GAME RECAPS 3/31/23

ELMIRA MAMMOTH at BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS

BINGHAMTON BLASTS ELMIRA IN 73-SHOT PERFORMANCE

by Brooks Hill

Binghamton, NY - The Binghamton Black Bears defeated the Elmira Mammoth for the eighth time this season. Binghamton picks up a third-straight victory at home, as they score six goals and put a season-high 73 shots on goal. 

Elmira started the game on time. The mammoth were able to grab the first goal of the game at the 4:28 mark, as Nate Campbell wristed one in on the powerplay. Binghamton answered with a takeaway in the Elmira zone. Mac Lewis stole the puck away from the goaltender, setting up Chad Lopez to tie the game at 1-1. Binghamton did not look back from there, as they quickly claimed the lead for the first time. Tyson Kirkby scored his first of the night, then Connor Smith would score his first ever professional goal in the final minute of the frame. Binghamton led 3-1 after one, scoring three straight. 

Elmira did not go away quite yet, as they scored first in the middle period again. Luke Richards had a great stuffchance that pushed the game back to a one-goal deficit for the Mammoth. It remained 3-2 for eight minutes, but Smith would answer the goal with another one. Binghamton was back up by two after two. 

The scoring dried up for Elmira as they were not able to grab another goal in the third. Binghamton, however, added a pair from Kirkby and Lewis extending the lead to 6-2 when the final horn sounded. Binghamton finished the night with 73 shots, 21 in the first, 28 in the second, and 24 in the third. Binghamton wins 6-2 and outshoots Elmira 73-22. 

The Black Bears return home again for First Responder Night against Columbus on April 1st. The annual Heart Cup game will take place at 3:30p.m. that afternoon before the Black Bears take the ice. 


MISSISSIPPI SEA WOLVES at CAROLINA THUNDERBIRDS 

BIRDS CONQUER SEA WOLVES 3-2 ON NOVANT HEALTH NIGHT

by Brett Wiseman

Winston-Salem, NC -  The Carolina Thunderbirds outlasted a hungry Mississippi Sea Wolves squad by a final score of 3-2 in front of a crowd of 2,659 inside the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Annex on Novant Health Healthcare Appreciation Night.

Mississippi played like a team with nothing to lose, but still determined to play spoiler to their division rival in the 12th of fourteen meetings between the two this regular season.

They got off to a stellar start, as team point leaders Yianni Liriakos and Yaroslav Yevdokimov paired up to finish off a 2-on-1 rush three and give the Sea WoIves a 1-0 lead just three minutes in.

22 seconds later, Jiri Pestuka responded. Number 24 put home his 24th goal of the season off a pass from Danny Martin off the end boards, beating Joe Sheppard short side and tying the game at 1.

Jake Raleigh broke the tie with just over 4 minutes left in the opening frame, and the score remained 2-1 Sea Wolves through the rest of the first and the initial half of the second period.

It was a 75 second stretch midway through the middle frame that proved to be the difference.

Lucas Rowe sent a saucer pass right on the tape of Josh Koepplinger after a clean breakout started by Martin. Koepplinger had time and space to wire a wicked wrister past the glove side of Sheppard at the 14:44 mark of the second period for his 33rd of the season to tie the game at 2. The eventual game winning goal wasn't too far behind.

Just 1 minute and 15 seconds later, Blake Peavey put a wrist shot toward the net from the far point. Dawson Baker somehow got a stick on it with his back to the net, and wildly redirected the shot in between Sheppard's pads and into the back of the net for his 18th of the year and the eventual game winner.

Boris Babik had a good bounce back game in goal for the Thunderbirds, stopping 31 of 33 Sea Wolf shots.

Baker, Koepplinger and Pestuka, Carolina's three goal scorers on the night, were also named the games three stars.

The Thunderbirds host Mississippi again tomorrow night for the second of a three game weekend series. Puck drop is set for 6:05 ET.


Sea Wolves Drop Series Opener at Carolina

By Nick Roesch

Winston-Salem, NC – The (15-31-4) Mississippi Sea Wolves grabbed an early lead and carried it through most of the game on Friday night, but the (36-12-2) Carolina Thunderbirds snuck past them in a big second period to win 3-2 at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Annex. 

A mere 3:07 into regulation is all it took for Yaroslav Yevdokimov to strike for the Sea Wolves, receiving a pass on the odd man rush from Yianni Liarakos. The Thunderbirds replied just 22 seconds later with Jiri Pestuka providing a follow-up goal after Daniel Martin’s initial chance. 

Mississippi ran back in front 2-1 with Jake Raleigh’s one-time drive 16:04 into the first period. Ethan Busch-Anderson grabbed an assist along with Liarakos, who earned another multi-point game. 

The second period saw plenty of turnovers, and the Thunderbirds were the ones to take advantage. Josh Koepplinger buried the net at 14:44 before Dawson Baker did the same just 1:15 later to give Carolina their first lead of the night at 3-2. 

The Sea Wolves directed 12 shots onto Boris Babik’s net in the final period, but he blocked every chance until the final buzzer ran out. He made 31 stops, while Mississippi’s goaltender Joe Sheppard recorded 37. 

The Continental Division rivals will meet up again tomorrow, April 1 at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Annex. The middle game of the three-in-three series is scheduled for 5:05pm Central Time. 


MOTOR CITY ROCKERS at PORT HURON PROWLERS 

PROWLERS MAKE COMEBACK, GET POINT IN OT LOSS

by Will Wiegelman

Port Huron, MI - The Port Huron Prowlers made a two-goal comeback in the third but fell in overtime to the Motor City Rockers 4-3 at McMorran Place on March 31. The Rockers extend the league’s longest active win streak to five games.

The Rockers got the scoring started on the power play when a shot from Nick Magill-Diaz deflected to Brad Reitter at the side of the net. Later in the period, the Prowlers got a power play that lasted three seconds. Evan Foley won the faceoff to Alex Johnson who moved it right to Matt Stoia for a one-timer that beat Blake Scott. 

Port Huron got pressure to start the second period but Motor City got a breakaway that Tommy Cardinal made good on to give his team the lead just under seven minutes into the middle frame. Two and a half minutes later, Brad Reitter capitalized on a turnover and beat Brian Tallieu on his second shot in front of the net. The Rockers took that 3-1 lead into the third.

The Prowlers got a power play with under seven minutes to in the third and Gino Mini kept in a clearing attempt, sliding it straight over to Johnson who wired a blast past Scott to make it a one-goal game. Just under three minutes later, Braedyn Aubin won a defensive zone faceoff and Stoia flipped a high pass to Motor City ice. Sam Marit skated into it and fired a shot over Scott’s glove to tie the score with under four minutes to go.

The Rockers began overtime with 33 seconds of power play time but the Prowlers killed it off. At four-on-four, Scott Coash found a loose puck in tight and roofed it for the game-winner, his second overtime goal against Port Huron this season.

Johnson and Stoia each finished with a goal and an assist. Tallieu stopped 30 shots. The Prowlers get a point and reach 80 points for the first time since the 2019-20 season.

Reitter led the Rockers with two goals while Coash was the first star of the game. Scott made 39 saves in the win.

The final Battle of I-94 game of the regular season will be on April 1st at 6 P.M. at Big Boy Arena. The game will be available on the Port Huron Prowlers YouTube channel.



COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS at WATERTOWN WOLVES 

 RIVER DRAGONS DEFEAT WOLVES, 4-1

by Jeff Barrett

Watertown, NY - For the first time this season, the Columbus River Dragons made the 1140 mile bus trip to Watertown to take on the Wolves. Their only other previous meeting was a pair of games in Columbus, Ga. back in November with the River Dragons winning both contests.

The last time these two met in Watertown, the game would be 10 minutes and 8 seconds into the second overtime before current River Dragon Lane King netted the overtime winner, giving the Wolves their third Commissioners Cup championship.

Columbus seemed to have that fresh in their memories when they hit the ice for period number one as they would strike three times in the first twenty minutes.

First to light the lamp was Michael Greco ath 9:35 of the period, assisted by Alexander Jmaeff and Lane King. Adam Vanelli extended the lead to 2-0 at the 14.52 mark on a nasty wrist shot from the top of the right circle, assisted by Jacob Kelly and Lane King.

Alexander Jmaeff added the third goal of the frame at 18:56, assists on the goal went to Paul Fregeau and Alex Storjohann. That goal would bring an end to the night for Owen Liskiewicz as he would be pulled in favor of Adam Wisco.

Columbus took the 3-0 lead to the locker room after twenty minutes. Columbus outshot the Wolves 16 to 10 in the period.

Period number two would turn into a defensive battle, as both teams had trouble getting quality scoring chances. Wisco and River Dragons starter Brendan Colgan were both tested later in the period, with both easely turning away all the shots they faced. Columbus again outshot Watertown 12 to 9 in the second, and 28 to 19 through the first forty minutes.

The intensity rose to another level in period number three as the Wolves came out throwing the bodies around trying to ignite a fire. It would take just past the halfway point of the period, but the Wolves finally got on the board when Zach Horn was able to beat Colgan over the shoulder and cut into the Columbus lead 3-1. Watertown continued to apply pressure, but were unable to convert another goal in the final ten minutes.

The River Dragons added an empty net insurance marker at 18:57 when Cody Wickline got behind the defense after Jacob Kelly and Thomas Aldworth broke up the Watertown offensive zone rush, sending the score to 4-1. Columbus outshot Watertown 13 to 9 in the third, making the total for the game 41 to 28. The Wolves power play woes continued as they went 0 for 4 on the night while Columbus was 1 for 3.

The Wolves will be back in action on Saturday evening at 7:30 and Sunday at 6:30, as they host the Delaware thunder for a two game set.  

RIVER DRAGONS TOP WOLVES 4-1, SWEEP SEASON SERIES
Former Wolves Jmaeff and King Record Multi-Point Games

by Tom Callahan

Watertown, NY - Former Watertown Wolves Alexander Jmaeff and Lane King each posted two points to help the Columbus River Dragons to a 4-1 win on Friday night at Watertown Arena.

Michael Greco, Adam Vannelli and Jmaeff each scored in the first period to chase Wolves starter Owen Liskiewicz before the end of the first period. 

The move seemed to settle the game down as the score remained the same into the third period, when Watertown finally broke through on Breandan Colgan (27 saves) to make it 3-1 with 10:34 left in regulation time.

Despite the goal, Watertown could manage no further scoring and Cody Wickline sealed the game with an empty-net goal with just over a minute to go.

River Dragons leading scorer Jacob Kelly also posted two points in the win for Columbus, pushing his total to 69 on the season.

Columbus returns to action tomorrow night at 7 pm in Binghamton against the Black Bears. The next River Dragons home game is Friday, April 7 against the Carolina Thunderbirds. Tickets are on sale now at the Columbus Civic Center Box Office or online at TicketMaster.com


DELAWARE THUNDER at DANBURY HAT TRICKS 

Hat Tricks Sweep the Season Series Over the Thunder

by Chris Lynch

Danbury, CT - The Danbury Hat Tricks met the Delaware Thunder for the final time in the 2022-23 season and swept the season series in style with a 5-0 victory. 

Brian Wilson recorded a 17 save shutout for the first solo shutout of the season for any Danbury Hat Tricks goaltender. Frankie McClendon and Wilson combined for a shutout in Delaware on New Year’s Eve. 
Danbury piled up 65 shots on goal, one short of their season high, recorded on Sunday also against Delaware. Thunder goaltender Spencer Kozlowski recorded 60 saves, his second straight game with 60 or more saves. 

Lucas DeBenedet recorded a three point game behind a goal and two assists on Jacob Ratcliffe’s goal that opened the scoring late in the first period and on Michael Marchesan’s goal near the middle of the second period. Brendan Sheehan added a two point game, including an un-assisted goal 49 seconds into the third period. 

Four players engaged in a fraught fracas late in the third period which resulted in a Danbury power play and DeBenedet’s goal to end the scoring. 

Danbury improves to 39-7-5, and maintains their three point advantage over the Columbus River Dragons for first place in the FPHL with 114 points. 

The Hat Tricks hit the road on Saturday to face the Elmira Mammoth at First Arena. Puck drops at 6:35 PM.