BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS at MOTOR CITY ROCKERS 

Rockers Take Down Black Bears in 3-1 Win

by Ben Szilagy

Fraser, MI - The Motor City Rockers went back on a bear hunt on Saturday night looking to snag its first pelt of the season.

After three failed attempts, the Rockers were able to keep a bear skin with a 3-1 win against the division leading Binghamton Black Bears. 

Motor City was outshot 38-18 by Binghamton, which was the lowest shot total of the season for the Rockers. 

The game started out in the Black Bears favor as Binghamton took the lead 8:31 left in the first period.

Binghamton covered more than 50-feet of ice in two passes from Jesse Anderson to Gavin Yates that eventually found the stick of Austin Thompson. Thompson chipped the puck ahead of a stick check and gathered it for a shot to the five-hole for his 11th of the season and 1-0 lead. 

The Rockers buoyed itself in the second half of the second period when the band started to hit its groove.

George Holt earned his first goal as a Rocker and 27th of his career when the puck was chipped off the stick of DeVon Fields. After it ricocheted off the end wall to the slot, Holt stepped into a hard shot for a 1-1 game with 7:40 left in the second period. Five minutes later TJ Delaney added to the lead with his 16th of the season when he put in a rebound off a Jonathan Juliano shot with 2:46 to play in the 2nd period.

The Rockers added to its lead with a power play goal in the third period. 

Adam Kuhn received the puck off the wall while Motor City had a 5-on-3 early in the final frame. Kuhn fed the puck to Delaney who touched it back to Kuhn as he approached the high slot and offered a floating shot to the low glove side for a 3-1 lead for his second power play goal of the season.

Motor City will renew its rivalry with Port Huron in a home and home series this upcoming Friday and Saturday. 

BINGHAMTON SPLITS WEEKEND-SET IN MOTOR CITY

by Brooks Hill

Fraser, MI - The Binghamton Black Bears fell on the road Saturday night to the Motor City Rockers inside Big Boy Arena 3-1. The loss is just the 4th regulation defeat for the Black Bears of the season.  

Binghamton was first on the board in the rematch of Friday night’s game. Austin Thompson was able to score an even strength tally, giving the lead to the visitors. Thompson’s 11th of the season would be the only goal of the night for the Black Bears.  

George Holt’s 1st of the year at 12:20 of the second period allowed Motor City to tie the game at 1-1. The Rockers would not look back from that point on… Binghamton was able to pepper the goalie with 28 shots through two periods but were unable to find the go-ahead goal. Instead, TJ Delaney was able to give the Rockers the lead inside the final three minutes of the period. After two periods, Motor City led 2-1.  

Motor City started the third period on the power play due to penalties being issued at the conclusion of the previous period. Adam Kuhn was able to record the only power play goal of the night a minute and 40 seconds into the period. Binghamton continued to sustain pressure, outshooting their opponent 10-4 in the final frame, but could not find the back of the net. Motor City wins the Saturday night matchup 3-1, splitting the weekend set with the Black Bears.  

ELMIRA RIVER SHARKS at DANBURY HAT TRICKS

HAT TRICKS TOPPED 6-3 BY ELMIRA SATURDAY, LOSE FOURTH STRAIGHT

by Doug Lattuca

Danbury, CT -  The Hat Tricks were bested 6-3 by Elmira Saturday night in the second game of the weekend set. The Hat Tricks have dropped four straight and five of the last six.

The Hat Tricks lead 3-2 at 6:30 of the second period, but Elmira rattled off four straight goals, three in the second and an empty-netter in the third, to pull away. Danbury has allowed three-plus goals in ten straight games. The Hat Tricks are 4-5-1 during that span.

At 6:43 of the first period, River Sharks forward Steven Klinck chipped the puck over the left pad of Hat Tricks goaltender Conor McCollum to give Elmira a 1-0 lead. At 13:49, Brandon Stojcevski’s power play goal pinballed around in front and entered the back of the net to even the score at one. Just over a minute later, Elmira took the lead right back when MJ Maerkl snapped a point shot through traffic. The Hat Tricks responded less than two minutes later. Corey Cunningham sniped the puck into the top right corner to tie the score at two. 

The Hat Tricks took their first lead of the night six minutes and 30 second into the second period on a backhand goal from forward Zach Pamaylaon. But at 14:17, forward Marquis Grant-Mentis wacked home a rebound off of McCollum’s pad to tie the score. A minute and six seconds later, Klinck one-timed the puck past the outstretched blocker of McCollum for his second of the night. Klinck added another one just three minutes later to secure the hat trick. Elmira had three hat tricks over the weekend, two Friday and one Saturday.

For the second night in a row, the last River Sharks goal came via the empty netter. 

The Hat Tricks travel to Watertown next weekend for three straight road games on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Elmira Has Third Hat Trick Of the Weekend to Sweep Danbury, 6-3

by Jon Kliment

Danbury, CT - The River Sharks hit the road to Danbury for the first time this season. After a brilliant effort Friday night that saw two hat tricks from the River Sharks, Danbury was looking for revenge on their home ice surface. 

Elmira came out strong while on a power play opportunity Steven Klinck was able to find a path behind Connor McCollum to give the River Sharks 1-0 lead. 7:05 later Danbury found an opportunity of their own as a shot pinballed through the zone and Brandon Stojcevski, fresh off suspension, touched it last as it ended up behind Eli Bowers. Elmira was not deterred as Assistant Coach/Defenseman MJ Maerkl saw a shot from the point one minute later and sent it behind McColllum to give the River Sharks back their one goal lead. Danbury had the last word in the first however with a tying goal from Corey Cunningham late. 

The Hat Tricks scored again 6:30 into the second frame as Zachary Pamalayon found the back of the net to give Danbury their first lead of the game. The River Sharks took a little bit to find their footing in the second period, but for 3:54 they seemed to be on another level. at 14:17 of the second period Kyle Powell broke in on a three on one put a shot off the pad of McCollum that laid in front of the goal and Marquis Grant-Mentis slid it in the back of the net to bring Elmira back even at 3-3. 1:06 later Steven Klinck buried his second of the night on a cross zone pass from Darius Davidson and then 2:48 later Klinck completed the hat trick as he was sprung on a breakaway by Austin Pickford and gave Elmira the 5-3 lead before in the final period Klinck found an empty netter in the third to give Elmira the 6-3 final.

Bowers stopped 39 of 42 for the win, his second as a River Shark.

Elmira comes back to the Shark Tank to battle with the Binghamton Black Bears tomorrow at 1pm. Get your tickets on Ticketmaster or by calling the Box office at 607-734-PUCK! #FeartheFin

WATERTOWN WOLVES at PORT HURON PROWLERS

FREEBORN NOTCHES OT WINNER, PROWLERS SWEEP WATERTOWN

by Will Wiegelman

Port Huron, MI - The Port Huron Prowlers completed a weekend sweep of the Watertown Wolves with a 4-3 overtime victory on Feb. 10. Liam Freeborn scored the game winner for the third straight game.

“It was a big win,” said Prowlers assistant coach Chris Paulin. “Not the ending we wanted as far as the third period goes but good teams find a way.”

Evan Foley found Dalton Jay in tight for a power-play goal just under nine minutes into the opening period. A few minutes later, Jay got a shot off the faceoff and Freeborn tapped the rebound back in front to Jay who put it home for his second of the period.

Chiwetin Blacksmith got one back as the Wolves caught the Prowlers in a line change to cut the lead in half. Alex Johnson picked the corner on Spencer Kozlowski to make it 3-1 heading into the third.

In the final frame of regulation, Tate Leeson jumped on a puck off the faceoff and stickhandled around Tucker Tynan to pull the Wolves within one. Then, Nico Hemming put home a bouncing puck in front of the Port Huron net. His first as a pro sent the game to overtime.

“It’s tough to sweep any team and we knew they were going to come out punching in the third,” Paulin said. “I thought we started making some uncharacteristic mistakes that we’ll have to address but that’s why you have a goalie. Sometimes, you have to make a couple of saves and he sure did.”

15 seconds into the extra session, Freeborn one-handed the puck towards the cage. It slipped five-hole on Kozlowski and barely crossed the goal line. Watertown disagreed but it was called a good goal and the Prowlers took the extra point.

Freeborn finished with a goal and two assists while Jay put home a pair. Foley and Matt Graham dished out two helpers apiece while Tynan made 38 saves. 

Vladislav Pavlov skated away with a pair of assists while Kozlowski made 41 stops.

The Prowlers are back in action with a home-and-home against the Motor City Rockers on Feb. 16 and 17. Tickets to the first game are available at phprowlers.com/tickets.

CAROLINA THUNDERBIRDS at WYTHEVILLE BOBCATS

CAROLINA CLIPS CATS 3-1

by Brett Wiseman

Wytheville, VA - The Blue Ridge Bobcats fell a few bounces short in a 3-1 loss to the Carolina Thunderbirds.

Max Sazanovets remained hot, scoring the lone Bobcats goal. Blue Ridge outshot Carolina 33-27, but were bitten by a crossbar in the first period and strong opposing goaltending from Frankie McClendon.

The two teams will meet again in Winston-Salem Wednesday night.

MISSISSIPPI SEA WOLVES at COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS

Moore's Four Goals Powered River Dragons to Win

by Tom Callahan

Columbus, GA - Kyle Moore’s four-goal night powered the Columbus River Dragons to a 7-1 win over the Mississippi Sea Wolves on Saturday night, extending the team’s franchise-record Tim Hortons win streak to 13 games.

Columbus came out firing, scoring five goals through the first two periods while only allowing the Sea Wolves a total of 10 shots over the opening 40 minutes of play. Mississippi would get one back on the power play in the third period, but the River Dragons scored twice more late to ice the win.

The line of Moore (4g), Justin MacDonald (3a) and Ryan Hunter (1g, 3a) led the way offensively while Columbus played a complete game defensively, keeping the normally-explosive Sea Wolves to just one goal and 19 total shots.

Notes:

• Justin MacDonald continues his league-record scoring streak, which has now reached 23 games. MacDonald has a point in every contest going back to December 1 and over that stretch has 17 goals and 34 assists for 51 points.
• Kyle Moore’s scoring streak has now reached 12 games and includes 11 goals and 18 assists for 29 points along the way.
• Ryan Hunter’s four-point night tied his career best set earlier this season on December 9 against Mississippi.
• Columbus put up 20-or-more shots in five out of six periods this weekend, including a season-high 64 on Friday night.
• The River Dragons now own a 21-1 all-time record against Mississippi.

The River Dragons round out an eight-game homestand next Friday and Saturday night against the Baton Rouge Zydeco. Tickets are on sale now for all remaining River Dragons home games through the Civic Center Box Office and online at TicketMaster.com.