DANBURY HAT TRICKS at PORT HURON PROWLERS

Hat Tricks Top Prowlers in Offensive Affair

by Will Wiegelman

Port Huron, MI - The Port Huron Prowlers dropped a back-and-forth Friday night matchup with the Danbury Hat Tricks 5-4 at McMorran Place. The win pulled Danbury within one point of Port Huron for third place in the Empire Division.

“We have some guys that are on their own page out there,” said Prowlers head coach Matt Graham. “We have some guys playing selfish hockey. We preach strongly the concept of team and defense first, but we have guys vacating the [defensive] zone early, guys cheating for offense in the [offensive] zone, [defensemen] coming down the wall. A lot of selfish hockey out there tonight and I think that’s why you end up in a 5-4 loss.”

Reid Cooper was making his Prowlers’ debut in net but he had a rough start as he went to play the puck in the corner less than two minutes in. Cooper’s pass missed its intended target but found Connor Woolley who fired it into the vacated cage.

A few minutes later though, the Prowlers got a power play and Ludwig Thellström wired a pass from the point to the backside of the net where Joel Frazee tapped it home. It was his second man-advantage goal in as many games. Austin Fetterly gave Port Huron the lead when his shot from the high slot off a faceoff changed direction off a Hat Trick and beat Frankie McClendon.

Danbury responded later in the period on the power play as Vadim Frolov deflected home a shot from the point. 15 seconds later, Woolley had his second of the night off a wrister from the left-wing circle on a rush. That made it 3-2 Danbury heading into the break.

Both teams continued to score in the middle frame. Jake Vaughan got into the offensive zone and sent a shot on net that McClendon kicked out. Kenny Styles cleaned up the rebound for his first pro goal.

The Hat Tricks got some offensive zone time late in the period and off the cycle, Frolov found former Prowlers captain Dustin Henning sneaking down the weak side. His one-timer put Danbury back in front.

29 seconds into the third, Port Huron pulled even again. Tucker Scantlebury dipped the shoulder and drove the crease, muscling the puck over the line. A few minutes later though, Aleksandr Gamzatov won the race to a dump into Prowlers territory. He sent a back pass to Gleb Bandurkin who was the first man to the slot and he put in the game winner.

“We have to hold ourselves to a higher standard,” Graham said. “We talk about details and habits to nauseam at times. The standard we’re holding guys to and ourselves to is unacceptable. Going forward, we have to put higher expectations on ourselves.”

Vaughan had a pair of assists for Port Huron while Cooper made 30 saves in the loss. The four goals the Prowlers got on McClendon are their most past a goaltender in one game since Nov. 8 in Hudson Valley.

Woolley led the way with two tallies for the Hat Tricks while Frolov had a goal and a helper. Jacob Ratcliffe and Jeremy Rottke dished out a pair of assists each while McClendon made 33 stops in the victory.

The Prowlers and Hat Tricks wrap up the two-game set on Nov. 30 with puck drop at McMorran Place scheduled for 7:05 P.M. Tickets are available at phprowlers.com/tickets.

Hat Tricks Push Past Prowlers 5-4 in Port Huron

by Doug Lattuca and Lexi Burkey

Port Huron, MI - Gleb Bandurkin's game-winning goal five minutes into the third period nudged the Hat Tricks by the Prowlers in Danbury's first trip to Port Huron since Apr. 15, 2024. The victory marked the Hat Tricks' second in three games and their first of a six-game road trip which started Wednesday, Nov. 27 in Binghamton.

Forwards Connor Woolley netted two goals while Vadim Frolov (1g, 1a) and Jacob Ratcliffe (2a) each had two points. Frankie McClendon made 33 saves for his first win of the season in his second start and defenseman Dustin Henning potted his first goal of the year against his former team. D-man Josh Labelle picked up his 100th FPHL point on Woolley's first goal.

1:40 into the first period, Woolley intercepted a pass from Port Huron netminder Reid Cooper and fired it into the open net to give Danbury a 1-0 lead. At 4:30 on the power play, Port Huron answered when forward and former Hat Trick Joel Frazee waited on the backdoor and tapped home the game-tying goal. Just four minutes later, off the faceoff win, forward captain Austin Fetterly ripped it home from the top of the circle to give the Prowlers first lead of the night. On the man advantage at 11:20, Danbury forward Vadim Frolov tipped it in a point shot from Josh Labelle for his second power-play goal in as many nights. Just 15 seconds later, Woolley rushed into the zone, danced around Prowlers defenseman Ludwig Thellstrom, and fired it inside the right post to put the Hat Tricks back in front.

13:04 into the second period, the initial shot from Prowlers forward Jake Vaughan at the top of the circle was denied but rookie forward Kenneth Styles followed it up and tapped it in for his first professional goal. With 6:11 left in the second period, Dustin Hennings, in his return to Port Huron, crashed the net and one-touched a centering pass through Cooper to score his first goal of the season and second as the Hat Trick. 

Not even 30 seconds into the third period, Tucker Scantlebury crashed the net, collided with McClendon, and forced the puck through the pad to tie the game 4-4. But Danbury forward Bandurkin responded 4:30 later on the set up from his linemate Aleksandr Gamzatov and snapped it in past Cooper to give Danbury its fourth goal of the game. 

The Hat Tricks held on the rest of the way to secure the three points on Black Friday.

Danbury returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 30 inside the McMorran Arena for the second game of the weekend against Port Huron. Puck drop is set for 7:05 pm.

BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS at WATERTOWN WOLVES 

Wolves Winning Streak Snapped by Black Bears

by Jeff Barrett

Watertown, NY - For the second time this season, the Watertown Wolves and Binghamton Black Bears squared off for a home and home series. And just like back on October 11th and 12th, the Friday night matchup would take place in the Watertown Municipal Arena, with tomorrow's game scheduled for Binghamton.

The Wolves came into the contest riding a 6 game win streak and sitting in the number one spot in the Empire Division, with a 2 point lead over Binghamton. The Black Bears won their last outing with Danbury this past Wednesday night.

The tone was set early in the game with some big hits on either side of the ice, with both teams trying to assert their dominence.It would be the Black Bears striking first at the 10:34 mark when Kyle Stephen slapped a rebound through the legs of Wolves starter Anton Borodkin making the score 1-0.

The score would remain that way through the remainder of the first period with Binghamton outshooting Watertown 15-11 in the frame.

The second period would be a scoreless affair, but not without both teams having some great chances, but the Wolves Borodkin and Binghamton's Connor McAnanama were both up to the challenge. The score remained 1-0 after 40 minutes of play, with Watertown outshooting the Black Bears 16-6 in the period.

At 14:23 of the third, the Wolves were finally able to get one past McAnanama and tie the game on a Chiwetin Blacksmith goal, assisted by Mike Mercurio.

The Wolves would end up on the powerplay just over a minute later, but it was the Black Bears who took advantage when Austin Thompson scored a short handed goal off a pass from Gavin Yates at the 17:13 mark, putting the Black Bears back in front for good, and ending the Wolves win streak at 6 games.

Despite being outshot by Watertown 38-27 for the game, the Black Bears held on for the 2-1 win.



Both teams will travel south down Rt 81 in New York State to Binghamton to battle tomorrow night in the Visions Veterans Memorial Arena.

HUDSON VALLEY VENOM at BLUE RIDGE BOBCATS 



Virostek, Vlasov Lead Bobcats to Third Straight Win

by Brett Wiseman

Wytheville, VA - In their first home game in nearly 3 weeks, the Bobcats "Killer V's" teamed up to light up the scoresheet, while keeping the Hudson Valley Venom off of it in a dominant 4-0 Black Friday victory.

The Bobcats controlled the flow and pace of the game throughout the entire 60 minutes, dominating all 200 feet of ice and limiting the Venom's scoring chances to the outside.

Alex Norwinski got the party started on Youth Hockey Night, wiring home a wicked wrist shot past John Moriarty just over two minutes in. Norwinski found a shot that came from Danny Martin that was blocked and broke a Venom defender's stick, took advantage of the brief man advantage and the Blue Ridge, VA native put home his first of the year to put the Bobcats ahead 1-0.

One half of the Killer V's got in on the action to double the 'Cats lead just over seven minutes later. Vlasov scooped up a shot from Timur Gavrilovich that smacked off the pad of Moriarty and rifled it home for his 4th goal of the season and second of three points on the night.

Nick Stuckless remained red hot, blasting home a bomb of a one-timer just 12 seconds into a Bobcats power play a little over 6 minutes into the second period. Vlasov found Daniel Klinecky, who teed up Stuckless for the blast that tripled the Blue Ridge lead.

Devin Sanders powered home his fifth of the season for the exclamation point six minutes into the third period, with Hunter Virostek starting the play behind his own net and picking up his 4th assist of the season.

Virostek stopped all 30 shots he faced for his second shutout of the season.



The two teams wrap up the weekend and the month of November tomorrow night at 7:30PM at Hitachi Energy Arena on Hometown Heroes Night presented by Wythe Family Dentistry. 

Venom Shut Out by Bobcats 4-0

by Ben Leeds

Wytheville, VA - Hunter Virostek turned aside all 30 shots he faced to blank the Hudson Valley Venom on Friday, leading the Blue Ridge Bobcats to a 4-0 victory at the Hitachi Energy Arena.

In their first of back-to-back games with the Bobcats this weekend, the Venom (4-5-1) came up empty, failing to net a goal for only the second time this season. Ironically, they were also shut out in their only other road game so far, a 5-0 loss at the Binghamton Black Bears on Oct. 19..

Blue Ridge received contributions from throughout their lineup, with four different goal scorers and nine players recording at least one point. Vladislav Vlasov led the way with three points, tallying two assists in addition to his first-period goal.

The Bobcats got on the board quickly; Alex Norwinski scored his first goal of the season on a wrist shot through traffic from the point that got past Venom goalie John Moriarty at 2:10. The Venom nearly tied it soon after when Blake Siewertsen sent a one-timer from Rasmus Asp off the crossbar on a two-on-one rush. 

Blue Ridge kept the pressure on Hudson Valley for the entirety of the first period, firing 16 shots on goal at Moriarty, who made numerous highlight saves, including a lunging stop on a close-range slapshot from Dmitri Selyutin. The puck stayed in the Venom’s zone and Timur Gavrilovich shot it off Moriarty’s pads and right onto the stick of Vlasov, who slapped the puck into the Hudson Valley net at 9:24 to make it 2-0.

Special teams dictated play early in the first half of the second period; the Venom got their first man-advantage at 3:54 thanks to a too many men on the ice penalty on the Bobcats. Hudson Valley did not get much going on the power play, as Blue Ridge killed the two-minute penalty with minimal shots reaching Virostek. Only 18 seconds after the power play expired, Jonatan Wik sent the puck out of play to commit a delay of the game penalty, the Venom’s second of the game at 6:12.

Blue Ridge wasted no time showing the Venom how to make the most of the advantage; just 12 seconds into the power play, Nicholas Stuckless blasted a one-timer over Moriarty’s left shoulder to make the score 3-0.

Austin Bellefeuille went to the box with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty following the goal, for another Venom power play. Hudson Valley looked much better this time around, setting up countless high-percentage scoring chances. Virostek turned them aside each time, keeping the Venom stuck at zero on the scoreboard.

The Bobcats killed yet another Venom power play early in the third period, thwarting any mounting Hudson Valley momentum. They put the game out of reach not long after, when Devin Sanders worked his way behind the Venom defense, flying toward the net to score on Moriarty at 5:59.

The four-goal cushion proved to be more than enough as Blue Ridge coasted to a victory, marking Virostek’s second shutout of the season. The shutout was a team effort, as the Bobcats kept the puck in the Hudson Valley end of the rink for the majority of the game. There, the Bobcats teed off on Moriarty, who saved 38 of the 42 shots he faced.

The Venom and Bobcats will face off for the second half of this back-to-back set Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.

ATHENS ROCK LOBSTERS at CAROLINA THUNDERBIRDS

Carolina Handles Athens, 6-2

11 Thunderbirds record a point in rout of Rock Lobsters

by Brendan Reilly

Winston-Salem, NC -  Behind multi-point nights from four different players, the Carolina Thunderbirds took down the Athens Rock Lobsters, 6-2, on Friday evening at the Fairgrounds Arena in front of 3,150 fans.

Carolina (8-1-3) and Athens (9-2-0) wasted no time getting the crowd involved in the 1st period. Joe Kennedy and Justin Portillo dropped the gloves at the opening faceoff, and the Thunderbirds used the momentum from the fight as the period went on. With just over eight minutes gone, Roman Kraemer walked into the attacking zone waiting for an option and found Nate Keeley in the slot who ripped home his first goal of the year, giving Carolina 1-0 lead. Over five minutes later, Kraemer found Lane King on a 2-on-1 opportunity who tapped home his first goal in Carolina, doubling the advantage, 2-0. 

In the 2nd, Clay Keeley got his second goal of the year just 54 seconds into the period, putting Carolina ahead 3-0 before Jiri Pestuka slipped home a shot short sided on Rock Lobsters’ netminder, Jack Bostedt, with just over seven minutes remaining in the 2nd.

The Thunderbirds took a 4-0 lead to the final 20 minutes where Jan Salak and Danyk Drouin both scored, making it a 6-0 lead with 4:49 remaining in the 3rd. Athens finally broke through scoring twice over the last four minutes, but the Thunderbirds held on to take the three points on the evening, 6-2. 

With the win, Carolina has now won five straight games and now are set to welcome in the Baton Rouge Zydeco next weekend to Winston-Salem for a two-game series. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:35 p.m. on Friday evening from the Fairgrounds Arena. 

The Streak is Over

by Mateen Zibanejadrad

Winston-Salem, NC -  The Athens Rock Lobsters saw their five-game winning streak come to an end Saturday night, falling 6-2 to the Carolina Thunderbirds in a hard-fought contest.

The Thunderbirds struck first midway through the opening period when Nate Keely netted his first goal of the season. Just four minutes later, Lane King doubled Carolina’s lead, giving the home team a commanding 2-0 advantage heading into the first intermission.

Carolina picked up right where they left off in the second period, with Clay Keely scoring just 54 seconds in, ending starting goalie Josh Rosenzweig's night early. Backup Jack Bostedt stepped in but faced continued pressure as Jiri Pestuka ripped a shot past him at the 12-minute mark, extending the Thunderbirds' lead to 4-0.

The Thunderbirds added two more goals in the third period. Jan Salak snuck one past Bostedt early, and Danyk Drouin capped off Carolina’s scoring nine minutes later with their sixth goal of the evening.

Athens showed resilience late in the game, breaking through in the third period. Riley Robertson got the Rock Lobsters on the board with a blistering slapshot from the point, and Troy Murray doubled the Rock Lobsters tally with just three seconds remaining, firing a rocket from the slot.

The Rock Lobsters (9-2-0, 22 pts) now turn their focus to their highly anticipated home opener at the brand-new Akins Ford Arena where they’ll host the Blue Ridge Bobcats on Friday, Dec. 6, with puck drop set for 7:05 p.m. EST.

MOTOR CITY ROCKERS at DASHERS of DANVILLE

Rockers STUN Dashers

Losing Streak Moves to 10

by Devin Dobek

Danville, IL - The Dashers continued their 8 game homestand against the Motor City Rockers inside the David Palmer Arena. Looking to snap a 9-game slide, the Dasher’s would crumble in the final 7 minutes of regulation and ultimately lose in the shootout despite a pair of goals from Nikolai Salov and a 55 save effort from Oscar Wahlgren.

Both teams came out flying for period one. End to end, fast paced action set the scene for a fun matchup between the two bottom seeds in the Empire division. The top story of the night was Dashers assistant coach Brad Denney dressing and starting on defense. Denney was the captain of the 2017 championship Dashers team with AJ Tesoreiro and Justin Brausen. He created some great chances early, showing he still had plenty left in the tank. Darius Cole had the best opportunity of the frame for the Dashers off a beautiful backdoor feed from Denney that couldn’t be pounded home. The scoring would open when Dasher forward Yegor Kabatayev had an uncharacteristic turnover that created a scoring opportunity for Samuel Gagnon who sent it on goal to be deflected past Wahlgren. The shot totals would read 20-13 in favor of the Rockers at the end of the first 20. 

To begin period two, Ricardo Gonzalez was substituted in at goalie for Bryn Sommerfelt, who left for undisclosed reasons after stopping all 13 shots he faced. Both teams had opportunities on the man advantage, including a 44 second 5 on 3 for the Dashers, but neither could cash in. The two teams also exchanged a handful of hard hits, but the officials made sure nothing would boil over. With time dwindling in the frame, Dashers’ assistant captain Lester Brown forced a turnover and broke the puck out to Marian Pazitka. Pazitka, leading a two on one, slid it across to Nikolai Salov who wristed it past Gonzalez to even the game with just 27 seconds on the clock in the frame. The Dashers outshot their opponent in the second period for the first time all season (13-12). The vibes were high heading into the intermission for both the home team and crowd.

Period three was a battle of momentum. Dasher rookie Nikolai Salov rushed up the near side and wristed a bottle popping shop past Gonzalez just 14 seconds after the puck was dropped, and the Dashers had their first lead of the night. 6:27 later, Brandon Stojcevski slammed home his own rebound for his team high 5th goal of the season to extend the lead to two. However, the Rockers turned up the heat. With just under 7 minutes in regulation TJ Sneath redirected home a shot from the point on the powerplay to make it 3-2. Determined and with momentum, the Rockers began to pepper Wahlgren. Just outside of the two minute mark, an unfortunate rebound was tucked home by Eli Rivers to even the game at 3 a side. A deflated Dashers group who was 7 minutes from their first win in over a month would now have to play for a bonus point in overtime.

Overtime provided opportunities for both sides. Wahlgren was tasked with facing a penalty shot after Jacob Gagnon slashed Nicholas Magill-Diaz who was in alone. Magill-Diaz was a little too patient and had the puck poked away to extend the game. The best chance for the Dashers was Brandon Stojcevski who had two breakaways on the same shift but couldn’t find the twine. After 65 minutes, the game would need a shootout. The Dashers went 0/3 in the shootout, and TJ Sneath’s tally in the second round would prove to be the difference maker as the Dashers fell for the 10th straight time in heartbreaking fashion. 

Wahlgren’s 55 save effort would go to waste in arguably the most difficult loss of the season.The Rockers improve to 4-9-0 as the Dashers fall to 1-10-2. The two teams will square off once again tomorrow night at 7:05 CST inside the David Palmer Arena. 

COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS at BATON ROUGE ZYDECO

6 Game Winning Streak Comes to an End River Dragons win 5-3

by Andy Poetzinger

Baton Rouge, LA - The Zydeco lose their first game in 21 days as they fall to the Columbus River Dragons by a final score of 5-3. 

It was a decent start to the game for the Zydeco as they carried a majority of the play in the first and even got reward with the game’s first goal. Brodie Thornton started the rush and cashed in on a Dmitry Kuznetsov pass to put the Zydeco ahead 1-0. Just before the end of the period, the River Dragons’ Storjohann was able to find the back of the net on the powerplay to tie things up at one.

The second period was pretty much all Columbus as the Zydeco found themselves in penalty trouble throughout the period. Columbus would tally three times before the halfway point of the period on goals from Daae, and two from Jestin Somero. The Zydeco found some life as they got a powerplay goal from Tyler Larwood heading to the net and Kuznetsov’s shot happened to deflect off of his body and beat and confused Bernard to cut the River Dragons lead in half 4-2.

Columbus kicked off scoring in the third period with Kirk Underwood scoring his 2nd powerplay goal in as many nights against the Zydeco to make it 5-3. As per usual, the Zydeco would not back down. Jake Cox picked up his 4th of the season as he collected a rebound in the slot and his shot made its way through a maze of players and through the legs of Sammy Bernard. 

That would be as close as the Zydeco would get, and they drop the game 5-3. The powerplay finished 1/7, and the penalty kill would go 3/5. Bailey Stephens made 27 stops in his first regulation loss of the season.

Baton Rouge’s record will move to 12-4-0-1 and they finish out this four game week tomorrow night in Monroe.  You can catch the game on YouTube for that contest. Puck drop is at 7:00, and pre-game show starts at 6:30.

MONROE MOCCASINS at MISSISSIPPI SEA WOLVES

Sea Wolves Snap Skid With Come Back Victory, 3-2

by Jon Kliment

Biloxi, MS - Mississippi's last game before Thanksgiving ended up in their 10 straight loss despite an early lead. As they returned from the one day break the Moccasins stayed in town and returned to the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. 

In an event almost replay worthy of Wednesday night's game Blake Keller scored at 9:59 of the first period to give the Sea Wolves the 1-0 advantage. That is where the similarities ended as Monroe found a way to answer back after two impressive saves from Ed Coffey had him sprawled out unable to make a third as Chris Corgan evened things up for Monroe at 18:57 of the period.

The Moccasins found the back of the net again in period two as Brad Reitter blasted a one time past Coffey for the 2-1 lead at 7:04 of the second period. 

The final period has been a low point for the Sea Wolves this season, but tonight Mississippi found a way to convert. Dalton Anderson threw a pass across the netmouth and found Jay Croop for the tying goal 14:29 into the period. 2:36 later on the power play Dalton Anderson deflected a Matt Stoia blast from the point past Kuhn for the 3-2 lead that stood through the rest of the game.

Coffey stopped 33 of 35 for his first win in his first start as a Sea Wolf.

Mississippi is back in action for game three of the homestand tomorrow night at 6:05pm as the Columbus River Dragons come to town for the first of a four game set. Get your tickets on Ticketmaster , the ticketmaster app or by stopping by the box office.