GAME RECAPS 12/31/22

PORT HURON PROWLERS at MOTOR CITY ROCKERS 


Motor City Early Lead Not Enough Against Prowlers


by Ben Szilagy



Fraser, MI.- Motor City couldn’t earn a weekend series sweep against Port Huron as the Prowlers were able to earn a 6-3 win in the final game of 2022.

The Rockers were able to get an early lead on the Prowlers on two hard driving plays to the net that set the tone early in the first period. 

In the first two minutes of play, the Rockers took the lead when Brad Reitter chipped the puck ahead to Roman Gaudet in the neutral zone. Gaudet carried the puck into the offensive zone and offered a quick shot as he charged the net that Danick Rodrigue partially stopped but went past him for a 1-0 lead. 

Three and a half minutes later, Tim Perks remained hot on the weekend as he got his second goal of the series when he carried the puck into the offensive zone and fired a quick wrister to the far side of the net for a 2-0 lead.

Josh Colten also assisted both goals that brings his total to sixteen on the year. 

The Prowlers made sure it would leave the first period with a goal in hand as well when Larri Vartiainen put away a rebound off a Sam Gagnon shot to make it 2-1 with 5:51 to play in the period.

The second period belonged entirely to Port Huron as it was able to get under the skin of the Rockers as the Prowlers got two power play goals that helped regain the lead. The Prowlers were able to outscore Motor City 5-1 the rest of the way. 

Joe Deveny had two goals in the second period, one when he completed the famed “Michigan” to tie the score up at 2-2, and another to help build the lead after a Matt Graham goal. That goal was scored on a quick wrist shot from 20-feet out to the top shelf for a 4-2 lead. 

Motor City was able to cut into the lead, 4-3, with a power play goal scored by Brad Reitter with 4:54 left in the second period. Nick Magill-Diaz earned his first career point as a Rocker with the assist. 

The Prowlers answered with a power play goal of their own off the stick of Alex Johnson for his sixth of the season to regain a two goal lead, 5-3 with 2:59 left in the second period. 

Liam Freeborn added a goal in the third period for a 6-3 lead. 



WATERTOWN WOLVES at BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS


GJURICH SCORES 300TH PROFESSIONAL GOAL IN 7-3 ROUTE OF WATERTOWN


by Brooks Hill

Binghamton, NY - The Binghamton Black Bears defeated the Watertown Wolves 7-3 on New Year’s Eve inside Visions Arena. Tyler Gjurich scored his 300th professional goal, extending his point streak to 48 straight games. Binghamton had the lead for the entire contest and completed the sweep of Watertown. 

Tyson Kirkby got the party started in the first period on the powerplay. The Black Bears were able to score on the power play twice after not connecting during the game yesterday. Binghamton was able to extend their lead with the first Kyle Powell goal of the season. Shortly, Watertown was able to get on the board with a Matt Brown goal, their first in nearly 70 minutes of play. After 20 minutes Binghamton led 2-1. 

The Milestone took place during the middle frame as Tyler Gjurich would score the 5th goal of the night for Binghamton. It was a power play goal nearing the end of the advantage. Nikita Ivashkin made a pass to Gjurich on the back door for an easy tip in. The entire Binghamton bench emptied to celebrate with Gjurich as fireworks began early in Binghamton. 

Quitely, Ivashkin had netted two goals, one of them off a Justin Coachman redirect. Going into the third period it was 5-2 in favor of the home team. 

While Watertown was able to add one more goal in the third, Binghamton netted two more goals, including an empty net shorthanded goal. For his second hat trick of the season. The Black Bears cruised to a 4-goal victory over Watertown to pick up the final 3 of 6 points available this weekend. 


ELMIRA MAMMOTH vs CAROLINA THUNDERBIRDS


THUNDERBIRDS ROUT MAMMOTH


by Brett Wiseman

WINSTON-SALEM, NC - In front of another near sellout crowd of better than 3,200 fans at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Annex, the Carolina Thunderbirds continued their weekend of offensive domination over the Elmira Mammoth. Carolina posted a 10-2 victory to complete the weekend sweep in their first ever series with the Mammoth.

Lucas Rowe scored the first two goals of the game, the first coming on a wicked wrist shot from the left faceoff dot. His second was a wrist shot in tight that was partially stopped by Mammoth goaltender Richard Shipman, but not completely as it leaked through.

Gus Ford added two video-game like goals on amazing stickhandling moves that led to backhand shots.

Justin Bioni added his first goal of the season off a rebound.

Joe Kennedy, Josh Koepplinger, Petr Panacek and Daniel Martin each netted goals to give Carolina double-digits.

Boris Babik was spectacular in his first start in two weeks, stopping 25 of 27 Elmira shots.

Rowe finished with 4 assists, giving him a whopping seven points on the night and garnering him first star honors. Ford earned second star for his five point effort.

The Thunderbirds begin 2023 on the road, heading to Watertown for one and Danbury for two next weekend.




MISSISSIPPI SEA WOLVES at COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS


COLUMBUS HITS 20-WIN PLATEAU, ROUND OUT 2022 WITH WIN OVER SEA WOLVES

River Dragons Score Seven Unanswered

Goals En Route to Win

by Tom Callahan


Columbus, GA -  Alexander Jmaeff recorded a hat trick to help the Columbus River Dragons erase a 3-1 first period deficit en route to an 8-3 victory over the Mississippi Sea Wolves on Saturday night.

Columbus rallied around goaltender Ty Hunter (23 saves), who allowed three goals against in the first period of his first professional start. But after that, both Hunter and the River Dragons settled down defensively while igniting the offense to win going away.

Jacob Kelly also scored twice in the win, and Lane King posted three assists. Jake Cox, Alex Storjohann and Austin Daae also scored in the victory for Columbus.

The three-game series wraps up Sunday afternoon at 4:30 pm at the Columbus Civic Center. Tickets are on sale now through the Civic Center Box Office and online at TicketMaster.com.



River Dragons Overcome Sea Wolves in Big Third Period


by Nick Roesch



Columbus, GA.- The (20-2-1) Columbus River Dragons scored five goals in the third period on Saturday night before taking an 8-3 win against the (3-17-3) Mississippi Sea Wolves at the Columbus Civic Center. 

The Sea Wolves controlled the action through the opening period and started with a 2-0 advantage on goals from Daniel McKitrick (6:18) and Dakota Ulmer (11:35). Alex Jmaeff scored at 17:48 for the River Dragons before Ulmer potted his second of the night in the final minute. 

Despite trailing 3-1 entering the second period, Columbus swung the momentum in their favor for the remainder of the game. They knotted up the game with two goals just 70 seconds apart between Alex Storjohann (6:27) and Jacob Kelly (7:37). 

With the score reading 3-3 heading into the final twenty minutes, the River Dragons lit the lamp five times. Jmaeff scored twice, securing his hat trick, while being joined by Kelly, Jake Cox and Austin Daee on the scoresheet. The final pair of tallies came on a Sea Wolves empty net. 

Columbus goaltender Tyran Hunter impressed in his first professional start which included 23 saves. Blake Weyrick was in net for the second straight night for Mississippi and saw a combined 42 shots from the River Dragons. 

The Sea Wolves will open the 2023 calendar year tomorrow afternoon with their third straight meeting with the River Dragons. The game has a special start time of 3:30pm CST and will be available for viewing on the Sea Wolves YouTube channel. 



DANBURY HAT TRICKS at DELAWARE THUNDER


Danbury Wins Nail Biter in Delaware


by Gradon Motter

Harrington, DE - In the First period Danbury won the shot count 18-7 against Delaware but neither team could get a puck in the back of the net.

The second period was a Uno reverse card as Delaware won the shot battle 18-9. Again neither team lit the lamp in the period.

The scoring finally showed itself as Evan Lugo got the puck past Trevor Martin on the power play 13:31 into the period. Danbury would extend there lead with a Dustin Jesseau goal to make it 2-0. Dimitry Kuznetsov delivers the final blow in the Delaware sails with an empty net goal to make the final 3-0 Danbury.

Delaware travels to Elmira to play the Mammoth on Friday January 6th.

Hat Tricks Shutout Thunder to Close 2022


by Chris Lynch

Harrington, DE -  The Danbury Hat Tricks completed their 2022 slate of games with a strong defensive effort in Harrington to complete a weekend series sweep of the Delaware Thunder. 

Neither team scored a goal for the first two periods. Danbury dominated the first period shot counter 18-7 while Delaware took the second period shot lead 18-9. 

Frankie McClendon took the net for Danbury and stopped all 29 shots he faced in net. But in the third period, McClendon fell backward awkwardly and left the game with an injury. Brian Wilson entered the game in his place and proceeded to stop all ten shots he faced. 

Danbury cracked the Delaware defense at the 13:31 mark of the third period when Evan Lugo scored on a power play. Dustin Jesseau punched in a rebound goal at the 17:45 mark of the frame and Dmitry Kuznetsov capped the night with the empty net goal to round out the scoring at 3-0.

The two Danbury goaltenders stopped all 39 shots faced for the team's first shutout of the 2022-23 season. 

Nine different players contributed to the scoring and no one had more than a single point in the game. 

Danbury improves to 20-1-2, staying in first place in the FPHL's Empire Division. 

The Hat Tricks open 2023 with a two-game set against the Carolina Thunderbirds on January 6th and 7th. Puck drop on Friday night is scheduled for 7:30 PM ET.