or 21 in the loss.

The Sea Wolves are back in action next Friday night against Monroe. Follow along on Youtube!  

ATHENS ROCK LOBSTERS at COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS

Rock Lobsters Edge River Dragons in a SO

by Tom Callahan

Columbus, GA - Despite a pair of goals from Cody Wickline and several top-notch saves from William Lavalliere, the Columbus River Dragons dropped a 6-5 shootout decision to the Athens Rock Lobsters in the first-ever meeting of the two teams on Saturday night.

The wild affair saw Columbus build a 2-0 lead on goals by Jestin Somero and Wickline, only to have the Rock Lobsters come right back with three straight scores to grab a 3-2 lead by the midway point of the contest.

Ryan Galvin responded with his first pro goal at 11:02 to tie the game back up at 3-3 heading into the third period.

It was there the teams once again twice traded goals, and it appeared Columbus took the lead for good at 17:10 on Wickline’s second of the night, deflecting a Connor Lind shot past Jack Bostedt (25 saves) for the go-ahead goal.

But with time running out and Bostedt on the bench for the extra attacker, Kayson Gallant broke free at the near post to put home a loose puck and tie the game at 5-5, forcing overtime and the eventual shootout.

It was there former River Dragons player Carter Shinkaruk scored in the fourth round of the shootout to give Athens the win over his former club. Shinkaruk was the only player on either side to score in four rounds.

Notes:

• Both Cody Wickline and reigning FPHL MVP Justin MacDonald scored their first goals of the season in the game.
• Ryan Galvin’s goal was his first professional goal.
• Jestin Somero now has goals in three straight games.
• This was the first time Columbus has gone to a shootout this season.
• This was also the first-ever game between Athens and Columbus.

Next up for the River Dragons will be the Carolina Thunderbirds on Friday, November 22 and Saturday, November 23. Tickets are on sale now through the Civic Center Box Office and online at TicketMaster.com.

Gallant’s Late-Game Heroics Set Up Shootout Win

by Mateen Zibanejadrad

Columbus, GA - The Rock Lobsters won in the shootout 6-5 in their first game against in-ok state rivals Columbus River Dragons, taking two points out of the Columbus Civic Center on Saturday night. 

It was a sloppy start to the matchup for the Rock Lobsters who found themselves two goals down after some self-inflicted discipline issues. 

The deadly combination of Kayson Gallant and Filip Virgili re-emerged in Columbus, as the pair scored three-straight goals between them in a matter of four minutes to give the visitors a 3-2 lead. 

The River Dragons’ Ryan Galvin galvanized the building halfway through the second period with a goal to level the scoreline at 3 apiece. 

Garrett Milan scored his ninth of the season on a slapshot just seconds after the power play ended to take a 4-3 lead for the Rock Lobsters at the 4:40 mark of the third period.

Back-to-back goals from Justin MacDonald and Cody Wickline had the Columbus faithful thinking they secured three points after the River Dragons took a 5-4 lead with 2:50 left in regulation.

Gallant used chaos to his advantage as he stuffed a loose puck past William Lavalliere to tie the game up at 5 with just five seconds left in the third period.

A fruitless overtime led to a shootout, where Carter Shinkaruk scored the lone goal and Jack Bostedt saved all four shots to secure two points on the night.

The Rock Lobsters (9-1-0, 22 pts) return to play after a bye week with a game on Friday, Nov. 29 against the Carolina Thunderbirds.