GAME RECAPS 4/1/23

DANBURY HAT TRICKS at ELMIRA MAMMOTH 

Elmira Gives Up 4 Unanswered, Fall 6-2

by Jacob Johnson

Elmira, NY - The Elmira Mammoth returned home after a tough night in Binghamton, they fell 6-2 to the Black Bears. They looked to get back on track vs the Danbury Hat Tricks. 

The Hat Tricks would get the scoring started on a shorthanded opportunity with the goal coming from Brendan Sheehan. Michael Marchesan received the assist to help put the rabbits up 1-0. 

Less than 2 minutes later on a 5-3 powerplay the Hat Tricks worked the puck around and found Daniel McKitrick on the far side who buried a shot past Danick Rodrigue for their 2nd of the night. Jonny Ruiz and Kyle Gonzalez tallied the assists. 

The Mammoth would not go down quietly. Stavros Soilis got a pass from Nick Gullo right out in front of Brian Wilson and he put it past the blocker to give the Mammoth their first of the night. Justin Schmit got the secondary assist. After 20 minutes the Mammoth trailed by just 1 goal, 2-1. 

The second period started off with a bang, just :14 seconds into the period Ricards Jelenskis sent a net front pass to Stavros Soilis who shot it past the pad of Wilson for his 2nd of the night.

The period would have a few penalties each way but both teams killed off those opportunities. After 40 minutes of hockey the Hat Tricks and the Mammoth were all knotted up at 2 a piece. 

The 3rd period would be all Hat Tricks. Just :38 seconds into the 3rd Daniel McKitrick would bury his 2nd of the game to give Danbury a 3-2 lead. Gordie Bonnel got the helper. 

Michael Marchesan would tally the next two for Danbury with back-to-back goals to extend the Danbury lead 5-2. 

The Mammoth could not find an answer in the 3rd and with about 7 minutes left Dmitry Kuznetsov added the final goal to give the Hat Tricks their 40th win of the season 6-2. 

These two teams will be back at it again next weekend as the Elmira Mammoth will travel to Danbury for their final regular season matchup of the year. They will return home on Wednesday April 12th to take on the Watertown Wolves before the final weekend of the year against Binghamton.


MISSISSIPPI SEA WOLVES at CAROLINA THUNDERBIRDS 

THIRD PERIOD BLITZ LIFTS BIRDS TO 6-3 WIN OVER SEA WOLVES

by Brett Wiseman

Winston-Salem, NC -  A third period barrage of goals from the Carolina Thunderbirds broke them loose from a deadlock with the Mississippi Sea Wolves and pole vaulted them to a 6-3 victory in front of a crowd of 2,983 fans inside the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Annex.

Carolina started the game strong, getting on the gas pedal and attacking early and often. Gus Ford potted home his 44th goal of the season just 1 minute and 46 seconds into the contest after a centering pass from Dawson Baker.

Petr Panacek, back from suspension and back centering the "Czech Line", sniped a wrist shot home far side in the high slot just 4 minutes after Ford's goal to double the Thunderbirds lead, which stood through the rest of the first and the initial half of the middle frame.

The second half of the second period was a full frontal oppositional assault from Mississippi. Philip Wong blasted home a one-timer on the power play 8 minutes into the second. Jan Salak provided a counterpunch with a power play goal of his own for Carolina 4 minutes later when he deflected a wrist shot from Panacek in front of the net.

Not to be outdone, Kyle Russel and Jackson Bond both beat Boris Babik with a pair of goals just two minutes apart to stun the Annex crowd and see the game tied at 3 heading to the third.

The Thunderbirds response was swift, with force and finality.

Salak and Panacek teamed up to perfectly execute a 2-on-1 rush, with Panacek feeding Salak to wire home a one timer into a yawning cage to give Carolina a 4-3 lead. The Thunderbirds didn't look back from that point on.

Panacek blasted home a slap shot from distance to double the lead for his second of the night and 18th of the season. Danny Martin finished things off, banking home a shot off a Sea Wolf for the dagger.

The Czech line took home all three stars on the night, with Pestuka 3rd, Salak 2nd and Panacek first. Honorable mention to Babik in net, who stopped 42 of 45 Mississippi shots on the night.

The two teams meet for the 14th and final time tomorrow afternoon, with puck drop set for 4:05 ET.


Sea Wolves Subdued by Thunderbirds 6-3

By Nick Roesch

Winston-Salem, NC – The Carolina Thunderbirds exploded with three goals in the third period on Saturday night as they doubled up the Mississippi Sea Wolves 6-3 at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Annex. 

After a slow start the previous night, Carolina jumped on the Sea Wolves in the first period with goals from Gus Ford (1:46) and Petr Panacek (5:14). 

It took eight minutes into the second period for the Sea Wolves to find their first goal of the night. Philip Wong cashed in on a two-on-one pass from Yianni Liarakos to make it a 2-1 game. 

Jan Salak increased Carolina’s lead back to a pair at 12:59 before the Sea Wolves evened things up between strikes from Kyle Russell (15:43) and Jackson Bond (17:12). 

The 3-3 score stayed well into the third period before Carolina’s Salak, Panacek and Martin all combined goals for the 6-3 final. Panacek and Salak each completed the night with two goals and two assists for the Thunderbirds. 

The Sea Wolves led in shots on goal 45-31. Anthony D’Aloisio finished in net with 24 saves for Mississippi, while Boris Babik’s 39-save outcome locked down his second consecutive win for the Thunderbirds. 

One final meeting between the Sea Wolves and Thunderbirds remains this season, and it takes place tomorrow, April 2 with a 3:05pm Central Time puck drop at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Annex.


PORT HURON PROWLERS at MOTOR CITY ROCKERS 

 Rockers Beat Port Huron 5-4, Win Season Series For 6th Straight

by Ben Szilagy

Fraser, MI - The I-94 Rivalry belongs to the Motor City Rockers for the first season.

Thanks to a hat-trick by Declan Conway, and stout defense late in the third period, the Rockers skated to a 5-4 win over the Port Huron Prowlers to take the season series 9-7. 

Motor City was buoyed in the first period by two of Conway’s three goals, with the first coming 1:02 into the period on the power play. 

Josh Colten held the puck at the far side point and slid it to Scott Coash atop the near circle. Coash fired the puck on net, but Conway bunted the puck with his stick into the net for a 1-0 lead. 

12 minutes later, Conway struck again thanks to a breakout pass from Roman Gaudet. 

Gaudet held the puck at center ice and walked it into the offensive zone. As he crossed the blue line, he saucered the puck to Conway who fired in his second goal of the night and a 2-0 lead just beating Brian Tallieu under his left arm. 

The Prowlers were able to get a goal back in the second period off the stick of Evan Foley who caught a perfect rebound off the leg of Blake Scott and snuck the puck into the nearside post for his 17th of the season 1:21 into the middle frame. 

But Motor City kept the pressure on. 

Midway through the 2nd Derek Makimaa carried the puck along the nearside boards and sniped the top left corner of the net for his 21st goal of the season for a 3-1 lead with 13:14 to play. The Rockers added another power play goal when Dante Suffredini finally broke through the five-hole for a 4-1 lead with 1:11 left in the period for his third power play goal of the year, sixth of the season. 

The Prowlers clawed their way back into the game thanks to three power play goals broken up by Conway’s third of the night. 

The first power play goal was scored by Frank Schumacher that cut the lead in half, 4-2 with 12:36 to play in the final frame. The next two were scored off the stick of Matt Stoia who peppered the night from outside and notched three goals on the weekend. 

As Port Huron pulled within one, 5-4, they had to get another goal to force overtime with 36 seconds to play. The Rockers welcomed the moment and stood tall pinning the puck in along the boards and not allowing another shot to preserve the win. 

Motor City will travel to Mississippi to face the Sea Wolves on Friday and Saturday before the Sea Wolves come to Fraser to wrap up the season for two games. 


COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS at BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS

Black Bears Win Season Series Against Columbus

by Brooks Hill

Binghamton, NY - The Binghamton Black Bears defeated the Columbus River Dragons 5-3 on Saturday night. With the victory, the Black Bears win the season series 2-0-1 against the Continental Division’s leading team. 

Binghamton was able to score first on the power play. Chad Lopez was in the right place at the right time to bury a rebound from Brenden Stanko. Columbus had the opportunity to tie the game later on the man-advantage but was unable to manage a shot on goal. Binghamton carried a 1-0 lead in the locker room. 

The Black Bears built up their lead, as Mac Lewis stuck with a play and pushed the puck into the back of the net for his 10th of the season. Lane King was able to put Columbus on the board at 4:56 of the middle period, but Binghamton was able to answer right back. Tyson Kirkby extended his goal-streak to four games, pushing the lead back up to 3-1. Jestin Somero joined the party with his third goal of the season for Binghamton, but that one was answered by Josh Pietrantonio. The Black Bears had a 4-2 advantage after forty minutes.

Colan Fitzgerald, who was injured in the second period, was to score on a partial breakaway for the fifth and final goal of the night for Binghamton. Columbus did manage to grab a goal later in the period from Jay Croop, but failed to convert on their four power plays. Black Bears win 5-3 and take the season series over the River Dragons. 

The Black Bears will return home next week for on Friday, April 7th, for Hall of Fame Night, against the Delaware Thunder. The Black Bears will wear their 50th Anniversary jerseys, commemorating all the past teams of Binghamton’s hockey history. The game-worn jerseys will be auctioned off, live, following the game. 

BLACK BEARS OUTLAST RIVER DRAGONS 5-3
Columbus Has Four Regular Season Games Remaining, All Against Carolina

by Tom Callahan

Binghamton, NY - Despite a goal and an assist from captain Josh Pietrantonio, the Columbus River Dragons fell short in Binghamton against the Black Bears on Saturday night by a 5-3 count.

The River Dragons entered the third period trailing 4-2, and it quickly became a 5-2 deficit just 4:01 into the third period. But Jay Croop’s 19th goal of the season at 12:18 from Pietrantonio and Austin Daae pulled Columbus within a pair for the third time in the hockey game.

Despite a late rally and pulling goaltender Christian Pavlas (41 saves) in the final minute, Columbus could not get any closer and wrapped its northern road swing with a 2-2 record.

The River Dragons will now return home to finish the regular season with four games against the Carolina Thunderbirds starting next weekend, April 7 and 8 at the Columbus Civic Center. Tickets are on sale now for the series that will decide first place in the Continental Division via the Columbus Civic Center Box Office and online at TicketMaster.com.


DELAWARE THUNDER at WATERTOWN WOLVES

  Thunder Dominate the Wolves in Watertown

by Jeff Barrett

Watertown, NY - For the first time in the 22/23 season the Delaware Thunder traveled north to take on the Wolves in Watertown. This would be the fifth meeting between the two teams with Watertown holding a 3-1 lead in the season series.

The first twenty minutes of play turned out to be a goalie clinic as Delaware starter Spencer Kozlowski and Watertown's Adam Wisco each were tested and both made some outstanding saves. Watertown's Wisco also had to battle off two one-on one chances for the Thunder. The period would end in a scoreless tie with the Wolves outshooting the Thunder 18 to 12.

Period number two started off much the same as the first until the 4:28 mark when Austin Weber struck first for the Thunder, sending a shot from the deep right corner that caught Wisco's leg and deflected into the goal to give Delaware a 1-0 lead.
At the 13:23 mark, Jakub Volf was able to slice home a shot assisted by Marquis Grant-Mentis and Houston Wilson extending the Thunder lead to 2-0.

Marquis Grant-Mentis who was a thorn in the side of the Wolves all night was able to grab a rebound off a Vito Carlo shot on the right side and slide it behind Wisco giving the Thunder a 3-0 lead, and continuing the second period scoring run.

The Thunder's goal scoring rush would add a fourth goal, this time from Houston Wilson at the 17:09 mark, pushing the lead to 4-0. Marquis Grant-Mentis and Zach Arvidson got the helpers on the goal, sending the Thunder to the locker room with a four goal lead. Delaware outshot Watertown 19 to 15 in the period.

It wouldn't take long into the third frame for the Thunder to strike again as at just 1:52 in, Grant-Mentis was able to lift one under the glove of Owen Liskiewicz who had come in in relief of Wisco. The goal made it 5 unanswered goals through period two and into three.

The Wolves finally got on the board when Kolton Maguire knocked a rebound off a Chris Corgan shot past Kozlowski breaking up his shutout bid. The goal came at the 16:08 mark, and gave the home team a little spark of life, but three minutes and 1 second later, Thomas Delaney would drive the nail in the coffin, on a beautiful crossing pass from Wilson, making the score 6-1.

That would be the final goal of the night sending the Wolves home on the short end, despite Watertown outshooting Delaware 18 to 10 in the final twenty minutes and 51 to 41 for the game.

The Wolves power play troubles continued as they went 0 for 6 with the extra man, meanwhile, the Thunder were 1 for 5 with the extra skater.

The two teams will meet again on Sunday evening with the start time set for 6:30