MOTOR CITY ROCKERS at ELMIRA RIVER SHARKS

River Sharks Score Early, Can't Hold Lead Rockers Win 3-2

by Jon Kliment

Elmira, NY, - The River Sharks came in off a weekend in which they lost back to back games by eight goals with a bevy of moves as Coach Tyler Gjurich looked for ways to right the ship. On the backs of a trade with Columbus and several free agent signings the River Sharks faced off with divisional rival Motor City trying to secure their first win in 4 contests.

After playing a scoreless draw in the first period an early second period power play on a Tim Delaney hook saw Elmira's offense come alive. After Klink entered the zone a perfect cross zone pass found Darius Davidson who went forehand backhand behind Trevor Babin to give the River Sharks the 1-0 lead. However the Rockers found a bit of scoring magic of their own as Scott Coash beat Spencer Kozlowski twice and TJ Delany tallied another before the end of the second period to give Motor City the 3-1 lead heading into the final frame.

Though Elmira put up a resilient effort through the third period and found the back of the net one time on a Steven Klink snipe that beat Babin glove side at 8:27 of the third period it was not enough as after a penalty call with 2:15 remaining put the River Sharks down a man they were unable to find any offensive magic to push the contest to overtime. 

Kozlowski stopped 36 of 39 in the loss.

The River Sharks are back in action tomorrow Saturday November 25^th at 6:07pm against the Rockers for the final time this season at First Arena. Get your tickets on Ticketmaster.com the Ticketmaster app or by calling the box office at 607-734-PUCK. #FeartheFin

Big 2nd Period Propel Rockers In Win Vs Elmira

by Ben Szilagy

Elmira, NY, - The Motor City Rockers were not sluggish on tryptophan after eating Thanksgiving Turkey yesterday as it skated to a 3-2 win over Elmira on Friday night. 

After a tightly contested first period, the RiverSharks got on the board first on the power play in the second.

The puck moved through center onto the stick of Steven Klinck who entered the zone. As he did Klinck found Darius Davidson who executed a perfect backdoor cut towards the net. Davidson scooped the pass and moved it to his backhand for a quick 1-0 lead with 12:17 to play in the middle frame. 

The Rockers were able to rattle off three straight goals to take a commanding 3-1 lead after that.

With 10:42 left in the second, Jamie Milam chipped the puck off a RiverShark stick and ahead to Scott Coash for a clean breakaway. Coash raced into the offensive zone and deked to his backhand and finished through the five-hole for a 1-1 game. 

Coash broke the tie, 2-1, six minutes later when he put away a loose puck rebound off a hard shot by Mike Winn for his second of the game. The goal gave Coash seven goals on the season and increased his point streak to 5-games. 

57-second later the third goal came off an odd-man rush. 

TJ Delany picked up a loose puck in the defensive zone and offered a no-look pass to Nick Magill-Diaz. Magill-Diaz walked the puck into the offensive zone with Jonathan Juliano trailing. Juliano picked up the drop pass and waited for Delany to join the play and centered the puck to the 6-foot-6 Forward who earned his first goal of the season for a 3-1 lead with 3:51 to play in the 2nd period. 

Klinck added his second point of the night in the third period when he fired the puck inside the nearside circle and beat Trevor Babin glove side for his goal of the season. The goal cut into the lead 3-2 with 11:33 to play in the final period.

Motor City was able to kill much of the clock with clean possessions and a power play late in the period that the Rockers used to kill time and not add an insurance goal. It also prevented the RiverSharks from pulling Spencer Kozlowski for an extra attacker. 

The Rockers and RiverSharks will play their final game at First Arena at on Saturday at 6:07pm.

CAROLINA THUNDERBIRDS at COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS

Thunderbirds win in SO

by Tom Callahan

Columbus, GA - Jiri Pestuka scored the game-tying goal with under a minute remaining in regulation and then potted the shootout-winning goal in a 2-1 Carolina Thunderbirds victory over the Columbus River Dragons on Friday night in the first half of a home-and-home weekend series.

Neither team managed a goal until the third period, when Nolan Slachetka finally broke the deadlock with a slapshot from the left point at 8:23. The shot beat Carolina goaltender Mario Cavaliere (37 saves) high over the shoulder through traffic to make it 1-0 River Dragons.

Then late in the third period with Cavaliere on the bench for the extra attacker, Pestuka scored on a backhand at the far post, beating Breandan Colgan (26 saves) and sending the game to overtime and the eventual shootout.

The two teams now head to Winston-Salem for the back half of the home-and-home for a 6:05 pm ET puck drop, with the AirForce Heating and Air Pregame Show starting at 5:30 on 106.9 Really Rocks and YouTube.com/@ColumbusRiverDragons.

PORT HURON PROWLERS at MISSISSIPPI SEA WOLVES 

SEA WOLVES NIP PROWLERS

by Matthew Hoard

Biloxi, MS - In front of a roaring Mississippi Coast Coliseum, the Mississippi Sea Wolves (5-1-1-4) conducted a comeback win 4-3 against the Port Huron Prowlers (3-1-1-3) on Friday night in Biloxi.

It did not take long for Port Huron’s Evan Foley to bury the first goal of the game after 7 minutes. Tuckey Tynan had a perfect first period, 8 saves on 8 attempts. It appeared it was going to be a battle of defense all night.

 The penalties started racking up in the second period as Port Huron would put two more in the net by Dan Chartrand and Alex Johnson to make it a 3-1 affair, but it would not stay that way long. The Sea Wolves would roar back with two goals of their own by Philip Wong and Danny Liscio to make it 3-2 at the end of the 2nd period.

 At the start of the 3rd period you could feel the swing of momentum moving in the direction of the Sea Wolves. They would not disappoint, netting another two goals by Yianni Liarakos and Jackson Bond. They would kill off a tripping penalty with 5 minutes remaining. The game ended with a fight between Tyson Lambert and Tucker Scantlebury in the last minute of regulation. The Sea Wolves would hold off the Prowlers in the last minute to make it two wins in a row inside the Wolves Den.

 Tucker Tynan stopped 23 of 27 shots for Port Huron in the loss, his second of the year, while Joseph Sheppard turned aside 34 of 37 shots for the Sea Wolves in the win, his fourth win of the season. 

 The Sea Wolves will continue their home stand on Saturday, November 25th rounding out the weekend hosting the Port Huron Prowlers for game 2 at 6:05 p.m. at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.



PROWLERS FALL TO SEA WOLVES IN BILOXI

by Will Wiegelman

Biloxi, MS - The Port Huron Prowlers got the first blemish on their seven-game road trip as they fell to the Mississippi Sea Wolves 4-3 at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum on Nov. 24. It was the first victory for the Sea Wolves over the Prowlers in franchise history.

Port Huron got going in the first when Evan Foley tapped in a loose puck at the post for his second of the season.

Dan Chartrand doubled the advantage early in the second with his first of the year before Alex Johnson made it 3-0 with a power play goal. He’s scored a man-advantage goal in three-straight games.

45 seconds later, Mississippi hit the comeback trail. Philip Wong batted home a rebound with under five minutes to go in the period and then just over two minutes after that, Danny Liscio beat Tucker Tynan to the short side on a rush to make it a one-goal game heading into the third.

Yianni Liarakos banked home a shot from below the goal line in the third to tie the score before Jackson Bond gave the Sea Wolves their first lead of the night.

The Prowlers had power play opportunities late but couldn’t cash in.

Chartrand was named the third star of the game with a goal and an assist while Tynan made 34 saves in the loss.

Wong was the first star with a goal and two assists while Bond, one of three Sea Wolves with a goal and an assist, received second star honors. Joseph Sheppard made 34 saves in net.

The teams battle again on Nov. 25 with puck drop slated for 7:05 P.M. eastern. That game will be live on the PHP Network YouTube channel.

WYTHEVILLE BOBCATS at BATON ROUGE ZYDECO

ZYDECO RALLY FROM BEHIND TO WIN 4-3 IN OVERTIME

by Joseph Furtado

Baton Rouge, LA, - The Raising Cane's River Center was the place to be Friday night, as the Baton Rouge Zydeco hosted the Wytheville Blue Ridge Bobcats. Both teams entered tonight's game looking to avoid being in last place in the Continental Division. 

The Zydeco entered tonight's game with a 1-9-0-0 record and lost their last five games, holding the longest active losing streak in the FPHL. As for the Bobcats, they came into tonight's game with a 1-7-1-0-1 record, sitting above the Zydeco in the standings, in fifth place.

Opening the 1st period, the Zydeco came out strong, answering with a power play goal from Austin Weber at 06:05 to make it 1-0. This would be Weber's third goal of the year and second in back-to-back games. The lead wouldn't last long, as the Bobcats tied the game 1-1 at 11:06 with a short handed goal from Jakub Volf.

Despite the Zydeco out shooting the Bobcats 21-13 to end the 1st period, both teams headed to their locker rooms tied.

Kicking off the 2nd period, the Bobcats would take a 2-1 lead on a power play goal from Daniel Martin at 06:15. Despite the Zydeco outshooting the Bobcats 14-11, Wytheville would add one more goal at 18:50 from Chris Corgan increasing their lead to two at 3-1 heading into the final period of hockey.

Baton Rouge entered the 3rd period trailing by two and looked like they were on their way to their sixth straight loss. The Zydeco have not played particularly well in the 3rd period, only netting nine goals all season, while giving up 22.

With time becoming a factor in the game and down by two, the Zydeco found themselves on the power play at 07:13 in the 3rd. On the ensuing power play, Austin Weber would go on to score his second of the game to cut the deficit down to one at 08:32 into the 3rd. 

Minutes later, the Zydeco would tie the game on a goal from Cody Rodgers who would let a wrister go from the high slot, beating Green on the glove side, tying the game at 3-3 at 15:06. 

The clock would hit triple zeros to signal the end of the 3rd period, leading overtime to determine a winner. Baton Rouge had not played a game all season long in overtime and would begin their first OT on the power play (4 on 3).

All it took was 01:35 into overtime for the Zydeco to win the game 4-3. Austin Weber would record his third goal of the game for a hat trick. Baton Rouge rallied from two down in the 3rd period to win the game in OT. That would be their first hat trick and OT winner in franchise history. 

With the win, the Zydeco improved to 1-9-0-1-0 on the year, while the Bobcats dropped their third straight game, falling to 1-7-2-0-1.

The final game of this weekend series will kick off tomorrow at 7:00pm.

BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS at DANBURY HAT TRICKS

HAT TRICKS COME UP JUST SHORT IN SHOOTOUT AGAINST BINGHAMTON

by Doug Lattuca

Danbury, CT - The Hat Tricks were nudged out by Binghamton 5-4 in a shootout Friday night. Forward Brenden Stanko scored the lone goal for the Black Bears in the shootout to drop the Hat Tricks to 6-6-0-1 on the season.

Following a one-hour delay due to a broken ice pane in pregame warmups, the Hat Tricks came out flat in the first 20 minutes. Forward Gavin Yates buried two goals in a minute and 58 seconds to pull the Black Bears ahead, one at 6:52 and another at 8:49. The Hat Tricks offense remained quiet for the remainder of the first period. 

It wasn’t until 3:14 into the second period when winger Sam Dabrowski got the Hat Tricks on the board with his sixth goal of the season. About five minutes later, captain Jonny Ruiz tied the score at 2-2 on a backhander. 

At 16:18 of the middle frame, Black Bears forward Donald Olivieri fired back to restore Binghamton’s one-goal lead.

In the final period, the Hat Tricks answered quickly when d-man Xavier Abdella got his first goal of the season just 45 seconds in. A little more than 14 minutes later Amesbury tapped in the go-ahead tally to give Danbury its first lead of the night, 4-3.

But two minutes later Olivieri tied the game with a late goal in the third period to knot things up.

Scoreless in the overtime, the game entered a shootout. The Hat Tricks and Black Bears finished in a shootout back on Oct. 20 with Danbury taking it 3-2 thanks to a Zach Pamayloan goal. Tonight, Stanko snuck one past McCollum for the only goal and game-winner in the shootout for Binghamton.

The Hat Tricks return to Binghamton tomorrow to play in the final game of the three-game in a four-day stretch at 7 p.m.