Wolves Pay Back Dashers with Weekend Sweep

By Jay Harris 

Watertown, NY - The Watertown Wolves made a clean sweep of their weekend series with the Danville Dashers at Watertown Municipal Arena on Saturday night. The two victories provided the Wolves with redemption after falling to the Dashers in two games the previous weekend in Illinois. 

The Wolves had the lone goal of the first period. Kyle Powell picked a Dashers' pocket to get the puck up the ice to Brandon Wahlin and Gavin Yates, who made a fast break to Dashers' goalie Matt Kaludis. Wahlin's cross-ice pass turned into a top-shelf laser by Gavin Yates to make it 1-0 at the end of the first. 

The Dashers dominated the second period, scoring three unanswered goals. Fred Hein made the first goal, while two and three were courtesy of Ryan Stayner. 

The third period belonged to the Wolves. Anton Lennartsson's power play goal from Daniel Martin's penalty sparked a new life into the Watertown offense. Watertown's third goal was negated by Matt Kaludis intentionally kicking the net off. The Wolves were granted a penalty shot, but Yates was unable to make it stick. It would be a goal from Wahlin on assists from Lennartsson and Gjurich that tied the game up. Alex Basey's holding penalty gave the Wolves their next scoring opportunity. Tyler Gjurich made the game-winner with assists from Lennartsson and Wahlin. Yates added icing on the cake with an empty net goal in the last forty five seconds of the game. 

Pandemonium erupted with just seven seconds left in the game when several fights broke out on the ice. The most notable battle involving Danville's Matt Kaludis coming off the bench to exchange blows with Chase Tippin. Other players involved in the melee included Danville's Alex Basey and Dustin Henning; Josh Newberg and Justin Coachman were also involved and thrown from the game as well. 

Gjurich's game-winning goal earned him 1st Star of the Game. Brandon Wahlin and Anton Lennartsson received the 2nd and 3rd Stars, respectively. 

The Watertown Wolves will travel to Mentor, OH next weekend to take on the Ice Breakers. The defending Commissioner's Cup Champions will return to the Watertown Municipal Arena on Friday, December 7th to host the Ice Breakers. The puck drops at 7:30 PM.

Photo credit: CMC Advertising Design & Photography