GAME RECAPS 4/7/23

DELAWARE THUNDER at BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS

Tyler Gjurich Breaks All-Time Goal Record in 11-1 Win

by Brooks Hill

Binghamton, NY - Tyler Gjurich led the way for the Black Bears on Friday night, setting milestones and breaking records in their 11-1 defeat of the Delaware Thunder. 

Binghamton came out swinging on Friday night, scoring on their first two power plays. Austin Thompson deflected a shot from Jake Schultz at the 3:13 mark. That would be followed up by a Mac Lewis tap-in on the back door, pushing the Black Bears lead up to 2-0 at the halfway mark. The Black Bears added one more, as Chad Lopez whacked at a loose puck on the doorstep, extending the lead to 3-0. Talor Joseph continued to impress, as he made a key breakaway save on a chance for Delaware, sending the Black Bears to the room up 3-0. 

The onslaught continued in the second. After 7 minutes of no-scoring, Tyler Gjurich restarted it in the middle frame by beating the goaltender to the short-side for his 29th of the season. With that goal, Gjurich tied the all-time FPHL goal record at 296. Connor Smith and Lopez would add two more goals, but the final of the period game with no time left on the clock. Jestin Somero beat the clock and the goalie as time expired on his 4th goal of the season. Binghamton converted the extra point, leading 7-0 after two periods. 

On Hall of Fame night, Tyler Gjurich etched his name in history scoring his 297th goal in the FPHL, becoming the alltime goals leader. The Black Bears cleared the bench to celebrate. However, Binghamton was not done yet. After the record-breaking goal, the Black Bears added two more. Lopez completed his hat trick and Kirkby was able to grab a goal for himself as well. 

Binghamton puts 76 shots on goal, defeating the Thunder 11-1 on Hall of Fame Night, celebrating 50 years of Binghamton Hockey. 


CAROLINA THUNDERBIRDS at COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS 

RIVER DRAGONS TOP THUNDERBIRDS IN SHOOTOUT FOR TWO CRUCIAL POINTS
Columbus Closer to Clinching Division

by Tom Callahan

Columbus, GA - The Columbus River Dragons never led the game in regulation time but ended up winning in a shootout over the Carolina Thunderbirds 3-2 on Friday night at the Columbus Civic Center.

Despite out-shooting the Thunderbirds 51–27, the River Dragons could only manage two goals in regulation. Thomas Aldworth tied the game 1-1 at 8:40 in the second period, putting a puck towards the goal that appeared to deflect off a Carolina defender and past Boris Babik for his 17th goal of the season.

Then after falling behind early in the third period, Columbus responded just 1:39 later when Alex Storjohann netted his 26th of the season, deflecting a cross-ice pass from Lane King past the right pad of Babik at 7:40 to make it 2-2.

No scoring in overtime led to the shootout, where Jacob Kelly was the lone goal scorer for Columbus, and Breandan Colgan (25 saves) stopped all three shooters faced to preserve the victory.

The same two teams go right back at it tomorrow night at the Civic Center at 7:30 pm on Chatt-a-Hoots jersey crossover night. Tickets are on sale now through the Civic Center Box Office and online at TicketMaster.com.


MOTOR CITY ROCKERS at MISSISSIPPI SEA WOLVES 

Sea Wolves Score Five in Second Period to Beat Rockers

By Nick Roesch

Biloxi, MS – – The Mississippi Sea Wolves rode a hat trick from Jake Raleigh and two goals from Yianni Liarakos on Friday night to open the weekend with a 6-2 victory over the Motor City Rockers at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. 

Raleigh got the crowd of 3,284 making noise early with a goal 3:27 into the game for the Sea Wolves. Motor City bounced back with a pair of strikes between Derek Makimaa and Tim Perks for a 2-1 Rockers advantage. 

The Sea Wolves turned everything upside down in period two with a flurry of five goals. That included two from Raleigh, a pair from Liarakos and one courtesy of Jackson Bond. Yaroslav Yevdokimov entered the second intermission with six assists. 

Along with Yevdokimov’s outstanding numbers, Raleigh recorded five points and Liarakos owned four of his own. 

No scoring occurred in the final twenty minutes as the Sea Wolves claimed their third straight win in their season series against the Rockers. 

Both teams saw goaltender changes, as Motor City split time between starter Ricardo Gonzalez and Blake Scott. The Sea Wolves began the game with Joe Sheppard between the pipes before Blake Weyrick took his place midway through the second period. 

Shots on goal were controlled by the Sea Wolves throughout the evening as the game ended with a count of 42-25. 

The Sea Wolves will play their final home game of the 2022-23 season tomorrow, April 8 with another 7:05 start against the Rockers inside the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. 


PORT HURON PROWLERS at WATERTOWN WOLVES 

 Prowlers Three Goals in Third Period Defeated the Wolves, 4-1

by Jeff Barrett

Watertown, NY - For only the third time this season, and first time in Watertown, the Wolves and Port Huron Prowlers squared off in Watertown on Friday night. With the season series being split one game a piece, each team came in looking to get the upper hand.

The Prowlers starter BrianTalliue and Watertown keeper Ismael Ralston would both see their fair share of shots in period number one with both standing tall in the early going. The Prowlers lit the lamp first whe Joe Deveney was able to split two defenders and drag the puck from left to right and beat Ralston to the pipe, putting the Prowlers up 1-0. Austin Fetterly would get credit for the assist.

The period ended with that score with Port Huron outshooting Watertown 15 to 9.

Period number two turned out to be a scoreless affair. The story of the second would be both teams hitting pipes on scoring chances. First the Prowlers Dan Chartrand gathered a rebound in front and sliced a shot to the left and rang it off the pipe, which would have extended the Port Huron lead.

At the other end of the ice minutes later, the Wolves Mathias Tellstrom would one time a shot over the shoulder of Tallieu and clang one off the crossbar.

The Prowlers continued to outshoot Watertown, 17 to 11 in the second and 32 to 20 for the game. The Prowlers would continue to hold a 1-0 lead at the break.

In period number three it only took 1:10 for the Prowlers to extend their lead to 2-1 on an Evan Foley goal, as he was able to slide a backhander over the stick of Ralston, assisted by Dan Chartrand and Dalton Jay.

The Wolves were able to strike back at the 11:54 mark when Everett Thompson beat Tallieu through the five hole, cutting the Prowler lead in half 2-1 on a power play goal. . Assisting on the goal was Trevor Lord.  

Dalton Jay was able to extend the Prowler lead to 2 goals again at the 13:48 point, unassisted, as he was able to beat Ralston low on the left side, making the score 3-1.
Port Huron added an insurance goal at 15:59 of the period when Matt Graham split the defense and lifted a shot over Ralston to stretch the lead to 4-1. The assist on the goal would go to Frank Schumacher.

The Prowlers win the first of the two game weekend 4-1 over the Wolves. Port Huron out shot Watertown 15 to 7 in the third, making the totals for the game 47-27 in favor of the Prowlers.

The two teams will square off one more time on Saturday night, the final regular season home game for the Wolves, with the puck drop slated for 7:30

ELMIRA MAMMOTH at DANBURY HAT TRICKS 

MCKITRICK PACES HAT TRICKS WIN OVER ELMIRA

by Chris Lynch

Danbury, CT - The Danbury Hat Tricks opened their final home stand of the regular season with a 4-3 victory over a possible playoff opponent in the Elmira Mammoth. 

Daniel McKitrick led the way with two goals and an assist for a three point game. He opened the scoring by wiring in a shot through Thomas Proudlock off a feed from Xavier Abdella. 

Dalton Anderson tied the game late in the first period off a pass from former Hat Trick Luke Richards. 

Tobias Odjick put on a nifty solo attack to return Danbury to the lead but the Hat Tricks were unable to hold this lead. Stavros Soilis did the honors halfway through the second period as a power play expired. 

Daniel McKitrick potted a power play goal early in the third to give Danbury a lead they never relinquished. Michael Marchesan added a beautiful shorthanded goal to extend the lead to 4-2  which proved to be essential. Joshua Sanchez cut the deficit down to 4-3 and Elmira pulled their goaltender for the extra attacker, but were unable to tie the game again. 

The Hat Tricks improve to 41-7-5 and need one more regulation win to secure the FPHL Regular Season Championship. 

Danbury and Elmira meet to conclude the Hat Tricks’ home regular season on Saturday night at 7PM.