CAROLINA FEASTS ON SEA WOLVES FOR WEEKEND SWEEP

MISSISSIPPI SEA WOLVES at CAROLINA THUNDERBIRDS

by Brett Wiseman

Winston-Salem, NC- The Carolina Thunderbirds romped once again over the Mississippi Sea Wolves, posting an 8-3 victory to complete the weekend sweep.

Boris Babik, who led the league in both save percentage and goals against average coming into the game, kept that lead by stopping 19 of 22 shots faced. Oh, and he fought Mississippi goaltender Blake Weyrick at center ice with 24 seconds left in the third period. The game was called with that amount of time left after Philip Wong and Daniel Martin fought. The fracas began behind Mississippi's net, when Joe Pace and Dawson Baker got into it.

Defenseman Brice French scored a hockey feat not many can boast in this one. The Alaska native netted a Gordie Howe Hat Trick, scoring his first goal and providing his first assist of the season and adding in a fight to boot.

Lucas Rowe, Josh Koepplinger, Petr Panacek and Dawson baker all scored in the first period.

Jiri Pestuka also got on the scoreboard as well after a long drought of his own, adding to the lead in the second. Koepplinger added his second of the night in the middle frame, and Justin Pringle got in on the fun banking one of Weyrick's blocker for the Thunderbirds penultimate goal of the night.

Carolina will ride a five-game winning streak into the Thanksgiving holiday and carry it on the road to Watertown and Danbury next weekend.

Sea Wolves Drop Second Game to Thunderbirds

by Nick Roesch

Winston-Salem, NC – A quick start and two conversions on the power play were not enough for the (2-6-2) Mississippi Sea Wolves on Saturday night as the (8-2-0) Carolina Thunderbirds secured the series sweep over them with an 8-3 win at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Annex.

Daniel McKitrick helped the Sea Wolves to a 1-0 lead after he fired a puck through the wickets of Carolina goaltender Boris Babik 4:21 into the game. His goal was assisted by Chris Hunt and Jake Raleigh.

The Thunderbirds were able to solve opposing netminder Greg Harney with four goals by the end of the first period. Lucas Rowe (7:09), Dawson Baker (8:44), Josh Koepplinger (17:23) and Petr Panacek (19:27) made it a 4-1 game by the time twenty minutes were in the books.

Panacek tallied his second of the evening 3:50 into period two for the Thunderbirds’ fifth unanswered goal. The Sea Wolves broke up their momentum after Ethan Busch-Anderson hit the net on a power play at the 8:12 mark. Two more goals were traded between Jiri Pestuka of the Thunderbirds (17:15) and the Sea Wolves’ Philip Wong (18:00).

With a 6-3 lead entering the third period, Carolina controlled the final twenty minutes with Brice French and Justin Pringle scoring within the first 5:38 of the final stanza.

The next game for the Sea Wolves will be played on Thursday, November 24 as they host a Thanksgiving Day contest with the Columbus River Dragons. The puck will drop at 7:05pm and tickets can be purchased at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum box office or on Ticketmaster.com.

DELAWARE THUNDER at BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS

BINGHAMTON SWEEPS DELAWARE, COLLECTS 6 PTS

by Brooks Hill

BINGHAMTON - The Binghamton Black Bears were able to complete the sweep of division rival Delaware on Saturday night by a final score of 5-1. Binghamton went on to outscore the Thunder 8-2 in a two-game span, led by Nikita Ivashkin, who scored four goals this weekend.

The Black Bears blasted the Thunder in the first period tallying three goals on 21 shots. Binghamton got on the board just under seven minutes in, as Nikita Ivashkin would find a loose puck in the slot and put the Black Bears on the board first. The defensemen wanted to join in on the fun and Mathieu Boislard skated into the zone placing a backhand shot off the goaltender, leaving it in a perfect spot for Mac Lewis to cash in and score. Ivashkin, who now has a point in the last seven games for the Black Bears, sniped a wrist shot around the Thunder’s defenseman, making it 3-0 in favor of the home team after the first period.

Binghamton was able to continue the pressure on the forecheck in the second frame, suffocating the Thunder’s chances of generating chances. The Black Bears held the Thunder to only three shots in the middle period. Meanwhile, Ivashkin was able to collect a hat trick, tallying his third goal of the night, and at the time giving the Black Bears a four-goal cushion.

Riley McVeigh continued his hot start, picking up another win for Binghamton in between the pipes. McVeigh would go own to make 24 saves on 25 shots, as Delaware would get on the board with a power play goal in the third period. Less than a minute later, Tyler Gjurich was able to hack and whack at a loose puck in the crease, scoring the final goal of the night making 5-1, Binghamton over Delaware.

The Black Bears pick up six of six available points this weekend, setting up an important showdown against Danbury on Wednesday at 6:00P.M.

DANBURY HAT TRICKS at MOTOR CITY ROCKERS

Danbury Stings Motor City, 4-3, in Overtime

by Ben Szilagy

Fraser, MI — For the second night in a row, the Motor City Rockers suffered an overtime loss to the Danbury Hat Tricks.

Midway through the overtime period, Dmitry Kuznetsov received the puck on a clear out from goaltender Brian Wilson. The Forward from Tyumen, Russia carried the puck into the offensive zone and entered the far side circle. As he did, Kuznetsov fired a shot that rocketed past Trevor Babin for a 4-3 win securing four points for the leaders in the Empire Division.

Getting into the overtime period is a story in itself, however.

Motor City (6-3-3) broke a 2-2 tie midway through the third period when Dante Suffredini found Declan Conway on a stretch pass through the neutral zone. Conway walked the puck to the point and fired a high wrist shot that snuck under the crossbar, stick side for a 3-2 lead with 9:31 left in the third period.

Danbury (9-0-1) received a little bit of puck luck, however, when Connor Lind offered a cross ice pass that bounced off the skate of Derek Makimma and ricocheted into the net for a 3-3 tie with 1:48 to play.

Motor City dominated the pace of play in the third period despite the own goal. The Rockers out shot Danbury 19-6 in the period and was able to tie the game up, 2-2, on a goal scored by Scott Coash, who earned his second goal of the weekend and sixth of the season since joining the Rockers in the middle of October.

Danbury captured an early 2-1 lead in the period when Brendan Sheehan scored midway through the third for his fourth of the season.

The second period had two firsts for both teams after the first period resulted in no goals, even though Suffredini had a penalty shot that rang off the post in the opening stanza.

Danbury opened the scoring on Mike Marchesan’s first goal of the season 2:09 into the 2nd period. Motor City’s Ian White, coming off a four point weekend in Binghamton, earned his first goal as a Rocker when he offered a blast from the point for a 1-1 tie with 8:00 to play in the 2nd period.

Motor City has a game on Wednesday night against the defending Commissioner Cup champions Watertown at 7:30pm at Big Boy Arena. The two split their first series of the season in Watertown in October.

PORT HURON PROWLERS at COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS

RIVER DRAGONS WIN STREAK REACHES SEVEN STRAIGHT

Columbus Beats Port Huron 5-3 to Wrap

Successful Homestand

by Tom Callahan

COLUMBUS, GA - The Columbus River Dragons stretched the team’s current win streak to seven games with a 5-3 win over the Port Huron Prowlers on Chase Fallis Night at the Columbus Civic Center on Saturday.

Paul Fregeau scored twice including an empty-net goal with just .2 seconds remaining to ice the victory for Columbus, which capped a four-game homestand with the victory.

Kirk Underwood, Jacob Kelly and Lane King also recorded goals for the River Dragons, while Brendan Colgan made 25 saves to preserve his fourth win of the season.

Prior to puck drop, the team honored its first captain Chase Fallis by retiring his number 14 in a pre-game ceremony. Fallis appeared in the game under celebrity status for the River Dragons, finishing with an even rating for the contest. The Calgary, AB native led the River Dragons to the team’s first championship two years ago, and was feted with speeches from River Dragons COO Jeff Croop, head coach Jerome Bechard, and current captain Josh Pietrantonio before his number 14 banner was unveiled high atop the Columbus Civic Center.

Columbus will now head to Mississippi to take on the Sea Wolves Thanksgiving night at 8:05 pm ET. The Air Force Heating and Air Pregame Show kicks off one half-hour before puck drop on the Columbus River Dragons Broadcast Network.