Game Recaps 1/11/25

CAROLINA THUNDERBIRDS at COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS 

Thunderbirds Rebound to Split Weekend Series

by Tom Callahan

Columbus, GA - The Columbus River Dragons dropped a tough decision to the Carolina Thunderbirds 5-3 on Saturday night at the Columbus Civic Center.

The River Dragons fell behind 2-0 after the first period, but Brian Dunford closed the gap to a goal just 31 seconds into the second period. Closing the gap would become a theme for Columbus all night, as each time the River Dragons drew within a goal, Carolina responded to retake a two-goal lead.

Trailing 4-2 in the third, Nolan Slachetka scored to bring the gap back to a goal at 5:34 and give Columbus hope, but unfortunately they could get no closer as Jon Buttitta's seocnd goal of the night into and empty net sealed the 5-3 final.

Notes:

• Alexander Jmaeff recorded his 200th pro point with an assist on Dunford's second period goal.
• Chiwetin Blacksmith scored in his second straight game in a River Dragons uniform.
• Saturday's game was the last time the Thunderbirds will visit Columbus in the regular season.

The River Dragons are back in action on Friday, January 24 against the Athens Rock Lobsters at 7:35 pm. Tickets for all remaining River Dragons home games are on sale now through the Columbus Civic Center Box Office or online at TicketMaster.com.

PORT HURON PROWLERS at DASHERS at DANVILLE

Prowlers Boat-Race Dashers

by Devin Dobek

Danville, IL -  Coming off a rough loss, the Dashers were destroyed in their home rink this past Saturday night. In a chippy, physical battle, 6 different Prowler goal scorers propelled them to a blowout victory while helping Valtteri Nousiainen to his first FPHL shutout. 

After being curbstomped last night, the Dashers hit the ice eager for a clean slate to change the narrative. They were able to generate a few scoring chances early by crashing the net and following their shots, but received no positive answers. Towards the middle part of the frame, a chaotic scene in front of Bowers’ crease led to an Austin Fetterly tally to open the scoring. Seconds after the ensuing puck was dropped, a handful of players on both teams got involved in a scrum, with 3 minors being assessed and leading to the Dashers’ first man advantage of the evening. The puck movement was solid from the deer, and they almost tied it up with Brausen finding Fischer on a backdoor feed that was just too strong. In the final 5 minutes of the frame, Port got hot. After drawing a Brent Clemmer hold, it took just 7 seconds for Prowlers returner Joel Frazee to unleash a howitzer one-timer over the blocker of Bowers to make it 2-0. To add insult to injury, a late and rare Brad Denney offense gave Port another power play. With just 10 seconds to play in the first frame, player head coach Matt Graham slammed home a generous rebound to extend the Port margin to 3. The Dashers were held to just 4 shots on net compared to 16 Prowler shots in the period.

Period 2 didn’t do the Dashers any favors. A positive was the volume of zone time and shots on net they were able to put together, but Prowler goaltender Valtteri Nousiainen would continue to stand tall. The Dashers also had a few opportunities on the man-advantage, but the goose egg on the scoreboard continued to haunt them. 8 minutes in, Tucker Scantlebury swatted a loose puck by Eli Bowers to make it 4-0 Prowlers. Just 5 minutes later, Jamie Bucell joined the fun on the scoresheet adding a 5th tuck. The Dashers continued to be snake-bit, and although they outshot the Prowlers 12-9 in the frame, they continued to be boat raced in the category that matters most. 

Period 3 was a similar tempo to period 1 but vastly more physical. There were 9 minor penalties in the third alone, most for both teams carrying on some extracurriculars. However, despite the cheapshots being exchanged, no one ever dropped the gloves. Towards the middle part of the period, Ben Brockway collected a Dasher turnover and potted his second goal of the weekend, after entering the slate with just 1 goal prior. Jamie Bucell provided the exclamation point on a breakaway rebound to extend the lead to 7. Port would outshoot the Dashers 23-7 in the final frame alone, as well as 48-23 in the contest. Goaltender Valtteri Nousiainen earned his first shutout of the season as the Dashers fell for the 22nd consecutive time. 

So the Steve Esau era in Danville begins with his squad being outscored 16-1 in his first weekend. The Dashers record dwindles to 1-21-3 approaching the midway part in the season. They will host the Baton Rouge Zydeco next Friday and Saturday at 7:05 CST inside the David S. Palmer Arena. Port Huron improves to 14-12-3, continuing to climb the Empire division ranks. They will return home to host the Mississippi Sea Wolves next Friday and Saturday. 

Valtteri Nousiainen Shuts Out Dashers

by Will Wiegelman

Danville, IL -  Valtteri Nousiainen pitched a 23-save shutout and the Prowlers offense put up seven as they finished a dominant weekend in Danville. It was the first shutout since April 4, 2023 for Port Huron as the team outscored the Dashers 16-1 for the weekend.

Austin Fetterly got credit for the first goal as it slid into the back of the net off a faceoff and only the goal judge and referee knew where it was. Later in the opening period, Joel Frazee scored a one-timer in his return to the Prowlers off the inactive list and in the final seconds, Matt Graham put home his team’s power play goal of the weekend.

In the second, Jamie Bucell floated a high saucer pass that landed right on Tucker Scantlebury’s tape. Scantlebury put home his team-high 15th goal of the season. Bucell got himself a goal later in the period and it was 5-0 heading into the third.

Ben Brockway picked the corner for his second goal of the weekend and Bucell put home one more to finish off the weekend.

Bucell led the way with two goals and two assists, Fetterly also had four points as he added three helpers to his goal. Their linemate, Scantlebury, added an assist to his goal as did Graham. Reggie Millette dished out a pair of assists to extend his point streak to 10 games.

Eli Bowers took the loss after making 41 stops.

After sweeping the basement dweller of the Empire Division, the Prowlers will return home on Jan. 17 and 18 to host the basement dweller in the Continental, the Mississippi Sea Wolves. Tickets to both games are available at phprowlers.com/tickets.

DANBURY HAT TRICKS at BLUE RIDGE BOBCATS

Galaxy of Goals, Otherworldly Goaltending Leads to 6-0 Win, Sweep of Hat Tricks

by Brett Wiseman

Wytheville, VA - On Rebrand night, which saw the Blue Ridge Bobcats temporarily transform into the Appalachian Aliens, the club used a galaxy full of goals and an otherworldly performance between the pipes to fly to a 6-0 shutout win and a sweep of the Danbury Hat Tricks.

Much like Friday's contest, both clubs took the first fie-plus minutes for a feeling out process, until Andrew Uturo opened the scoring. He beat Frankie McClendon far side with a wrist shot with help from Nick Stuckless and Daniel Klinecky at the 6:24 mark of the opening frame on what would be the game winning goal and only marker of the first period.

The middle frame saw the purple sweater clad Aliens blast off to a four-goal 2nd period, with the onslaught started by Alex Norwinski, who redirected a wrist shot from Vladislav Vlasov home just over 5 and a half minutes in. Less than three minutes later, Nick McHugh jammed home a loose puck in a net mouth scramble to push the lead to 3-0. 

Seven minutes following McHugh's marker, new addition TJ Prexler got on the board with his first professional goal, redirecting a pass from Timur Gavrilovich under the crossbar and in to quadruple the advantage. Less than two minutes after Prexler, Austin Bellefeuille banked one in off the skate of a Danbury defender for the exclamation point to an out-of-this world second period.

The exclamation point on the night overall was the only goal of the final frame, when at the 9:40 mark Devin Sanders beautifully fed Carson Andreoli for the sixth and final tally of the evening.

Danbury was ahead on the shot counter for most of the night, but not the scoreboard thanks to otherworldly goaltending from Hunter Virostek. The game's first star stopped all 44 Hat Tricks shots he faced en route to his third shutout of the season.

Uturo earned second star for his opening goal, and Josh Slegers earned third star for picking up a pair of assists.



Next up, a home-and-home with the Carolina Thunderbirds next weekend with Friday's game in Winston-Salem and a return to Hitachi Energy Arena next Saturday night.

Hat Tricks Shutout by Bobcats, 6-0

by Wyatt Kopelman & Doug Lattuca

Wytheville, VA - The Danbury Hat Tricks were shut out for the fourth time this season in a 6-0 loss to the Blue Ridge Bobcats on Saturday at Hitachi Energy Arena. Hunter Virostek dealt his third career shutout, and the Hat Tricks were swept in the weekend and season series 2-0.

Virostek made a career-high 44 saves, winning his third straight start. Danbury took its first series sweep since its 4-0 loss to Binghamton at home on Nov. 16. Six different skaters scored for the Bobcats, who posted four goals in the second period.

Andrew Uturo had the go-ahead and game-winning goal for Blue Ridge at 6:24 in the first, scoring off the post to put the Bobcats ahead 1-0. Alex Norwinski doubled the lead with a tip-in 5:35 into the middle frame.

Just more than eight minutes into the second, Nicholas McHugh capitalized in the crease, stretching the Bobcats’ advantage to three. Austin Bellefeuille buried a free puck to lift Blue Ridge ahead by five before Carson Andreoli scored the final goal of the game.

The Hat Tricks outshot the Bobcats 20-12 in the first, but their pressure on Virostek did not result in any goals. The Bobcats outscored the Hat Tricks, 11-3, in the weekend set.

Jacob Ratcliffe did not play for the first time this season and only five defensemen suited up with Zach Pamaylaon as a scratch.

Frankie McClendon stopped 31 shots in his first start since Dec. 27, a 9-6 home win versus Watertown, and fell to 2-1-1.

Up next, the Hat Tricks return home to host Motor City for a two-game series starting on Friday. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m.

HC VENOM at WATERTOWN WOLVES 

Streaks Are Snapped

by Jeff Barrett

Watertown, NY - Game # 2 of the weekend once again took place in the Watertown Municipal Arena on this Saturday night. The Wolves came into the game riding a 3 game win streak, while the Venom were trying to get back to the win column after dropping their last two outings. The Wolves have taken 3 out of four of the previous matchups between these two teams.

Period number one found the teams combining for five goals, matching the total for all of last night's game.

Olivier Beaudoin would get the scoring started for the Venom at the 3:38 of the period, beating Wolves starting keeper Anton Borodkin, assisted by Dustin Jesseau and Jonas Leas, giving the Venom the early lead.

Watertown tied the game at the 12:09 mark with a Davide Gaeta goal assisted lifting one past the Venom's Makar Sokolov. by Kyle Powell and Trevor Lord, making the score 1-1.

At 17:12 the Wolves grabbed their first lead of the night with a Carter Thornton goal, assisted by Mark Bottero and Andrew Whalen.

The lead would only last for :38 as Dustin Jesseau knifed home a wrist shot from the left side knotting the game at 2-2. Assists on the goal went to Lester Brown and Connor Craig.

Mark Bottero netted his first goal of the season at 19:02 of the first, putting the Wolves up 3-2, assisted by Gaeta and Whalen.

Watertown took the 3-2 lead at the break while outshooting the Venom 16-8 in the frame.

The second period got started with Dustin Jesseau netting his second of the night at the 4:49 mark with assists going to Denny Zaichyk and Connor Craig, knotting the game again, this time at 3-3.

Watertown jumped back to the lead at 14:35 when Davide Gaeta lit the lamp putting Watertown up 4-3 assisted by Trevor Lord and Trevor Grasby.

The lead was short lived as the Venom's Lester Brown knifed home a shot to tie the game at 4 each at the 15:53 point of the frame. Helpers on the goal belonged to Zaichyk and Jesseau.

The second period ended with that tie score with the Venom outshooting the Wolves 14 -11 in the period.

The Venom's Quin Chevers broke the tie at 10:03 of the third period putting the Venom up 5-4 assisted by Dustin Jesseau.

With just under a minute to play, the Wolves pull Borodkin in favor of the extra skater, but Jesseau would make the home team play when he got behind the defense for an empty net goal to ice the game, giving the Venom a 6-4 win over the Wolves.

Next weekend the Wolves head down Rt 81 in New York State to battle the Binghamton Black Bears in the Visions Veterans Memorial Arena while the HC Venom will get a weekend off to rest. 

BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS at MOTOR CITY ROCKERS

Rockers Battle with Leagues Best, Fall in Shootout to Binghamton 5-4

by Brady Beedon

Fraser, MI - The Motor City Rockers threw everything and the kitchen sink at the Binghamton Black Bears Saturday night.

However, the league best Binghamton Black Bears had just a little more to give, as the Rockers fell 5-4 in a shootout.

Mathias Tellstrom got the scoring started for Motor City early, ripping a slapshot past Binghamton netminder Nolan Egbert.

The first period ended with Tellstrom tallying the lone goal, heading into the first intermission with the Rockers up 1-0.

Motor City extended their lead while killing a penalty when Eli Rivers netted his 15th goal of the season, bringing the score to 2-0.

Binghamton would score the final two goals of the middle period, as Tyson Kirkby and CJ Stubbs each scored on the power-play to even the score after two at 2-2.

The Black Bears would not stop there. 51 seconds into the third period, Jesse Anderson guided a shot by Rocker goalie Rico Gonzalez to give Binghamton their first lead of the game, 3-2.

Motor City kept battling, and were rewarded seven minutes later when Tim Delany tipped a pass into the back of the net, tying the game at 3-3.

But Binghamton, being the talented team they are, seemingly had all the answers.

With under five minutes to go, Black Bear forward Christopher Mott tucked a shot inside the left post to deliver a seemingly back-breaking goal, giving Binghamton the lead 4-3 in the waning minutes.

Motor City would get a glimmer of hope, with 2:42 left in regulation, Binghamton would go down a man when Kyle Stephens picked up an embellishment minor penalty.

After a Rockers timeout, Gonzalez found his way to the bench giving Motor City a 6-4 advantage.

A clean win on the ensuing draw, followed by a shot that was saved by Egbert, a scramble ensued, ending when Tristin Wells found the puck in front of the crease and buried it in the back of the net, tying the game and sending Big Boy Arena into a frenzy with 1:22 left in the third.

Neither side would break the tie, and the game went to overtime.

After both sides failed to score in the extra frame, Motor City and Binghamton would decide the game via shootout.

Gonzalez stopped 62 of 66 shots faced in regulation in overtime, setting a new season high for the Rockers.

Binghamton would dominate the shootout however, as Scott Ramaekers and Stubbs both lit the lamp, and Motor City’s Avery Smith and Tellstrom getting stonewalled by Egbert, gave Binghamton the 5-4 shootout victory.

Motor City will bandage their wounds and head out east for their next series, as they head out to Danbury for a two game tilt with the Hat Tricks next Friday and Saturday.

The Rockers return to Big Boy Arena on Friday, January 24th when they renew their rivalry with the Port Huron Prowlers.

MISSISSIPPI SEA WOLVES at MONROE MOCCASINS

EKHOLM ROSEN’S FIRST CAREER SHUTOUT LEADS MOCCASINS BOUNCE-BACK VICTORY

by Joseph Furtado

Monroe, LA -  Just one night after a tough 6-4 loss to the Mississippi Sea Wolves, the Monroe Moccasins responded in fashion, blanking the Sea Wolves 4-0 on Saturday night at the Monroe Civic Center. Markus Ekholm Rosen earned his first career shutout with a stellar 30-save performance.

The Moccasins set the tone early, with Blake Anderson finding the back of the net just 3:35 into the first period to give Monroe an early lead. Corey Cunningham followed up at 18:04, scoring off a feed from Brad Reitter to make it 2-0 heading into the intermission.

Monroe kept their foot on the gas in the second period. Kalle Koivuniemi extended the lead to 3-0 at 2:40. Then Anderson notched his second goal of the night at 14:22, finishing a play set up by Moskal and Koivuniemi to cap the scoring at 4-0.

Ekholm Rosen’s performance in net proved to be the difference, as the Moccasins cruised to a 4-0 victory. The win pushes Monroe to a 12-9-5-0-2 record on the season, while Mississippi drops to 5-21-3-0-0. The Moccasins will look to build on this victory as they prepare for another crucial stretch of games next week against the Athens Rock Lobster.

Sea Wolves Can't Find Footing In Snake Pit, 4-0

by Jon Kliment

Monroe, LA -  The Sea Wolves came into Saturday night looking for a chance to secure back to back wins for the first time this season. After a hard fought back and forth contest Friday night both squads were looking for retribution on Saturday as the game began.

In a repeat of the previous night Monroe started scoring early as Blake Anderson took advantage of an in zone faceoff to fire it right past Sam Best and give the Moccasins a 1-0 lead just 3:35 into the game. Monroe gave up a couple of power plays to the Sea Wolves, but on their first attempt of the night the Moccasins found twine as Corey Cunningham came out from behind the net and tucked one behind Best for a 2-0 lead 18:04 into the first period. 

Monroe continued scoring early as 2:40 into the second frame Kalle Koivuniemi skated out from the corner and found room behind Best to make it 3-0. This ended Sam's night and Ed Coffey returned to play. Coffey stood tall until the 14:22 mark as Anderson put home his second of the night for 4-0 lead.

Best stopped 16 of 19 shots in the loss, while Coffey stopped 26 of 27.

The Sea Wolves head for Port Huron next week for a two game set. Follow along on Youtube.