Game Recaps 1/25/25

TOPEKA (ZYDECO) ROADRUNNERS vs TOPEKA (DASHERS) SCARECROWS

Aleksanyan’s Hat-Trick Lifts Zydeco

by Devin Dobek

Topeka, KS -  After their comeback fell short last night, the Dashers looked to carry their positives and pool them into a win in Kansas on Saturday night. In a relatively clean game, Narek Aleksanyan’s hat-trick combined with a stellar outing from Brendan Colgan fueled Baton Rouge to a weekend sweep.

After their comeback fell short last night, the Dashers were eager to hit the ice in front of a rabid and lively Topeka crowd once again to take on the Baton Rouge Zydeco. There was quite the storyline ahead of tonight’s action, with former beloved Dasher defenseman Dustin Henning signing with the Zydeco earlier in the day. This was as a result of Ryo Namiki and Aaron Shahin being suspended a game for their actions last night. The Dashers opened period 1 looking rather flat, and not recording a single shot until the 11 minute mark of the first frame. The Zydeco seemed ready to go, moving the puck swiftly and skating circles around the Dashers early on. The game stayed scoreless until 14 minutes in, when a bad neutral-zone turnover in the midst of a line change gave way for Narek Aleksanyan to pot a breakaway goal and put Baton Rouge up 1-0. The door was opened for the Dashers to tie it when Dustin Henning was booked for a trip, and although they established the zone and had some chances they couldn’t find the equalizer. As the clock winded down, the Zydeco continued to pepper Oscar Wahlgren. The Dashers would literally be saved by the bell, as just after time expired Garrett Johnson one timed a rebound off the boards into the goal, but it wouldn’t count. So the Zydeco settled for just a 1-0 lead into the locker room, while outshooting the Dashers 14-6.

After a frame dominated by the Zydeco, the Dashers looked to shift the momentum back in their favor. Off the opening faceoff in period 2, Sean Goar and Kaleb Melanson dropped the gloves for the second straight night. Both men landed some shots, and the fight concluded as a draw. With two energized benches and a buzzing building, it was time for some more hockey. It took just 2:32 for the Zydeco to double their lead when Dmitry Kuznetsov batted home a rebound off a Narek Aleksanyan net drive. 5 minutes later, Tyler Larwood muscled home a loose puck that snuck under Wahlgren’s arm off a Jake Cox shot to make it 3-0. So the workload grew for the Dashers, but it seemed to spark some energy. Brendan Colgan began to be tested more consistently in the back half of the period. The Dashers were rewarded when Bohdan Zinchenko created a breakaway and tucked one back door to get his squad on the board at 3-1. The second period shots were even at 11-11, but a 2 goal deficit provided a good challenge for the Dashers ahead of period 3.

So with work to do, the Topeka crowd would try to rally around the Dashers to make it a close contest. Throughout the game there were far less penalties or whistles than the previous night, so even strength hockey set the tone for this Saturday matchup. The teams traded opportunities throughout the front half of the period, but just across the midway mark Narek Aleksanyan sniped a vacant puck home to make it 4-1 and put the game virtually out of reach. For old time sake, Sean Goar and Kaleb Melanson for a third time on the weekend. The bout resulted in a draw, with both players pancaking to the ice before the officials stepped in. The exclamation point on the night was an empty-net hat-trick goal for Narek Aleksanyan as the Zydeco cruised to a 5-1 victory. The Dashers outshot the Zydeco 14-9 in period 3, but quality prevailed over quantity.

The Dashers will return to Topeka to face-off with the Port Huron Prowlers next Friday and Saturday at 7:30 CST inside the Stormont Vail Events Center. Their record drops to 1-24-3 while the Zydeco win their 6th consecutive matchup of the season against the Dashers and improve to 21-7-4. They will travel to Athens next Friday, Saturday and Sunday to take on the Rock Lobsters.

Zydeco Sweep Weekend in Topeka

by Bryan Flores

Topeka, KS - The Zydeco looking for their fourth straight win against the Dashers come into tonight with some fire! The Zydeco’s strong start leads them to a well deserved win.

The night started off with a face who was facing adversity but quickly is turning into the hottest player on the Zydeco team, Narek Aleksanyan getting his fourth goal in four games making it 1-0 for the Zydeco, meanwhile Breandan Colgan returning to form in the first shutting the door in the dying seconds Garrett Johnson with a wide open shot finding the back of the net but after time expired. The Zydeco escape the first 1-0 after killing a couple of penalties. 

Moving into the second period the Zydeco would find a goal from Dmitry Kuznetsov to the assist of Ryan Kleber and Narek Aleksanyan. The Zydeco with a two goal lead would find another one as Tyler Larwood would make it 3-0 at 7:17 of the second to the assist of Jake Cox. The Dashers would find one back as Bohdan Zinchenko would make it 3-1 with 5 minutes left.

In the third period Narek Aleksanyan would find his second goal of his game to the assist of Tyler Larwood and Jake Cox. But to end the game, Aleksanyan would find his hattrick to make the final score 5-1 for their fourth win in a row.

Winning goaltender Breadan Colgan earns his 14th win of the season after saving 30/31 for a s% of a 0.968 improving his record to 14-6-0-2. 

On the other side losing goaltender Oscar Wahlgren saved 40/44 for a s% of a .909, his record falls to 0-12-0-1. 

Next weekend the Zydeco will be playing the Athens Rock Lobsters for three straight down in Georgia.



MOTOR CITY ROCKERS at PORT HURON PROWLERS

Prowlers Rebound, Split with Rockers

by Will Wiegelman



Port Huron, MI - The Port Huron Prowlers battled back from a pair of deficits to earn the weekend split with the Motor City Rockers after a 5-3 win on Jan. 25 at McMorran Place. Joel Frazee scored twice in the third to cap a run of four unanswered for the home side.

“It was a good response from yesterday’s game,” Frazee said. “We played well for 55 minutes yesterday and didn’t get the result we wanted. Today, the mindset was to come out and dominate from puck drop. We did that and, in the third period, we got rewarded.”

Eli Rivers opened the scoring as Mathias Tellström took advantage of a Port Huron miscue and fed him a cross-ice pass. The Prowlers responded a few minutes later when Reggie Millette flew in on a breakaway that Trevor Babin stopped most of. The puck sat behind him on the goal line until Alex Johnson cleaned it up.

Tellström put the Rockers back in front with a power-play goal early in the second as his team dominated the early portion of the frame. 

The tide shifted Port Huron’s direction when chaos ensued near Babin’s net and he went sprawling. Jamie Bucell put the loose puck in at the side of the post. 1:25 later, Matt Graham kept the puck in with a steal at the blue line and Luke James found Austin Fetterly coming down the slot to give the Prowlers their first lead.

Frazee struck first in the third fresh out of the penalty box. Fetterly cut off a clearing attempt and sent a pass to Frazee who touched the puck past Babin. 2:03 later, Millette took a shot from the blue line that Frazee tipped home to make it 5-2.

“The first one was a turnover that [Fetterly] was able to feather to me and I was able to put it past Babin,” Frazee said. “That’s pretty much the only way to beat him is those quick plays at the net. The second one was a good shot I was able to get a tip on.”

Josh Colten pulled the Rockers within two with his second man-advantage goal of the weekend, but that was it for a comeback.

Fetterly and Johnson finished with a goal and an assist apiece while Millette dished out two helpers. Valtteri Nousiainen grabbed the win with 25 saves.

Colten and Tellström each had a goal and an assist while Babin made 29 stops.

The Prowlers head to Topeka, Kansas next for neutral site games against the Dashers Hockey Club. While there, they will take on the identity of the Topeka Roadrunners. Puck drop on both Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 is 8:30 P.M. eastern and the games will be streamed live on the PHP Network YouTube channel.

WATERTOWN WOLVES at DANBURY HAT TRICKS

Hat Tricks Surge Past Wolves, 9-3, Split Weekend Set

by Wyatt Kopelman



Danbury, CT - The Hat Tricks unleashed the same scoring barrage that helped them the last time they hosted the Watertown Wolves.

Danbury scored seven unanswered goals in a 9-3 win at the Danbury Ice Arena on Saturday.

Vadim Frolov and Jacob Ratcliffe each scored twice to help the Hat Tricks tie their season-high in goals and finish the weekend with four points. Gleb Bandurkin tallied a game-high four points (1g, 3a).

Cory Anderson scored on a deflection from an offensive-zone faceoff one minute into the game. The 30-year-old forward then logged an assist on Danbury’s fourth goal in the first to reach 100 points in his professional career (63g, 37a).

Bandurkin gave the Hat Tricks a 2-0 lead 2:38 later, slipping a wrist shot past Anton Borodkin on the short side.

Danbury was far from finished.

Dylan Hullaby scored on a wrist shot from the left circle to extend Danbury’s advantage to three on an angled pass from Noah Robinson at 10:32 of the opening frame. The 6-foot-5 winger buried a goal for the third straight game, continuing the longest scoring stretch of his professional career.

About 7 ½ minutes into the middle frame, Billy Berry tapped in a rebound on the power play, his third goal in four contests, to put the Hat Tricks up 5-0. The Redding, Conn., native ended a five-game drought on the man advantage for Danbury.

Frolov sniped a top-shelf goal from the right circle to push Danbury’s advantage to six, potting two goals for the first time since a 3-2 road win against Motor City on Dec. 7.

With just more than one minute left in the second, Steven Klinck scored at 5-on-3 to put the Wolves on the board.

Seven seconds after Andrew Whalen scored on the power play in the third, Ratcliffe answered with a wrister off a centering pass from behind the net for the final Hat Tricks goal.

Davide Gaeta scored for the second straight game to keep Watertown to within six at 8:25 of the third.  

Danbury killed off a 5-on-3 with 3:55 to go in the third, preventing Watertown from gaining any momentum.

Conor McCollum bounced back from Friday’s shootout loss at Watertown with 50 saves, moving to 11-9-4. It marked his first 50-save performance since Nov. 15 against Binghamton.



Up next, the Hat Tricks are back home against HC Venom on Friday to start a three-game weekend series. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m.

HC VENOM at CAROLINA THUNDERBIRDS

Thunderbirds Blank Venom in Pestuka’s 400th Game, 5-0

Cavaliere earns fifth shutout

by Brendan Reilly



Winston-Salem, NC - On the night that Jiri Pestuka became the fifth player in FPHL history to play in 400 regular season games, he tallied two assists while Mario Cavaliere stopped all 26 shots he saw as the Carolina Thunderbirds shutout HC Venom, 5-0, on Saturday evening at the Fairgrounds Arena in front of 3,153 fans.

Carolina (20-7-3) again struck first in the 1st period. Off a broken play from a faceoff, Zach White spun home his sixth goal of the season putting the Thunderbirds ahead, 1-0, just 5:14 into the game. Just over six minutes later on the power play, Jan Salak deflected home a shot from the point by Jiri Pestuka doubling Carolina’s advantage, 2-0.

After scoring two goals in the 1st period for the third straight game, the Thunderbirds added a third in the 2nd. Vladislav Pavlov, who was traded to Carolina from Monroe last Monday, finished off a run and tapped home a rebound at the back post, pushing the lead to three. Thunderbirds netminder Mario Cavaliere had a quiet 2nd period only seeing nine shots from HC Venom (7-15-2) and took a shutout into the final 20 minutes. 

In the 3rd, Danyk Drouin wired home his fifth of the year past the blocker of Makar Sokolov giving Carolina a 4-0 lead 7:47 into the 3rd period and Roman Kraemer added another on the power play with 3:29 left as the Thunderbirds picked up their sixth shutout of the year, 5-0. 

Pestuka tonight joined Joe Pace Jr., Dustin Henning, Matt Graham and Ahmed Mahfouz as the only players to play in 400 regular season FPHL games. 

Carolina and HC Venom meet for the final time on Sunday afternoon with the Thunderbirds going for the sweep of the Venom. Puck drop is slated for 2:05 p.m. from the Fairgrounds Arena. 

ATHENS ROCK LOBSTERS at COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS

GOALTENDING DUEL ENDS 1-0 IN SHOOTOUT FOR ATHENS

Bernard, Rosenzweig Each Post Shutouts Through OT

by Tom Callahan



Columbus, GA -  A goaltending duel between Columbus’ Sammy Bernard and Athens’ Josh Rosenzweig ended in a shootout, with the Rock Lobsters claiming a 1-0 win over the River Dragons on Friday night.

Bernard (31 saves) and Rosenzweig (38 saves) each faced eight power plays against and still managed to keep the game scoreless through regulation.

In the shootout, only Filip Virgili was able to score to break the deadlock, giving Athens the extra point.

Notes:

• Columbus faced three separate five-on-three shorthanded situations (a season high) and did not allow a goal.
• Both teams ended the night with eight power plays.
• It is the second 1-0 game for Columbus this season, the first being a 1-0 overtime win over Monroe back on October 18, 2024.
• This is the fourth time this season Athens and Columbus have gone past regulation, and the third time the game has ended in a shootout.

The River Dragons now take to the road for a pair of games next weekend in Binghamton against the Black Bears before heading to Athens on Wednesday February 5th. The next River Dragons home games are Friday, February 7th and Saturday, February 8th against the Mississippi Sea Wolves. The 8th is Military Night, so get your tickets early before the game sells out! Tickets for all remaining River Dragons home games are on sale right now at the Civic Center Box Office and online at TicketMaster.com.

Rosenzweig Rises to Occasion; Rock Lobsters Win in Shootout

by Matteen Zibanejadrad



Columbus, GA - The spoils of a goalless contest went the way of the Athens Rock Lobsters, as they won 1-0 in the shootout against the Columbus River Dragons Saturday night in the Columbus Civic Center.

Josh Rosenzweig controlled the narrative on the night, making one heroic save after another across his crease.

Both teams had chances to put a one into the goal column, with a litany of power plays shared by the two teams.

65 minutes of hockey did not result in a decider and the shootout was necessary.

Filip Virgili was the only skater to find the back of the net, deking out Sammy Bernard and guiding it over the goal line.

Rosenzweig left Ryan Galvin, Cody Wickline and Kyle Moore empty-handed in Columbus’ three penalty shots, and the emotion showed in his body language as he nearly single-handedly secured the win for Athens.

The Rock Lobsters (19-4-2, 51 pts) return to Akins Ford Arena for a three-game set against the Baton Rouge Zydeco. Puck drop for the Friday-night game is 8:05 p.m. EST.

BLUE RIDGE BOBCATS at MONROE MOCCASINS

BLUE RIDGE BOBCATS RALLY IN THIRD TO DEFEAT MONROE MOCCASINS 4-2

by Joseph Furtado



Monroe, LA - The Monroe Moccasins suffered a tough 4-2 loss to the Blue Ridge Bobcats on home ice Saturday night, despite holding a lead heading into the third period. The defeat snapped Monroe’s momentum after a strong second period and highlighted their struggles to close out games.

Austin Bellefeuille continued his hot streak for the Bobcats, opening the scoring for the second consecutive night. Midway through the first period, Bellefeuille capitalized at 12:49 with a quick shot assisted by Devin Sanders and Hunter Virostek, giving Blue Ridge a 1-0 lead. Monroe responded with strong offensive pressure but failed to beat Blue Ridge goaltender Timur Gavrilovich in the opening frame.

Monroe roared back in the second period, leveling the score at 9:32 on the power play. Christopher Rex Moe netted his sixth goal of the season, finishing a slick passing sequence from Blake Anderson and Rasmus Asp. Less than a minute later, Kyle Heitzner gave Monroe the lead with a wrist shot set up by Asp and Scott Coash, making it 2-1 Moccasins. Monroe held that lead into the second intermission despite a strong push from Blue Ridge.

The third period belonged to the Bobcats. Alex Norwinski tied the game at 3:20, converting on a rebound after a setup by Nicolas McHugh. Bellefeuille struck again at 10:37, notching his second goal of the night off assists from Jakub Volf and Filip Hlavac to put the Bobcats ahead 3-2.



Monroe pushed hard for the equalizer, pulling goalkeeper Hugo Koch for the extra attacker in the final minutes, but Daniel Klinecky sealed the win for Blue Ridge with an empty-net goal at 18:18.  

BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS at MISSISSIPPI SEA WOLVES

Black Bears Tower Over Sea Wolves, 4-2

by Jon Kliment



Biloxi, MS - The Sea Wolves and Black Bears returned to the Mississippi Coast Coliseum for the middle of a three game set between the two squads. After a quick 3 goal lead set the tone for a Binghamton win in game one Mississippi countered with a new goaltender ahead of the middle game of the season and weekend series.

In a repeat of last night Binghamton when Gavin Yates found a Daniel Stone rebound and sent the puck over a sprawling Richie Parent at 4:16 of the first period. The Black Bears continued to push and 1:56 later Jesse Anderson was able to beat Parent again for the 2-0 lead.

Mississippi responded in the second period as Tanner Coleman found the back of the net off a Chuck Costello just 2:33 into the period on a drop pass to bring the Sea Wolves back to within just one goal. Binghamton found the momentum after the halfway point at 13:25 of the second period as Dakota Bohn scored and Austin Thompson followed up just twenty two seconds later to make it 4-1. Mississippi continued to battle and on an Emerson Emery penalty late in the second Ross Bartlett found the puck sitting in front of the goal and flipped it over the outstretched Egbert to bring the Sea Wolves back to within two goals, 4-2, but that was as close as they could get.

Parent stopped 38 of 42 in the loss.

The Sea Wolves look to avoid the sweep tomorrow afternoon here at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. Get your tickets on Ticketmaster or by stopping by the box office. 

Binghamton Extends Winning Streak in the Gulf

by Brooks Hill



Biloxi, MS - The Binghamton Black Bears defeated the Mississippi Sea Wolves 4-2 in a Saturday night showdown. Goalie, Nolan Egbert managed to pick up his 11th victory of the season, as the team was rewarded with their seventh win in a row. 

Once again, Binghamton started the first period hot. Gavin Yates, started off the scoring at the 4:16 mark of the frame, putting the Black Bears on the board. Just under two minutes later, Jesse Anderson was able to net his first goal of the weekend, as the Black Bears pushed their lead to 2-0 before the halfway mark of the period. Nolan Egbert was tested multiple times on the penalty kill, but after one period, it was the visitors from New York with a two-goal lead. 

Exactly like the previous night, Mississippi had a quick response in the second. Tanner Coleman scored on a 3-on-2 rush for the Sea Wolves, giving the crowd energy and life. It remained a nail-biting, one-goal game until Binghamton was able to find a pair of goals in 22 seconds. The first was scored by Dakota Bohn off a 2-on-1 with Yates and then right off the draw the Black Bears managed to find Austin Thompson on the doorstep for his only tally of the night. Thompson now has 22 goals and is the active leader in terms of points for Binghamton. The Seas Wolves didn't quit though. Ross Bartlett scored the first power play goal for either side making it a two-goal game, late in the middle period. After forty, the Black Bears still led by two. 

Neither side was able to score in the final period. Binghamton did take two more penalties, but the PK stepped up and Egbert shut the door. Binghamton wins their seventh game in a row, taking down the Sea Wolves 4-2 on Saturday night.