DANBURY HAT TRICKS at BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS

Binghamton Wins Nail-Biter 2-1

by Brooks Hill

Binghamton, NY - The Binghamton Black Bears defeated the Danbury Hat Tricks 2-1 on Friday night, in what is perhaps the closest-played game of the season. 

Both goaltenders started off the game hot, stopping the first 10 shots they saw. It wasn’t until the Danbury captain, Jonny Ruiz, scored with 3:30 left in the frame, fans saw a puck in the net. Binghamton went 0-1 on the man-advantage in the frame and found themselves down by one going into the locker room. 

Binghamton was able to tie the game early in the middle period. Cameron Clark buried a rebound while being sent down to the ice, his fourth goal in six games. From that point on the teams would trade chances with odd man rushes, but neither side was able to pull ahead in the second 20 minutes. 

Danbury continued to get in the shooting lanes, frustrating Binghamton. The frustration led to some penalties. Some resulted in Danbury power plays and some that led to 4on4 hockey. Luckily for the Black Bears they were able to win the special teams battle, scoring the only 4on4 goal of the night. Tyson Kirkby was able to slide the gamewinning goal underneath the pad of McCollum with 9:15 left. Danbury pressed for the comeback, and were able to generate plenty of chances until 0:00 

Binghamton was able to hang on and win 2-1, the 10th win over the Hat Tricks this season

HAT TRICKS DROPPED 2-1 IN BINGHAMTON

by Doug Lattuca

Binghamton, NY -  In the 16th meeting of the season between the two teams, the Hat Tricks fell to the Black Bears 2-1 Friday night in the first game of the weekend set. Binghamton’s captain Tyson Kirkby stuffed home the go-ahead goal at 11:45 of the third period.

With the loss, the Hat Tricks are still five points behind Motor City for second place in the Empire Division with a game in hand.

16:30 into the first period, Hat Tricks captain Jonny Ruiz found the puck in the high slot and ripped a wrister under the bar to put Danbury up 1-0. The goal marked his team-high 35th goal of the season and extended his point streak to nine games (5-9-14). Shots at the end of the period were 16-12 in favor of the Hat Tricks.

Less than two minutes into the second frame, Binghamton rookie forward Cameron Clark tied the game on a tap-in from the top of the crease to extend his point-scoring streak to four games.

Binghamton took its first lead of the night at 11:45 into the third period when Kirkby parked himself in front of the crease and slipped the puck past the right pad of Hat Tricks netminder Conor McCollum.

McCollum stopped 32 of 34 shots in a losing effort, while Binghamton’s netminder Connor McAnanama saved 30 of 31.

The Hat Tricks return to action Saturday against the Black Bears in the second of a three-game weekend. The puck drop is set for 7 p.m.

WYTHEVILLE BOBCATS at COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS 

River Dragons Win Continental Division

by Tom Callahan

Columbus, GA - The Columbus River Dragons wrapped up both the Continental Division and FPHL Regular Season titles Friday night with a 5-2 win over the Blue Ridge Bobcats.

By securing the league title, Columbus ensures they will have home ice throughout the Commissioner’s Cup Playoffs.

The River Dragons jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead with goals from Justin MacDonald and Austin Daae in the first 2:47 of the game. Sequoia Swan and Josh Pietrantonio also scored while MacDonald added his second of the game into an empty net to cement the win.

William Lavalliere earned the win with 26 saves, including a glove save while sprawled on his back late in the third period to keep the lead at 4-2 with Blue Ridge pressing with the extra skater.

The same two teams are back in action tomorrow night for Columbus Hockey Legends night. Doors open at 3:30 before a 4:30 start for the Legends game featuring River Dragons and Columbus Cottonmouths alumni. Then the River Dragons and Bobcats rematch at 7:05 pm. Your ticket gets you into both games tomorrow. Tickets are on sale now through the Civic Center Box Office and online at TicketMaster.com

ELMIRA RIVER SHARKS at WATERTOWN WOLVES

 River Sharks Win Key Road Game

by Jeff Barrett

Watertown, NY - The battle for the final playoff spot in the Empire division moved to the Watertown Municipal Arena this Friday night. The River Sharks entered the night holding onto a slight 3 point lead over the Wolves, with only 5 regular season games remaining for each team.

The lone goal of the opening frame belonged to the River Sharks' Dustin Jesseau at the 1:47 mark when he snapped a nasty wrist shot over the blocker of Watertown starter Spencer Kozlowski giving Elmira the 1-0 lead.

Shots on goal through the first 20 mins were 15 for Watertown and 10 for the River Sharks.

Steven Klinck started period number 2 with a power play goal at just 1:12 of the frame on a beautiful feed from Kyle Powel and Cameron Yarwood, extending the River Sharks lead to 2-1.

Kyle Powell would light the lamp at 8:01 to push the lead to 3-0 assisted by Yarwood and Klinck.

Steven Klinck added his second goal just :32 later for another power play goal, this time assisted by Yarwood and Powell, making the score 4-0.

Less than a minute later Davide Gaeta picked up a power play goal lifting the score to 5-0, assisted by Elijah Wilson and Dustin Jesseau.

Watertown would get one back at 10:03 of the second when newly signed Ryan Verbeek lifted a shot past Elmira's Sammy Bernard giving the Wolves some life.

At 13:39 Dustin Jesseau netted his second of the night putting the lead back to 5. Assists on the goal belonged to Davide Gaeta and Eijah Wilson.

Despite the Wolves outshooting Elmira 16-12 in the second, Elmira would take the 6-1 lead to the room after 40 minutes.

Steven Klinck picked up a hat trick at 4:09 of the third with his third power play goal of the night, assisted by Austin Pickford and Kyle Powell, making the score 7-1.

Ryan Verbeek would cut into the Elmira lead at 8:56 netting his second of the night, this time assisted by Gherig Lindberg and Justin Schmit.

The Wolves added a third goal at the 15:52 mark when Trevor Lord slid one past Bernard making the score 7-3, but that's where the comeback ended as the River Sharks held on for the 7-3 win, despite being outshot by the Wolves 45-23 in the game.

The Wolves and River Sharks will square off tomorrow night for the last time this season, with the puck drop slated for 7:30 pm.

On Sunday evening the Wolves will host the Empire division regular season champion Binghamton Black Bears at 7:30. 

PORT HURON PROWLERS at BATON ROUGE ZYDECO  

PROWERS DOWN ZYDECO 3-1

by Joseph Furtado

Baton Rouge, LA - The Port Huron Prowlers found the back of the net twice in the second period and didn’t look back as they cruised to a 3-1 win over the Baton Rouge Zydeco. 

Entering the night, riding a three game winning streak, the Zydeco looked to pick up their first win against the Prowlers. However, that was short lived after the Prowers recorded a goal from Connor Foley at 18:52 of the first and continued their momentum heading into the second period. 

The Prowlers added to their lead with two more goals within the first six minutes of beginning the second period. Dominic Loubert recorded his first FPHL goal at 4:51 to make it 2-0. Then, Austin Fetterly would capitalize off a turnover from Nick Ketola, getting some help from the post to put it past Bailey Stephens to make it 3-0. Later in the period, the Zydeco would be awarded a power play where Tyler Larwood came through for the Zydeco at 9:33 to make it 3-1. 

In the final period, both teams traded off chances, but were unable to find the back of the net. Port Huron limited the Zydeco to just four shots in the final 20 minutes, as they put up 10 of their own. 

With the loss, the Zydeco are now 0-3 against the Prowlers this season and are now 12-35-4-1-0. For the Prowers, they improved to 21-20-6-4-2 with their win. Both teams will battle it out for the final time of the regular season tomorrow night at 7:00pm.

PROWLERS PICK UP 3 POINTS IN BATON ROUGE

by Will Wiegelman

Baton Rouge, LA - The Port Huron Prowlers headed south to Baton Rouge and topped the Zydeco 3-1 in a sluggish game on April 5 at Raising Cane’s River Center. Dominic Loubert’s first pro goal went down as the game winner.

“It was kind of slow and sluggish,” said Prowlers head coach Matt Graham. “We weren’t really moving our feet to start. We played well enough to win and that’s what matters. The game started slow, as it went along, I thought it went better. It was a long day of travel for the guys so maybe we’ll attribute it to that. Looking to rest up and bounce back better tomorrow.”

The scoring didn’t start until there was just over a minute to go in the opening period. Liam Freeborn fed a pass from behind the net to Conor Foley in tight who put home his seventh of the season.

Early in the second, Loubert ripped a shot off the crossbar and down over the line for a power play goal that doubled the Port Huron advantage.

“It was an awesome goal,” Graham said. “Great shot right there. Those guys put a lot of work in this week learning the power play. That’s a beautiful goal for your first one.”

 27 seconds later, Austin Fetterly took a turnover a few feet in front of the net and beat Bailey Stephens to the blocker side to make it 3-0.

Tyler Larwood put home a five-on-three power-play goal later in the frame to get what turned out to be Baton Rouge’s only goal of the night.

Makar Sokolov was the first star of the game after a 26-save performance and the victory.

Stephens made 28 stops in the loss.

The teams wrap up their four-game season series on April 6 at the Raising Cane’s River Center with puck drop scheduled for 8:00 P.M. eastern. The game will be available live on the PHP Network YouTube channel.

CAROLINA THUNDERBIRDS at MISSISSIPPI SEA WOLVES 

Thunderbirds Double Up Sea Wolves

by Harold Rose

Biloxi, MS - The Mississippi Sea Wolves (21-26-3) opened the final homestand of the regular season in the Mississippi Coast Coliseum against the Carolina Thunderbirds (37-11-3). The Sea Wolves fell to the Thunderbirds 6 – 3, 

Carolina opened the scoring at the 4:30 mark of the first period when Jiri Pestuka shot found the back of the net. Mississippi responded with a goal from Phillip Wong as he slashed through the slot at 5:27 mark in the period. Matt Stoia and Jackson Bond had assists on the play. 

Carolina was able to sneak in a power play goal and a 2 -1 first period lead with 8 seconds left in the period. Carolina was on the power play due to Mississippi receiving a bench minor for too many men on the ice with just over a minute left in the period. 

That momentum carried the Thunderbirds to a second period was all Carolina. The relentless pressure from the Thunderbirds resulted in seventeen shots and three goals for Carolina. The second period closed with the score Mississippi Sea Wolves 1 – Carolina Thunderbirds 5. 

Coach Skinner’s Sea Wolves Responded in the third period. Justin Portillo intercepted a pass from the Carolina goalie out of the crease and hit an easy open netter at the 4:05 mark in the final period. Portillo added a second goal on a power play later in the third to draw the Sea Wolves within two goals. 

Carolina responded with another goal with less than ten minutes remaining to ice the victory at the final score of Carolina 6 Sea Wolves 3.

The two teams will face off in the second game of the two-game series against each other tomorrow night, April 6, for Autism Awareness night at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. Puck drops at 6:05