GAME RECAPS 2/4/24

BATON ROUGE ZYDECO at WYTHEVILLE BOBCATS 


BOBCATS BREAK OUT BROOMS, COMPLETE FIRST SWEEP IN FRANCHISE HISTORY


by Brett Wisman


Wytheville, VA - The Blue Ridge Bobcats made franchise history on Sunday Funday, completing their first-ever weekend sweep in franchise history by virtue of a dominating 4-1 victory over the Baton Rouge Zydeco. 


Many Bobcats had strong performances, and outside of the three stars, Connor Green was a huge difference. The Florida native netminder stopped 35 of 36 shots in between the pipes for Blue Ridge.


Ricards Jelenskis continued his goal streak, scoring the first two of the game for the Bobcats at 4:57 of the first period and 5:59 of the third period respectively. 


Max Sazanovets scored his first professional goal in just his third game, putting home a rebound off the pad of Zydeco goaltender Greg Hussey on a shot-pass by Gehrig Lindberg. Sazanovets' goal gave Blue Ridge a 3-1 lead at the 13:14 mark of the 3rd.


Jakub Volf kept his momentum from scoring last night's overtime winner, putting home his own rebound to give the Bobcats a 4-1 lead and seal the sweep at the 16:46 mark of the final frame.


The Bobcats wrap up their 4 game homestand on Saturday against the Carolina Thunderbirds.




MOTOR CITY ROCKERS at WATERTOWN WOLVES


Rockers Sweep Weekend Series over Wolves


by Jeff Barrett


Watertown, NY - After an epic battle on Saturday night, in which the Motor City Rockers and the Watertown Wolves waged an all out battle that ended with the Rockers scoring a 7-6 win after a shootout, the two teams took to the ice for a Sunday night matchup in Watertown.


The Rocker didn't hesitate in lighting the lamp as Nick Gullo split the Watertown defense and lifted a backhand shot over the arm of Watertown starter Eloi Bouchard just :52 into the game. Scott Coash would get the helper on the goal for a pass that enabled Gullo to get free in the offensive zone.


The Wolves were able to strike back at the 13:26 mark when Aleksandr Gamzatov slapped home a rebound past the Rockers Trevor Babin. Assists on the goal would go to Ivan Sergeev and Chiwetin Blacksmith.


The game through the first twenty minute was eerily remeninsent of last nights game with it's quick pace and scoring chances for each team. The first period ended 1-1 with the Wolves outshooting the Rockers 16-7.


Period number two started with Josh Tomasi putting the Wolves back into the lead 2-1when he got the outlet pass from Vladislav Pavlov and wristed a shot past Babin at the 2.43 mark. Pavlov and Tate Leeson were both credited with assists on the play.


On the play, Babin got his stick up high on Tate Leeson and was penalized for an illegal check to the head, giving the Wolves a 5 minute major power play, but it was the Rockers who took advantage when Scott Coash received a pass and raced to the offensive end for a short handed goal at 5:54, assisted by Pavel Svintsov and Josh Colton. The goal would turn out to be a turning point of the game, as the Rockers began to pour on the offense.


First it was Roman Gaudet getting an unassisted goal at the 9:48 mark, putting the Rockers back in front 3-2.


Then it would be Cole Therrien netting his first goal as a Rocker at 14:53, extending the Rockers lead to 4-2. Assists on the goal belonged to Adam Kuhn and Josh Colton.


The period ended with the 4-2 score despite Watertown Outshooting Motor City 18-10 in the frame.


Just 1:34 into the third, Watertown's Josh Tomasi added his second goal of the night to cut the Rockers lead to one, 4-3 but that would prove to be the final goal for the Wolves on the night. Lincoln Gingerich and Trevor Lord were credited with the assists.


At 7:35 of the period Pavel Svintsov would add an insurance goal, again putting the Rocker up by 2. Scott Coash and Jameson Milam would get the helpers on the goal, making the score 5-3.


Roman Guadet added an empty net goal at 16:56 for the icing on the cake, as the Rocker would sweep the weekend with a 6-3 win, although being outshot by the Wolves 55-28 in the game.


The Wolves now head out on the road as they travel to Port Huron to take on the Prowlers next weekend, while the rocker head home to host the division leading Binghamton Black Bears.


The Wolves and Rockers will for the final time in the regular season March 8Th and 9th in Fraser, MI 



Motor City Tames Wolves In 6-3 WIn


by Ben Szilagy


Watertown, NY - The Motor City Rockers are returning to Michigan with back-to-back wins over the Watertown Wolves in a dominant effort in its 6-3 win. 


The Rockers struck first in the first 52-seconds of the first period. 


Forward Scott Coash intercepted a pass in the Motor City end and hit Nick Gullo with an outlet pass. Gullo raced into the offensive zone and fired a back-handed shot for a 1-0 lead and his second in as many nights. It’s his third of the season.


Watertown was able to tie the score, 1-1, late in the first period when Aleksandr Gamzatov put in a rebound of a shot that was initially fired by Ivan Sergeev. 


The Wolves took its only lead on a Joshua Tomasi breakaway 2:43 into the second period when Tate Leeson fed the puck to Tomasi and he walked into the zone and fired the puck stick side for a 2-1 lead. 


From then on, it was all Motor City for the second period.


While killing a power play, Coash earned his short handed goal of the season when he received a feed in the d-zone from Pavel Svintsov that caught him in stride. Coash worked his way into the offensive zone and went around a Wolf and fired a back-hand for a 2-2 tie. 


The five-minute major was assessed to Trevor Babin in the second period when his stick clotheslined a Wolves player, and Ricky Gonzalez replaced him 2:43 into the middle frame.


Roman Gaudet added to the lead when he accepted a centering feed from Jonathan Juliano for his first goal in four games five minutes later. Cole Therrien recorded his first goal of his pro career when he increased the lead to 4-2 with 5:07 to play in the second period.


Tomasi chipped into the lead to start the third period at the 1:34 mark for his second of the night. 


The Rockers added to the lead six minutes later off the stick of Svintsov who earned his first goal in regulation since December 2nd when he fired the puck from the far side circle through a crowd for a 5-3 lead. Gaudet added an empty net goal for a 6-3 lead.


Motor City takes its winning streak back home to Michigan where it will host the Empire Division Leading Binghamton on Friday Feb 9th and Sat Feb 10th at Big Boy Arena.