Game Recaps 4/6/25

WATERTOWN WOLVES at BATON ROUGE ZYDECO

Shahin’s Heroics and Wilson’s 3-Point Night Power Zydeco to Comeback Win Against Wolves

by Bryan Flores

Baton Rouge, LA - In a back-and-forth thriller filled with special teams fireworks and highlight-reel moments, the Baton Rouge Zydeco clawed their way to a huge 6-5 victory on the road against the Watertown Wolves, making a big statement as they roll into the postseason.

The opening period had it all—six goals, four of them on the power play, and both teams trading punches like playoff hockey had already arrived. Watertown struck first with a power play goal from Chase DiBari, but the Zydeco answered just over a minute later thanks to Ross Bartlett burying one off a clean feed from Elijah Wilson. From there, it was a flurry of goals. Wilson and Aaron Shahin would both notch power play tallies to briefly give Baton Rouge the lead, but Watertown’s Domenic Della Civita rifling one from the point leveled things at 3-3 before the end of the period.

In the second, the Wolves grabbed momentum with a short-handed goal and an even-strength tally to make it 5-3, but the Zydeco never blinked. Narek Aleksanyan would cut into the deficit with a power play snipe, and Tyler Larwood—who’s been red-hot lately—buried the equalizer with just 11 seconds left in the frame. That made it three goals in three games for the rookie forward.

The game-winner came midway through the third, as Aaron Shahin broke through once again with his second of the night—his first points since January 18 against the Dashers HC—off a setup from Shane Haggerty and the ever-dangerous Elijah Wilson, who finished the night with three points.

In net, Sammy Bernard picked up win number 20 on the season, turning aside 28 of 34 shots to move to 20-12-3. On the other side, Eloi Bouchard did his best to keep the Wolves in it, stopping 34 of 40, but ultimately took the loss to fall to 5-4-0.

With this gritty comeback win, the Zydeco continue to trend in the right direction heading into the playoffs—finding offense from unlikely heroes and proving they can hang in the most chaotic of contests.

MOTOR CITY ROCKERS at DASHERS of DANVILLE

Corgan Overtime Dagger Sends Rockers to Postseason

by Devin Dobek

Danville, IL - It was safe to say no game would top last night’s, but the Dashers and Rockers got ready to rumble for the final time inside the David S. Palmer Arena this past Sunday afternoon. Dashers public address announcer Tom “Tommy B” Barnes called a thriller in his final swan song from high above the ice. The hero would be Chris Corgan, scoring an overtime goal to clinch the final playoff spot for the Motor City Rockers in front of a heartbroken Dashers crowd. 

The fans were fired up after last night’s dramatic Dashers shootout victory, and both teams were ready to put on a show in the final home game of the season at the David S. Palmer Arena. Motor came out firing on all cylinders to begin the contest, as they had in the previous two nights. Although this time they did not let up, and the Dashers had no answer for the consistent pressure and heavy zone time the Rockers rolled with. But they did have a secret weapon, and that of course is star goaltender Parker Rutherford. The league leader in saves stopped all 24 shots in his direction to post a scoreless first. On the other end, Rico Gonzalez had a leisurely frame, turning aside the 9 rubber biscuits he faced. So it was still anyone’s game, with 40 more minutes to close out the 7 game season series between these two Empire division foes. 

3 game weekends often bring with them fatigue. With the previous 2 contests featuring a combined 23 goals, it was definitely a tangible change in pace in the sunday matinee. The Dashers came out and battled this time, shifting the tempo and momentum back towards the middle. Despite no score, both teams had handfuls of grade A looks, with posts being rung and a lot of shots missing wide from the slot. Neither team could find a way to pull ahead. It wasn’t a very physical game at all until an old score from Friday night was reignited. Quinn O’Reilly and Nicholas Magill-Diaz got into a jousting match that was carried on by O’Reilly late in period 2, leading to a 10 minute misconduct for inciting an opponent but the teams remained at even strength. The shots in the second period were 15-14 Dashers, but a pepper-filled first from Motor provided them the edge across 40 minutes at 38-24. A lively crowd taking in a war of attrition set the stage for one last chapter of drama this season inside the David S. Palmer. 

Period 3. With a very important 3 points up for grabs the script was written for someone to be a hero. Motor had a tough time handling the Dashers zone time, but continued to keep their heads above water through blocked shots and stiff defense. Around the midway point, the Rockers turned to one of their leaders: assistant captain Cody Oakes. Wheeling around the Dasher net, Oakes shimmied to the high slot and beat Rutherford over the blocker to open the scoring at 1-0. In a rather clean game, penalties began to mount late, creating some unique 4-on-3 and 4-on-4 scenarios. With inside 3 minutes to play, who else but Ilnur Madiarov potted one to tie the game. The final couple minutes the Dashers were a man up, and couldn’t beat Gonzalez again. In overtime, Motor killed the remaining 39 seconds and Chris Corgan darted out of the box to lead a 3-on-1. Corgan beat Rutherford with a beautiful wrist shot on the far side to grab the extra point for the Rockers and send them to the playoffs.

Motor City improves to 19-31-4 and will conclude their regular season with a pair against rival Port Huron next weekend before they travel to Watertown for a winner-take-all play-in game. The Dashers fall to 3-47-4 and will conclude their season with two games against the Blue Ridge Bobcats next weekend.