Game Recaps 11/30/24

WATERTOWN WOLVES at BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS

Black Bears Complete Feast Week Sweep

by Brooks Hill

Binghamton, NY - The Binghamton Black Bears defeated the Watertown Wolves 9-2 on Saturday night. Binghamton used their 50% power play to propel themselves to victory. 

The Black Bears power play started the party. An early 5-on-3 sequence allowed CJ Stubbs to score his first goal as a Black Bear, giving Binghamton the early lead. 30 seconds later, Donald Olivieri followed it up with a power play goal of his own. Jesse Anderson was able to grab one in the final two minutes of the frame, and Binghamton led 3-0 after the first period. 

The Black Bears were able to extend their lead up to 6-0 with a trifecta of goal scorers in the second. Austin Thompson scored his 2 shorthanded goal of the season, Gavin Yates scored at even strength, and Anderson tallied his second of the night. McAnanama had made 21 straight saves, until Ross Bartlett was finally able to get one past the netminder. Binghamton controlled special teams and held a five-goal advantage going into the third period. 

The story continued in the final period, as the Black Bears scored another three goals. Dan Stone, Chris Mott, and captain, Tyson Kirkby all recorded goals in the final period, as the Black Bears won 9-2. 

Tyson Kirkby becomes the all-time franchise leader in points, passing Nikita Ivashkin and now stands at 199. Binghamton sweeps the Feast Week games, earning 9 of 9 points in just four days. Binghamton goes 3-1-0 while HC Brant Sherwood serves his four-game suspension. 

DANBURY HAT TRICKS at PORT HURON PROWLERS

Prowlers Swept At Home by Danbury

by Will Wiegelman

Port Huron, MI - The Port Huron Prowlers lost control of third place in the Empire Division as they fell to the Danbury Hat Tricks 5-2 on Nov. 30 at McMorran Place. Danbury has now won back-to-back games for the first time this season.

“Everything they were getting, we were giving to them,” said Prowlers captain Austin Fetterly. 

“We didn’t play in our structure and we didn’t play with intensity. They’re not that good of a team, we just gave them everything they needed to beat us both nights.”

The Hat Tricks wasted no time scoring as seven seconds into the contest, Cory Anderson found Noah Robinson to make it 1-0 before all of the fans had found their seats. Danbury doubled the advantage when Jonny Ruiz shot the puck off of Valtteri Nousiainen’s pad on a two-on-one chance. The rebound came right to Connor Woolley who put home his third goal of the weekend.

The Prowlers power play responded as Ludwig Thellström skated coast-to-coast and fed a pass to Joel Frazee in the slot. He deposited his third man-advantage goal in as many games.

Three minutes later, on a four-on-three Hat Tricks power play, Ruiz found Aleksandr Vasilyev all alone in front of the net. He put home his first with Danbury to make it 3-1 heading into the break.

Tucker Scantlebury pulled Port Huron within one again as he fired a shot from the right-wing circle off a rush to the top corner past Connor McCollum’s glove, but two minutes later, Kyle Gonzalez snuck past the Prowlers’ defense and put in his first of the season.

In the final minute of the second, Ruiz won a faceoff forward in the Port Huron zone and slid the puck to the middle of the ice where it banked in off of a Prowler skate. Neither team found the back of the net in the third.

Nousiainen took the loss after making 32 saves. Port Huron has given up five goals in back-to-back games for the first time this season.

Ruiz led the way with a four-point night while Vasilyev added an assist to his goal and Josh Labelle dished out a pair of helpers. McCollum made 30 stops in the win.

The Prowlers head to Binghamton on December 7 and 8 with puck drop for both nights coming at 7 P.M. Both games can be found on the PHP Network YouTube channel. Port Huron has not won a game outside of the state of Michigan this season.

“You have to win games on the road, especially in the playoffs,” Fetterly said. “You have to win games on the road to get to the playoffs too and there’s no more waiting around to start doing that. We have to start right now.”

Hat Tricks Score Five Goals for Second Straight Game, Sweep Prowlers

by Doug Lattuca and Wyatt Kopelman

Port Huron, MI - For the second straight night, the Hat Tricks scored five goals and took down the Port Huron Prowlers 5-2 to sweep the weekend series at McMorran Arena in Michigan. For the first time this season, the Hat Tricks have won back-to-back games and closed out their November schedule with three wins in four games. Noah Robinson’s goal seven seconds into the game set the tone in the three-goal win.

Captain Jonny Ruiz had a four-point night (1g, 3a) while newcomer Aleksandr Vasilyev notched his first goal as a Hat Trick and defenseman Kyle Gonzalez buried his first goal of the season.

In only his third game with the Hat Tricks, Vasilyev scored the game-winning goal on the power play with 3:51 left in the first. The 35-year-old also picked up an assist on Robinson’s go-ahead goal in the first, marking his first multi-point outing of the season. Additionally, the Hat Tricks have scored power play goals in three straight games.

Ruiz, who potted his third goal in the last four contests, made it a three-goal game from a wide angle off the faceoff with about 40 seconds remaining in the second. The captain also supplied three assists for the first four-point game for a Hat Trick since Daniel McKitrick on April 7 against the Elmira River Sharks. 

Nearly two minutes after Tucker Scantlebury reduced Danbury’s lead to one in the second, co-head coach and defenseman Kyle Gonzalez scored his first goal of the season.

Robinson scored seven seconds off the opening faceoff, giving the Hat Tricks the first of their three goals in the first. Connor Woolley scored 5:47 later for a 2-0 lead, with his third goal in two games.

One game after reaching 100 FPHL points, defenseman Josh Labelle posted two assists, one on Vasilyev’s power play score and on Gonzalez’s first of the season.

Making 30 saves for the seventh time in 11 starts, Conor McCollum earned his fourth win in the net.

Danbury moved ahead of Port Huron for third place in the Empire Division with the win and secured its first win streak since March 29 of last season.

Up next, the Hat Tricks return to Michigan on Friday to continue their six-game road stretch in a two-game set with Motor City. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:35 p.m.

HUDSON VALLEY VENOM at BLUE RIDGE BOBCATS 



'Cats Sweep Venom for Franchise Best 4th Straight Win

by Brett Wiseman

Wytheville, VA - The Blue Ridge Bobcats, again led by the offensive prowess of Vladislav Vlasov, set a franchise record with their 4th consecutive victory by completing a weekend sweep of the Hudson Valley Venom with a 5-3 win on Hometown Heroes Night.

Before a crowd of better than 1,300 at Hitachi Energy Arena, the Bobcats got off to another fast start thanks to Danny Martin. Austin Bellefeuille let a shot go that deflected off the stantion of the back glass right into the high slot that Martin scooped up and sniped past Eli Bowers just 99 seconds into the game. 

Eimantas Noreika responded for the Venom with a tremendous individual effort to tie the game, but Vlasov's first of a pair of goals on the night put the Bobcats back ahead for good.

Matt Ernst found Savva Smirnov on a beautiful stretch pass, and Smirnov potted home his 7th of the campaign to double the Blue Ridge lead through the opening 20 minutes.

The turning point came within the first 2 and a half minutes of the middle frame. Davide Gaeta potted home a power play goal on a carryover from a Yegor Ramanau holding penalty at the end of the first. The Bobcats response was the game-determining momentum swing. At 2:11 of the second, Jakub Volf provided traffic in front, taking Bowers eyes away and allowing room for Alex Norwinski to wrist home his second goal in as many nights to restore the Bobcats lead. On the ensuing faceoff, Ernst again found a Russian forward on a stretch pass that set up a breakaway, and Vlasov sniped home his second of the game just 9 seconds after Norwinski. 

Bellefeuille earned third star honors for his pair of assists, while Smirnov notched second star for his goal and helper. Vlasov's outstanding two-goal night earned him first star. Hunter Virostek made 28 saves in his 4th straight win in net.

The Bobcats now travel to Athens, GA and become the first opponent at Akins Ford Arena to face the Rock Lobsters next Friday and Saturday night. Both games will be available on 96.5 WCGX "The Cat" and BobcatsTV on YouTube.



MOTOR CITY ROCKERS at DASHERS of DANVILLE

Rockers Roll Dashers

by Devin Dobek

Danville, IL - For the second straight night the Rockers and the Dashers went toe to toe with 3 important points on the line in a big divisional matchup inside the David Palmer Ice Arena. Assistant captain Nicholas Magill-Diaz’s 4 assists along with 4 goals in a span of 2:09 for the Rockers would prove to be too much as the Danville crew  fell for the 11th straight time.  

The Dashers were forced to label tonight’s game as a must-win following a heartbreaker on Friday. Prior to puck drop, the players on both teams held a large American Flag at center ice in honor of military appreciation night. The American Legion Post 210 colorguard was also in attendance in front of a lively crowd. The Dashers came out flying and peppering Bryn Sommerfelt, who returned between the pipes for the Rockers after a period of action yesterday. Just under 9 minutes into the contest, Trey Fischer ripped a shot off the endglass that took a wild karem off the crossbar and Sommerfelt’s back into the net for one of the most interesting tally’s you will see in the Fed all season. Playing with the lead, the Dashers continued to control the zone. With just over 4 minutes in the first frame, Jacob Gagnon wristed a screened shot from the point home to double the margin at 2-0. The Dashers outshot their opponent 17-11 in period 1, and it seemed like sunshine and rainbows for the home team heading into the break.

Period 2 is where the floodgates opened. The Rockers managed to string together 4 even strength goals in a span of 2:09. First it was Eli Rivers shoveling home a one-timer off a feed from Carson Baptiste. Then 32 seconds later, Sotirios Karageorgos slid a slow shot through the five-hole of Parker Rutherford to even the game. 1:29 later, Avery Smith lifted a one-timer home from Nicholas Magill-Diaz and just like that it was 3-2. It took just 8 more seconds for the next Motor City goal, which came when Nikolai Salov skated the puck across the goal crease and Adam Kuhn took a whack at it to catch Rutherford off guard and make it 4-2. Fortunately for the Dashers, 1:24 later Brandon Stojcevski cashed in on the powerplay to get one back. After a chaotic 4 minute span, the back half of the period featured no tallies. The stage was set for a big third period with 3 important points on the line for the bottom two teams in the Empire division. 

The third period had a methodical start. Around the midway point, Nicholas Magill-Diaz hit Carson Baptiste with a stretch pass in stride at the blue line who danced in and found Rutherford’s five-hole once more to make it 5-3. At this point, the 2 goal deficit seemed like a mountain to a deflated Dashers group. However, they wouldn’t go down without a fight. Justin Brausen scored from a low angle with around 7 minutes remaining. There were a few flurries of chances in front of Sommerfelt’s cage with bodies flying everywhere but the Dashers just couldn’t catch a bounce. Avery Smith’s empty netter planted the dagger as the Dasher’s fell for the 11th straight time by a score of 6-4.

The Dashers outshot their opponent 39-33, the first time the feat had happened all year. Newly signed goalie Bryn Sommerfelt earned his first win of the season, as the Rockers continue to lengthen the gap between 6th and 7th place. The Dashers fall to 1-11-2 and will remain home to take on the Monroe Moccasins this upcoming Friday and Saturday  at 7:05 CST. The Rockers improve to 5-9-0 and will return home to host the Danbury Hat Tricks on Friday at 8:35 CST and Saturday at 8:05 CST. 

BATON ROUGE ZYDECO at MONROE MOCCASINS

ZYDECO TOP MOCCASINS 7-4 IN THIRD MEETING

by Joseph Furtado

Monroe, LA - The Monroe Moccasins fell to the Baton Rouge Zydeco 7–4 on Saturday night at the Monroe Civic Center. Baton Rouge capitalized on an early lead and didn’t look back, on their way to winning back-to-back games against the Moccasins.

The first period saw Baton Rouge take a commanding 3–0 lead, with Gehrig Lindberg notching a goal at 10:32, assisted by Ryo Namiki and MJ Graham. Dmitry Kuznetsov added to the tally at 6:19. Despite Monroe generating several quality scoring chances, goaltender Breandan Colgan stool tall, blanking the Moccasins.

Baton Rouge extended their lead early in the second period with a goal from Ryan Kleber at 16:32.Monroe responded with their first goal from Corey Cunningham who found the back of the net to make it 4-1.Kyle Stevens added a power-play strike to make it 4-2. However, the Moccasins struggled to close the gap, as Elijah Wilson restored Baton Rouge's momentum with a goal at 12:18.The period would end with a 6-3 Zydeco lead after forty minutes.

The final period featured a spirited comeback attempt by Monroe, but fell short 7-4 and dropping to 5-7-4-0-1, while the Zydeco improved to 7-4-1-2-3. Colgan made 42 saves for Baton Rouge, while Kuhn stopped 34 shots for Monroe. The Moccasins will embark on a long road trip beginning next week in Danville.

Zydeco Pull Out 3rd Win of the Week 7-4 Over Monroe

by Andy Poetzinger

Monroe, LA - Finally, the Thanksgiving Week of games is over for the Baton Rouge Zydeco. They win their 3rd game and earn 7 of a possible 12 points as they take down the Moccasins 7-4. 

It was all Zydeco in the first period as they started the scoring just 1:50 into the hockey game as Elijah Wilson cleaned up the Szabad rebound for his 12th of the season. MJ Graham would score his first of the year as he was knocked into Ekholm-Rosen and Jackson Bond followed up with a shot that deflected off of Graham and in before the net had come off its pegs. They would close out the period with a goal from Gehrig Lindberg, his 2nd in as many games against these Moccasins. He was given time and space, and he walked in a wired a shot just inside the near post.

The second period saw the Zydeco continue to push the Moccasins around as Dmitry Kuznetsov potted his 8th of the year. After a goalie change, the Moccasins seemed to wake up. They generated more and more opportunities and finally were rewarded with two straight goals from Cunningham and Stevens to cut the Zydeco lead in half. 

Declan Conway would score a goal to make it a one goal lead, but the goal was taken away as the Moccasins had too many men on the ice. The Zydeco would get their three-goal lead back thanks to Ryan Kleber, but Monroe would strike once more from Conway to make it 5-3. Before the end of the period, Ryo Namiki would score his very first goal in the FPHL and the period would end 6-3.

Period three seemed to settle down a bit on both sides as the two teams traded goals. The Moccasins got a powerplay strike from Rex Moe to make it 6-4, but just 47 seconds after that Elijah Wilson would get his 13th of the year to seal the game for the Zydeco. 

Baton Rouge’s record will improve to 12-4-0-1 and they have a 6-point cushion between themselves and the second place Carolina Thunderbirds.  The Zydeco will head to North Carolina next Friday to take on those Thunderbirds. You can catch the game on YouTube for that contest. Puck drop is at 6:35, and pre-game show starts at 6:15.



COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGON at MISSISSIPPI SEA WOLVES

Sea Wolves Score Late, But Can't Complete Comeback, 3-1

by Jon Kliment

Biloxi, MS - The Sea Wolves came into Saturday night fresh off their first win in over a month and looking to continue their chase up the standings. Columbus, who sit in 3rd in the continental division, put the Sea Wolves down 9-0 in the first two meetings between the clubs.

Nothing came close in the first twenty minutes as both sides skated up and down the ice surface, but Columbus continued to hold the Sea Wolves scoreless through the first 40 of tonight's game while putting up a pair of their own in the second period. Scott Docherty blasted a one time that hit Ed Coffey but was strong enough to power through the netminder giving Columbus a 1-0 lead just 5:13 into the second. 6:45 later Nolan Slachetka found a rebound and tucked it home past Coffey for a 2-0 lead for the River Dragons.

Mississippi found the back of the net in the third after a Jay Croop goal was disallowed for a handpass Dalton Anderson dragged the puck through the netfront and deposited it into the back of the net for 2-1 score at 12:36 of the third period. Pulling the goaltender the clock continued to tick down to the very last second before Docherty tapped one into the empty net for 3-1 win.

Coffey stopped 36 of 38 in the loss.

The Sea Wolves return tomorrow afternoon to the Mississippi Coast Coliseum looking for revenge. Get your tickets on Ticketmaster, the Ticketmaster app, or by stopping by the box office.

DOCHERTY SCORES FIRST TWO PRO GOALS IN WIN

by Tom Callahan

Biloxi, MS - Scott Docherty scored his first two professional goals, the second into an empty net to ice a 3-1 win for the Columbus River Dragons over the Mississippi Sea Wolves on Saturday night.

Docherty opened the scoring at 5:13 of the first period, wristing a shot that found a way through the arm and body of Sea Wolves goaltender Ed Coffey (36 saves). 

Slachetka followed just over six minutes later, pouncing on a goalmouth rebound and putting it past a sprawling Coffey for a 2-0 advantage after 40 minutes of play.

In the third period, Mississippi had an apparent goal called back for a hand pass at 12:05, but carried the momentum from the play and scored 31 seconds later on a Dalton Anderson marker to make it a 2-1 game and ramp up the intensity for the remainder of regulation.

Late in the game with Coffey on the bench for the extra attacker, Hunter Bersani’s hustle forced a turnover in the Sea Wolves zone, which Docherty put into the empty net with just .4 seconds remaining for the 3-1 final.

William Lavalliere made 25 saves for the win to improve to 2-0-0-2.

The same two teams will rematch tomorrow at 5:05 pm ET, with coverage on the River Dragon YouTube page @ColumbusRiverDragons starting 15 minutes prior to puck drop.