Game Recaps 10/18/24

BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS at HUDSON VALLEY VENOM

Venom Lose Wild Inaugural Game, 9-6 to Black Bears

by Jim Cerny

Newburgh, NY -  It was an eventful opening night for the Hudson Valley Venom, just not a winning one. Playing the first game in franchise history, the Venom dropped a wild 9-6 decision to the Binghamton Black Bears on Friday at Ice Time Sports Complex.

Venom forward Dustin Jesseau recorded five points and scored a hat trick, but Hudson Valley never held a lead in the contest.

The Black Bears scored 1:30 into the game on a Tyson Kirkby goal and led 4-1 at the first intermission, with Gavin Yates adding a pair of goals.

FPHL history was made at 9:38 of the first period when defenseman Mark Pozsar scored the first goal in Venom history, a left-wing shot that beat Black Bears goal Nolan Egbert to the glove side.

The Venom stormed back at the start of the second period to score three goals in the first 5:17 and tie the game 4-4. Forward Eimantas Noreika scored his first goal in his professional debut, on the power play, just 19 seconds into the period and Brendan Charlton followed with another power-play goal at 1:51.

Jesseau tied it with his first goal of the night at 5:17. 

Binghamton forward Austin Thompson then heated up. He scored at 10:07 of the second period and 54 seconds into the third to make it 6-4. He later completed the hat trick with a long shot at 12:29 that made it 8-6.

Jesseau scored twice in the third period to complete his hat trick, including a gorgeous breakaway goal.

Noreika finished with two points (goal, assist) for the Venom and forward Davide Gaeta had two assists. Goalie Eli Bowers made 29 saves took the loss for Hudson Valley, which will turn right around and visit the Black Bears in Binghamton on Saturday to complete the season opening home-and-home set.

Like Jesseau, Thompson added two assists to his hat trick for a five-point night. Donald Olivieri had two power-play goals and two assists for Binghamton and Kirkby had four points (goal, three assists). Egbert made 23 saves.

Binghamton Wins High Scoring Affair

by Brooks Hill

Newburgh, NY -   The Binghamton Black Bears defeated the Hudson Valley Venom 9-6 in a high-scoring affair on Friday night. Austin Thompson recorded the first hat trick of the season, leading the Black Bears to their second road win of the season. 

It was the captain, Tyson Kirkby, that started the scoring just 90 seconds into the action. Gavin Yates followed up the Kirkby goal with one of his own before Hudson Valley was able to break through the scoresheet. Mark Pozar scored first for the home team, attempting to capture some momentum but Yates was able to grab another goal on the very next shift. The first four goals of the contest came at even strength, but Don Olivieri was able to blast one past the netminder for the game’s first power play goal. After one period, five goals were scored and Binghamton led 4-1. 

Hudson Valley came out blazing in the second period. The Venom were able to pot three goals in a span of five minutes, the first two coming on the power play. With Eimantas Noreika, Brendan Charlton and Dustin Jesseau’s goals, the Binghamton lead evaporated. 

The teams remained deadlocked for another five minutes, then Austin Thompson began his tear. Thompson reclaimed the lead for Binghamton as the Black Bears skated back into the locker room up 5-4 after two periods. 

Thompson started the period right were he left off and was able to score his second goal of the night. Jesseau answered for the Venom but like the tennis match going back and forth, Cam Clark was able to answer the response from the home team. Thompson earned his hat trick by sneaking behind the defense the putting the puck through the five-hole. Olivieri capped off the first trip to Hudson Valley with another power play strike, spoiling the Venom’s opening night. Binghamton wins 9-6 in a barn burner. 

CAROLINA THUNDERBIRDS at PORT HURON PROWLERS

Prowlers Blanked on Opening Night

by Will Wiegelman

Port Huron, MI -  Boris Babik made 31 saves to blank the Port Huron Prowlers in their home opener at McMorran Place on Oct. 18. Babik’s Thunderbirds took the victory 4-0.

“Babik played a good game,” said Prowlers assistant coach Alex Johnson. “I thought we could have held possession more in the offensive zone and created chances that way.”

The Carolina power play got the scoring started just over eight minutes in when a shot by Danyk Drouin was blocked by Adam Heinzl and the ricochet landed on Jacob Schnapp’s stick. He deposited the puck in the empty cage for the first goal of the year.

“This league is won and lost on power play and penalty kill,” Johnson said. “You have to take advantage of it.”

Later in the period, Jordan Gagnon stepped over the Port Huron blue line and wired a clapper past Makar Sokolov for his first pro goal. The Thunderbirds took the 2-0 advantage into the break.

The Prowlers got a five-minute power play right near the end of the opening frame but only managed three shots on it. Seconds after the major penalty expired, Jiri Pestuka sent a shot on net that hit a battle between Ludwig Thellström and Gus Ford at the side of the crease before finding the twine. The goal was credited to Pestuka.

“It’s frustrating,” Johnson said. “We know going into the room how big of an opportunity that is to put us back in the game. We weren’t getting the looks we thought we were going to get. We’re going to make some adjustments on the power play and we will see better looks tomorrow.”

Less than two minutes later, Carolina was back on the man advantage and Gagnon saw his long-range blast deflect off of Matt Graham and hit the back of the net for his second goal in his pro debut. The third period featured just 13 total shots and neither team scored.

Makar Sokolov made 31 saves for the Prowlers in the loss.

Babik received first-star honors for his shutout performance while Gagnon’s two goals earned him the second star and Schnapp was the third star with a goal and an assist. Gus Ford and Dawson Baker chipped in a pair of helpers apiece.

The teams meet again on Saturday, Oct. 19 to wrap up their two-game set. Puck drop from McMorran Place is scheduled for 6:05 P.M. and tickets are available at phprowlers.com/tickets.

DASHERS of DANVILLE at WATERTOWN WOLVES

Wolves Double Up Dashers

by Jeff Barrett

Watertown, NY -  On this Friday night in Watertown, NY, the Wolves hosted the recently reformed Danville Dashers, for the first of two games between the teams this weekend. The Wolves came in looking for their second win of the season after an opening weekend split with the Binghamton Black Bears. For the Dashers, it would be their first game action of the season.

The Dashers would get their first goal of the season and the game at the 16:56 mark of the first when Justin Brausen was able to stuff a rebound in the blue paint under Watertown starter Anton Borodkin, giving Danville the early lead.

Watertown outshot the Dashers in the first, 14-6

At the 3:46 mark of period 2, Kyle Heitzner got the Wolves on the board with an unassisted goal as he broke up an outlet pass and beat the Dashers starter Parker Rutherford with the back hand.

Justin Brausen would take advantage of a Dasher power play and knock home a rebound making 2-1 at the 6:09 mark. Assists on the goal belonged to Brandon Stojcevski and Lester Brown.

At 9:34 the Wolves would pull even once again on a Dylan Infantino goal, her first of the season, assisted by Trevor Lord , and Lare Pahtayken.The Wolves again outshot the Dashers 15-13 in the frame. The teams would head to the final period tied at 2.

The score stayed knotted until 15:32 of the third when the Wolves took their first lead of the night on a Dylan Infantino goal assisted by Carter Thornton and Trevor Grasby.

Ludlow Harris Jr. would put the icing on the cake with an empty netter at the 19:38 mark of the third sending the Wolves to a 4-2 win.

The Wolves and Dashers will square off again tomorrow night here in the Watertown Municipal Arena, with the puck drop slated for 7:30

DASHERS SUFFER FIRST DEFEAT ON THE ROAD IN WATERTOWN

by Devin Dobek

Watertown, NY -  The Dashers Hockey Club opened up their season with a tough loss at the hands of the Watertown Wolves. Parker Rutherford’s 45 save effort would not be enough as a late 3rd period tally from Dylan Infantino proved to be too much. An empty netter provided the dagger in a 4-2 defeat to kick off a new era of professional hockey in Illinois. 

After a sloppy first ten minutes, a faster and more physical brand of hockey was adopted. Niko Reimann dropped the gloves with Carter Thornton for the first fight in the new Dasher Era. Less than 90 seconds later, Nikolai Salov batted home a rebound to put the Dashers up early 1-0. On the ensuing faceoff, Wolves enforcer Justin Schmit squared off with Bowie Slarks to get the Watertown crowd back in the game.

Period 2 began with a Kyle Heitzner breakaway goal off a bad turnover in the Dasher end to even things at 1. The deadlock would not last long as Dasher captain Justin Brausen fired one past the stick side of Anton Borodkin on the powerplay to make it 2-1. Just over 3 minutes later another costly Dasher turnover would make way in the slot for a tip in goal by Dylan Infantino to even the game once again. 

With 40 minutes gone by, it was anybody’s contest. 15 minutes bled off the clock with both teams exchanging grade A chances. The Dashers had some tough puck luck with Yegor Kabatayev ringing one off the far post from below the circle and Brandon Stojcevski just missing a golden opportunity with Borodkin out of position. With 4:28 remaining, Dylan Infantino gave the Wolves their first lead of the game with a close-quarters snipe over the shoulder of Rutherford. The Dashers had some life thanks to a Dustin Perillat delay of game penalty with 4 minutes to go, but couldn’t capitalize. The dagger was delivered by Ludlow Harris Jr. to solidify a 4-2 victory for Watertown.

The Dashers fall to 0-1 while the Wolves improve to 2-1. The two teams will meet again tomorrow night, October 19th at 7:30 EST. 

ATHENS ROCK LOBSTERS at BLUE RIDGE BOBCATS

Athens Outlasts Bobcats in OT Thriller

by Brett Wiseman

Wytheville, VA -  The Blue Ridge Bobcats opened the 2024-2025 season by picking up a standings point against a formidable foe in the Athens Rock Lobsters. 

Kayson Gallant scored two of the three goals for Athens, including the game-winning goal in overtime. 

Two of the Bobcats newest additions made huge impacts on the scoresheet. Devin Sanders and Aaron Ryback each posted goals in their Bobcats debuts.

Ryback rang a wrister off the crossbar on his opening shift, but did not miss on his second opportunity. Ryback rifled a one-timer past Jack Bostedt on the Bobcats first power play of the night.

Sanders sniped home a wrister midway through the third period, faking a pass to Vladislav Vlasov and beating Bostedt top shelf to put the Bobcats ahead 2-1. Sanders earned third star honors on the night for his first goal in Blue Ridge.

Connor Green played a huge role in securing a standings point, standing on his head to stop 37 of 40 Rock Lobsters shot.

The two teams will wrap up the season opening series tomorrow night for Pack the House Night at Hitachi Energy Arena. All fans in attendance will receive a free rally towel courtesy of Hitachi Energy. Doors open at 6:30 PM with puck drop slated for 7:30. Tickets are available at the arena box office, by phone at 276-335-2100 and online at blueridgebobcats.com/tickets.

Gallant’s Two-Goal Night Sparks Rock Lobsters’ First-Ever Overtime Win

by Matteen Zibanejadrad

Wytheville, VA -  The Athens Rock Lobsters fought their way to a 3-2 overtime win against the Blue Ridge Bobcats Friday night in the Hitachi Energy Arena. It marked the first-ever overtime win in the franchise’s history.

After Blue Ridge found the opening goal on a first-period power play, Kayson Gallant extended his scoring streak to three games with a tap-in at the 4:53 mark of the second period. Filip Virgili got a shot off on the Blue Ridge goaltender while the Swede was falling to the ice and Gallant was able to sweep home the rebound.

The Bobcats found themselves on top in the matchup again with a wrist shot that went bar down with four minutes gone in the third period.

Weathering the storm after several successful penalty kills, Troy Murray was the beneficiary of chaos caused in front of the Blue Ridge net. The defenseman tipped in a puck with 3:20 left in regulation after Malik Johnson floated a pass into the crease and Hunter Alden obscured goaltender Connor Green’s vision of the puck.

Heading into its first overtime period, Athens found the winner through a pinpoint pass from Carter Shinkaruk across the ice to Gallant in the faceoff circle. The 24-year-old wristed a shot past Green for his team-leading fifth goal of the season, clinching a third-straight win for the hockey club.

The Athens Rock Lobsters (3-0-0, 9 pts) return to the Hitachi Energy Arena on Saturday night for the weekend finale against the Blue Ridge Bobcats; puck drops at 7:30 p.m. EST.

MOTOR CITY ROCKERS at DANBURY HAT TRICKS

Hat Tricks Drop Season Opener to Motor City, 4-2

by Doug Lattuca

Danbury, CT -  The Danbury Hat Tricks began the Jonny Ruiz-Kyle Gonzalez co-head coaching era with a 4-2 loss to the Motor City Rockers Friday night at the Danbury Ice Arena. 

Following their Empire Division Semifinals playoff loss to the Rockers last season, the Hat Tricks welcomed Motor City in for the 2024-25 season opener. Despite the Hat Tricks peppering Motor City goaltender Ricardo Gonzalez with 51 shots, they could not recover from three unanswered Motor City goals in the second period.

Forward Eli Rivers started the scoring for Motor City at 10:02 of the first period. The Hat Tricks answered at 17:34 with winger Aleksandr Gamzatov's first goal as a Hat Trick in his debut. The Russian-born forward was acquired from Watertown on Oct. 14 and scored 12 goals last season.

The second period started 1-1, but the Rockers rattled off three straight scores, defenseman Josh Colten 31 seconds into the frame, and back-to-back goals, one of which was a short-handed goal, from forward Marian Pazitka in his Rocker's debut at 8:43 and 10:52. Danbury chipped into the rockers lead at 16:00 with a Corey Cunningham power play goal to cut the deficit to two.

The Hat Tricks applied some pressure in the third period, but could not solve Gonzalez. It did not help Danbury's comeback efforts that captain, co-head coach, and biggest offensive performer Jonny Ruiz left the game in the second period and did not return.

Up next, the Hat Tricks and Rockers finish off their two-game weekend set on Saturday night in Danbury. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m.

COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS at MONROE MOCCASINS

RIVER DRAGONS EDGE OUT MOCCASINS IN OVERTIME 1-0

by Joseph Furtado

MONROE, LA - In a gritty defensive showdown, the Columbus River Dragons edged out the Monroe Moccasins 1-0 in overtime, with Nolan Slachetka netting the game-winning goal on Columbus' first shot of overtime at 1:41.

Despite their loss, Monroe showcased impressive defensive resilience, successfully killing off six power plays against a Columbus squad that boasted the league’s top power play last season.

Throughout regulation, neither team managed to break the deadlock. The Moccasins’ penalty kill was stellar, shutting down every River Dragons' power-play opportunity. Goaltender Sean Kuhn was a key factor for Monroe, while Columbus outshot Monroe 29-18.

Offensively, Monroe struggled to generate scoring chances, particularly in the third period where they failed to record a shot on goal. In overtime, however, Columbus capitalized quickly. Slachetka's goal on the River Dragons’ first shot of OT sealed the victory, handing Columbus their first win of the season.

Both teams will meet again tomorrow night to conclude their weekend series.

SLACHETKA GIVES RIVER DRAGONS WIN IN OT

by Tom Callahan

MONROE, LA - Nolan Slachetka scored the game’s only goal at 1:41 of overtime, an unassisted marker to give the Columbus River Dragons a win in the team’s season opener on the road over the Monroe Moccasins Friday night.

Slachetka broke into the Monroe zone on a nice individual effort and was pulled down on his way to the net. He quickly popped back up onto his skates and fired a wrist shot past Moccasins goaltender Sean Kuhn for the game’s only marker.

Both teams battled through a scoreless 60 minutes, with quality scoring chances going either way. Early in the first period River Dragons defenseman Brian Dunford made a sprawling stop to take away a point blank opportunity for Monroe and keep the game scoreless.

River Dragons goaltender Sammy Bernard turned aside 18 Moccasins shots to earn his first shutout of the season and third as a pro. Notably, the River Dragons held Monroe to zero shots in the third period and overtime.

The same two teams will battle again Saturday night at 8 pm ET. Coverage will be carried through the River Dragons YouTube page @ColumbusRiverDragons starting at 7:45 pm.

MISSISSIPPI SEA WOLVES at BATON ROUGE ZYDECO

Sea Wolves Respond with Their First Win

by Andy Poetzinger

Baton Rouge, LA -  After a game where the Sea Wolves were outplayed in every facet, they came out to the Raising Cane’s River Center on Friday night and played a very good, structured hockey game to pull out their first win of the season. 

The first period was scoreless until the 19:20 mark when Matt Stoia was one on one with Zydeco goaltender Breandan Colgan and roofed a backhander under the bar to give the Sea Wolves a 1-0 through one period. 

The Zydeco came back in the 2nd period after a not so sharp 1st period and peppered Greg Hussey. 17 shots on net in the second period and the only one that got by Hussey was a redirect off of Declan Coway parked at the top of the crease to tie the game at one. 

The third period was the most consistent play for both teams as each traded chances with the goaltending standing strong. The Sea Wolves broke the tie with 9:03 left to play on a Keller breakaway from the tops of the circles. 

However, the Zydeco would answer back in the form of Dmitry Kuznetsov. The former Sea Wolves player caught a pass on a Tyler Larwood wrap around attempt and found a gaping cage to tie the game at two with 6:50 remaining in regulation. 

The revenge of players against their former team continued as Curtis Hansen potted the eventual game winning goal for the Sea Wolves just 1:02 after the Zydeco had tied it. 

Greg Hussey bounced back with a great performance in goal stopping 34/36 shots. Breandan Colgan’s debut in a Zydeco sweater saw him make 26 saves on 29 shots on goal.

The Zydeco fall to 1-1 on the season, and look to get back to their winning ways on Sunday when they host the Monroe Moccasins at 3:05pm Central Time. We hope you can join us at the River Center, or follow along on our live broadcast through YouTube and WBRZ.

Sea Wolves Take a Bite Out of the Zydeco

by Jon Kliment

Baton Rouge, LA -  The Sea Wolves returned to the Raising Cane's River Center to do battle with the Baton Rouge Zydeco one night after suffering defeat the night prior to open the season. 

The first period saw the Sea Wolves show a totally different attitude as they controlled the pace of play despite a couple of opportunities for the Zydeco on the power play. After a waived off goal from Don Carter Jr the Sea Wolves turned up the pressure and found the back of the net past Breandan Colgan as Matt Stoia top shelved a rebound for a 1-0 lead that stood up through the first period.

The Zydeco managed to find a tying goal of their own in period two as Declan Conway deflected home a Jackson Bond shot past Gregg Hussey to tie it up. 

A back and forth affair in the third saw the Sea Wolves Blake Keller score his first of the regular season at 9:57 before former Sea Wolf Dmitry Kuznetsov tied it up 3:13 later. Mississippi wasn't done however as 1:02 later Curtis Hansen found the back of the net for the Sea Wolves to give them their first win of the season.

Hussey stopped 34 of 36 for his first win as a Sea Wolf.

The Sea Wolves complete the three game road trip next Friday night here in Baton Rouge at 7:05pm! Follow along on Youtube and Mixlr!