Game Recaps 3/13/25

DANBURY HAT TRICKS at WATERTOWN WOLVES

Wolves Give Up Four Goals in Third

by Jeff Barrett



Watertown, NY -  For the final time this regular season, the Danbury Hat Tricks made their seventh trip to the Watertown Municipal Arena for a rare Thursday night tilt. Five of the previous meetings here in Watertown went to overtime, with two of those games ending in a shootout.

The Hat Tricks came into the night holding an 8 point advantage over the Wolves for the battle for the second spot in the Empire Division playoff hunt, while Watertown held just a one point lead over Port Huron for the third position.

Just :18 into the opening period, the Wolves went on the power play on a Gleb Bandurkin interference call, and less than a minute later, Watertown capitalized with a Trevor Lord goal assisted by Davide Gaeta and Jimmy Lodge to give Watertown the early lead.

Watertown continued the early scoring just 1:12 later at the 2:20 mark when Carter Thornton knocked one from the right side to put the Wolves up 2-0. Lodge and Trevor Neumann were credited with assists on the goal.

Watertown outshot Danbury 14-12 in the first and held the 2-0 lead at the break.

The Hat Tricks Josh Labelle cut the Watertown lead in half at 13:34 of the second period with a wrist shot from the slot, assisted by Chase Harwell.

Danbury outshot Watertown in the second 15-14 making the totals 28-27 in favor of the Wolves after 40 minutes of play.

At the 3:55 mark of the third, Jacob Ratcliffe would tie the game for the Hat Tricks, assisted by Jonny Ruiz and Kyle Gonzalez.

Danbury scored three unanswered goals in the third to stretch the lead to 5-2.

First it was Chase Harwell at the 9:02 mark assisted by Ratcliffe, and Xavier Abdella.

Then at the 11:04 mark, Gleb Bandurkin lit the lamp with the assist going to Cory Anderson. making it 4-2.

Connor Wooley added an empty netter at the 19:51 mark to push the score to the 5-2 final. 

The Wolves will be back in action Friday night as they host the Continental leading Carolina Thunderbirds with the puck drop scheduled for 7:30pm. For the Hat Tricks, it will be a 2-1/2 hour ride south on route 81 in New York state, to battle the Empire leading Binghamton Black Bears in the Visions Veterans Memorial Arena at 7:00pm  

Five Unanswered Goals, Four in Third, Power Hat Tricks Past Wolves, 5-2

by Wyatt Kopelman



Watertown, NY -  Chase Harwell and Jacob Ratcliffe each had a goal and an assist, and the Hat Tricks rattled off five unanswered goals, four in the third, to defeat the Watertown Wolves, 5-2, at Watertown Municipal Arena on Thursday.

Down 2-0 at the first intermission, Danbury refused to quit against an opponent it has taken down in three straight games on the road. The season series is tied at five with one game to go on April 12 in Danbury.

Kyle Gonzalez intercepted a Wolves pass in the neutral zone and dumped it to Jacob Ratcliffe, who scored on a rebound in the slot to tie the game at two at 3:55 of the third. Harwell then potted a goal from inside the left circle on a rush at 9:02, pushing Danbury to a 3-2 lead and its 13th comeback win of the season. It was the first time the Hat Tricks rallied from behind to win since their road victory at Watertown (4-3SOW) on Feb. 23.

Gleb Bandurkin also scored in the slot with 8:56 remaining to move the Hat Tricks ahead by two. The rookie forward extended his point streak (2-4-6) to five games and has two goals in the last four contests.

The Wolves peppered Conor McCollum early in the first period, firing 14 shots. Trevor Lord scored at 1:08 from the right circle to put Watertown ahead and Carter Thornton slipped one home off a blocker 1:12 later, extending the lead.

With just less than 6 ½ minutes left in the middle frame, the Hat Tricks got on the board as Josh Labelle ripped one home from an empty slot. It was the ninth goal of the season for the fourth-year defenseman and the second in his last six outings.

Connor Woolley also slid home an empty-net goal with nine seconds left. The Pawling, N.Y., forward has netted three in his last four games.

McCollum made 37 saves and improved to 19-10-6 this season. The second-year netminder broke former goalie Brian Wilson’s franchise record in wins (42) and is 43-21-9 as a Hat Trick.

The win gave the Hat Tricks their second in a row and points in 19 of their last 20 games. Danbury won its third straight road contest and it has five victories in its last six.

Up next, the Hat Tricks play the Binghamton Black Bears on the road on Friday. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.

DASHERS of DANVILLE at BATON ROUGE ZYDECO 

Zydeco Nip Dashers, 3-2

by Bryan Flores

Baton Rouge, LA - Zydeco finally back home after 2 months on the road look to get 3 crucial points in the playoff race as they welcome in the Dashers of Danville.

As the puck dropped in the first period the crowd was electric, getting to see their Baton Rouge Zydeco live for the first time in over two months! Kicking off the period at 11:41 was Shane Haggerty off a faceoff play, netting it home making it 1-0 Zydeco to the assist of Jake Cox and Thomas McGuire! That would be it after 1 period of play!

In the second period the Zydeco would strike again just little under 3 minutes into the middle frame as former Dasher Kim Miettinen would feed Elijah Wilson for the 2-0 lead! But 11 minutes later Justin Brausen would throw a howitzer on net and sneak one past Bailey Stephens to make it 2-1 that one coming to the assist of Jhuwon Davis and former Zydeco Nate Albrecht. The Zydeco would not be done though as Elijah Wilson would spring Thomas McGuire who would find Shane Haggerty for the second time netting it home making it 3-1 Zydeco. The Dashers would find the back of the net just 30 seconds left in the second as Ilnur Madiarov would center one out finding Andrew Utoro who would snipe one past Stephens making it 3-2.

In the third, while there were a lot of good opportunities, the Zydeco would slam the door shut and skate off with a 3-2 regulation win in their first game home since January 4th.

Winning goaltender Bailey Stephens saves 23 of 25 for a 0.920% earning his 11th win of the season, improving his record to 11-3-3

Losing goaltender Parker Rutherford saves 26 of 29 for a final save percentage of a 0.897% falling to a record of 1-21-2 

There was a lot of physicality in the game, captain Tyler Larwood getting reacquainted with his former teammate Nate Albrecht, Narek Aleksanyan getting into it, and Elias Thompson throwing them down with Alexander Marshisello! One would wonder what is in store for tomorrow night's game against the Rock Lobsters as the Zydeco welcome in Athens for the first time this season at the River Center! Puck Drop at 7:05PM CT! 

Miettinen’s Big Night Lifts Zydeco Over Dashers

by Bryan Flores

Baton Rouge, LA - One last battle in the bayou would prove to be a great one. In a back and forth battle with tensions at the max, Kim Miettinen’s 2-assist game helped propel the Zydeco over his former team this past Thursday night. 

While many headed south for a spring break trip, the Dashers took to the road for 4 games in 4 days, beginning with the Baton Rouge Zydeco. This would mark the 7th meeting between the inter-division foes, with the Zydeco having won each of the previous affairs. Starting for the Zydeco would be an all too familiar face for Dasher nation, beloved former assistant captain Kim Miettinen. Miettinen was acquired via a trade approximately 3 weeks ago, and it was a bittersweet moment for all of Dasher Nation to see the fan-favorite in a different uniform. The game started off very slow, with neither side generating too many scoring opportunities. Around the midway point, Miettinen capitalized on the revenge game. His shot through traffic from the point provided a juicy rebound that was backhanded home by Shane Haggerty to open the scoring at 1-0. This was Miettinen’s first assist with his new club, but his first point was a goal last Saturday in his debut. The Dashers had a chance to tie it late when Dmitry Kuznetsov was booked for delay of game, but Bailey Stephens held his own. The first period horn sounded with the score 1-0 Baton Rouge, who also led in shots 10-4.

After a mundane opening 20 for both sides, period 2 was pay-per-view entertainment. Less than 3 minutes in, Kim Miettinen shocked the world by passing the puck while on a breakaway to a wide open Elijah Wilson who ripped it past Rutherford to double the margin at 2-0. Shortly after, Alex Marchisello looked to make a name for himself in his Dasher debut as he squared off with Nick Ketola. The bout was more of a wrestling match and ended briefly, but both sides were fired up. The sides exchanged back and forth action after this, with neither goaltender looking to budge. The captain Justin Brausen took matters into his own hands, taking a deflected puck off the wall and one time banging it past Stephens to cut the deficit in half at 2-1. Moments later Zac Horn was booked for a soft tripping call opening the door to the first Zydeco power play. On the man advantage, a 2 on 1 break was finished with authority by Shane Haggerty for his second of the game, pushing the lead back to 2. But the Dashers refused to quit. Marchisello dropped the mitts again, this time with Elias Thompson. Despite the 5 inch size mismatch, it was a good brawl, and both teams' tensions had hit a peak. With inside a minute to go, Andrew Uturo, in his Dasher debut, took a feed from Ilnur Madiarov and buried it up and away to make it a 3-2 game. The Dashers had one more grade A chance with inside 10 seconds to go, but couldn’t cash in on the odd man opportunity. It instead ended in a collision, which Narek Aleksanyan took exception to with Quinn O’Reilly, and the two jousted for a moment before accepting matching minor penalties. The Dashers led in shots 23-22 through 2 periods and the stage was set for one of the most highly anticipated periods of the season on the horizon. Would Kim Miettinen earn his first FPHL win with his new team? Or would the Dashers snap their historic slide with a third period comeback?

Turns out period 2 was just a tease, as period 3 provided few fireworks and low offense. After outshooting the Zydeco in the second frame 19-12, the Dashers could only put together 2 shots on net in period 3. Although the Zydeco only had 7 of their own, they did a great job of limiting the Dashers on the back end. Passing lanes were clogged and shots were blocked, creating a headache for the visitors. There were no infractions in period 3 either, just hard nosed action with neither team budging. The final horn sounded with the score 3-2 Zydeco, who also outshot the Dashers 29-25 in full time.

The Dashers will travel to Biloxi for a 3 game set with the Mississippi Sea Wolves beginning tomorrow. Meanwhile the Zydeco are set to host the Athens Rock Lobsters for a weekend set right back in the Raising Cane's River Center.