FPHL Ice Chips - Game Recaps
February 23, 2024 - Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL) News Release
WATERTOWN WOLVES at BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS
Black Bears Best Wolves On ASHA Night
by Cole Parenti
Binghamton, NY -The Binghamton Black Bears and Watertown Wolves squared off at the Visions Veteran Memorial Arena for the first of two meetings this weekend. The Black Bears celebrated the American Special Hockey Association (ASHA) by donning specialty jerseys for the contest.
Connor Smith would get the Black Bears' party started early as he scored his 5th goal in two games at 1:06 of the first period. The Wolves would then answer with two straight goals of their own as Marc Bottero found the back of the net at 2:21. Then his line-mate Chase DiBari doubled the Wolves' lead about a minute later as he beat the Black Bear net-minder Nolan Egbert at 3:30.
The second period saw a different pace than the first as the ice seemed to open for both sides. Binghamton's rookie Stephen Gerbis would score the equalizer as he deflected his first professional goal at 2:45 in the second period. Andrew Logar would convert on the power play at 15:32. This gave the Black Bears their first lead since the opening four minutes of the contest and sent them to the third period up by one.
The Black Bears' lead would not last long into the third as Trevor Lord tied the game at :39. Binghamton responded at 3:47 when the captain, Tyson Kirkby, deflected a shot from the blue line past Eloi Bouchard. Then Austin Thompson would put the finishing touches on the game as he scored twice leading the Black Bears to a 6-3 victory.
The Black Bears improve to 7-1-0-0 against Watertown, win their 4th straight at home, and continue to grow their lead in the Empire division. Nolan Egbert finished with 25 saves on 28 shots while the Watertown goaltender Eloi Bouchard stopped 36 of the shots 40 he saw.
ELMIRA RIVER SHARKS at DANBURY HAT TRICKS
HAT TRICKS OUTSWIM RIVER SHARKS 3-2 IN OPENER OF NINE GAME HOMESTAND
by Doug Lattuca
Danbury, CT - The Hat Tricks held off a late surge from Elmira to secure their third win in a row and first of the weekend trio. Hat Tricks Captain Jonny Ruiz netted two goals and added an assist in the 3-2 victory. Ruiz has points in five straight games and since the birth of his child on Feb. 9, the Hat Tricks veteran has nine points (5g, 4a).
Less than a minute into the game, Ruiz snapped the puck into the top right corner of the net to give the Hat Tricks an early lead. Forward Chase Harwell returned to action for the first time since his suspension back on Jan. 21 in Binghamton and wasted little time finding the score sheet. With four minutes left in the period, Harwell sprung off the endboards, flashed in front, and tucked the puck under the crossbar from in tight on the power play. The goal marked Danbury's tenth power play goal in the last four games.
6:49 into the second period, Ruiz extended the Hat Tricks' lead with a shot from the right circle under the arm of Elmira's goaltender Sammy Bernard for his second goal of the night and seventh versus Elmira this season. With three seconds left in the period, River Sharks forward, and former Hat Trick, Dustin Jesseau wristed the puck through traffic to put Elmira on the board.
Elmira secured its second goal of the night from its leading-point producer Steven Klinck. The rookie forward elevated the puck over the flexed blocker of Hat Tricks goalie Conor McCollum. Danbury held strong in the remaining 15 minutes to secure the first win of the weekend. The Hat Tricks outshot Elmira 42-23 in the game.
The Hat Tricks finish off the two-game set with Elmira tomorrow night at the Danbury Ice Arena. The puck is set to drop at 6 p.m.
River Sharks Comeback Stymied, 3-2
by Jon Kliment
Danbury, CT - Elmira ventured out on the road for a pair in Danbury to kick off another three in three series. The last back to back against the Hat Tricks the River Sharks came away with six points with one in Danbury's home arena.
The Hat Tricks came out firing on all cylinders as their captain Jonny Ruiz got the game off to a quick start just 57 seconds into the game. Later in the first on a power play chance Danbury capitalized again as Chase Harwell crept out from behind the net and buried one over Sammy Bernard's shoulder for the 2-0 lead.
Ruiz found the back of the net again to kick of f the second frame 6:56 into the period, but Elmira had a late power play after a slash from Jhuwon Davis on Davide Gaeta landed Elmira an opportunity and former Hat Trick Dustin Jesseau buried a screened slap shot from the point to cut the lead to 3-1 heading into the final frame.
The River Sharks continued to push as Steven Klinck dangled Connor McCollum to bring Elmira back within one goal, 3-2, but that was all they could get.
Bernard stopped 38 of 41 in the loss.
The River Sharks return to action tomorrow night at 6pm against the Hat Tricks in Danbury. Follow along on Mixlr and Youtube! #feartheFin
COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS at MOTOR CITY ROCKERS
Rockers ShutOut For First Time This Season In 8-0 Affair with Columbus
by Ben Szilagy
Fraser, MI -The Motor City Rockers were shut out for the first time this season behind a 8-0 loss at the hands of the Columbus RiverDragons at Big Boy Arena on Friday night.
It was the second shutout the RiverDragons gave the Rockers dating back to last season when the Rockers lost 3-0 on the road in Columbus on Jan. 6th. The RiverDragons have an all-time series lead 6-to-2.
Columbus took the lead late in the first period off the stick of Ryan Hunter who finished the game with two goals and two assists on the night. The first one was completed as Justin MacDonald hit a stretch pass to Hunter on the far side point. Hunter walked the puck in and fired the puck for his 24th of the season. His 25th was the final goal of the game, scored with 6:34 left in the game.
MacDonald scored his first of the game when Hunter fed a rink wide saucer pass MacDonald at the far side post for a 2-0 lead. MacDonald scored his second goal and 25th of the season with 6:08 into the third period for a 7-0 lead.
The RiverDragons earned its lone power play goal off the stick of Cody Wickline when he followed his own shot and poked the puck through the five-hole of Trevor Babin for a 3-0 lead in the second period.
Motor City's back was broken on the fourth goal that proved to be controversial as the officials ruled a goal for Alex Strojohann but the puck never appeared to cross the end line. Due to lack of review, the goal stood and Rockers fell behind 4-0 with 9:52 to play in the middle frame.
Josh Pietrantonio and Sequoia Swan accounted for two goals, Pietrantonio's with 6:00 left in the second period and Swan's goal opened the scoring in the third period at the 5:22 mark.
The Rockers and RiverDragons will square off on Saturday at 6:05pm as Motor City celebrates Faith and Family Night at Big Boy Arena in the second of three games between the two teams.
River Dragons Clinch Playoff Spot with 8-0 Win
by Tom Callahan
Fraser, MI - The Columbus River Dragons became the first team to clinch a postseason berth with an emphatic 8-0 win over the Motor City Rockers on Friday night.
Justin MacDonald extended his league-record scoring streak to 26 games with two goals and two assists to pace the scoring. Ryan Hunter also contributed a two goal, two assist game as well while Breandan Colgan earned his second shutout of the season making 22 saves.
In total, six different Columbus players scored goals to cement the victory.
Notes:
Columbus ran its franchise-record Tim Hortons win streak to 16 games with the victory.
MacDonald now has points in 26 straight games and has totaled 21 goals and 38 assists for 59 points in that span.
Kyle Moore recorded a pair of assists to run his personal point streak to 15 games.
Cody Wickline's second period power play goal was his 100th pro and FPHL point.
Columbus held the top-ranked Rockers power play scoreless in three attempts.
The game marked the first time the Rockers and River Dragons had met since the 2023 Commissioner's Cup Playoffs. Columbus defeated the Rockers in the best-of-three Continental Division Semi-Final.
The weekend series continues between the two teams with a 6:05 pm ET faceoff Saturday and 2:05 pm ET puck drop on Sunday. Columbus' next home game will be Friday, March 8 against the Carolina Thunderbirds. Tickets are on sale for all remaining River Dragons home games at the Civic Center Box Office and online at TicketMaster.com.
BATON ROUGE ZYDECO at CAROLINA THUNDERBIRDS
Thunderbirds Handle Zydeco, 8-0
Ford scores twice, Koepplinger picks up four points, Hussey records shutout in win
by Brendan Reilly
Winston-Salem, NC - In the first ever meeting between the Carolina Thunderbirds and Baton Rouge Zydeco, the Thunderbirds dominated the visitors for 60 minutes picking up an 8-0 shutout victory at the Annex on Friday evening.
Carolina (27-9-1) scored early and often in the 1st period. Coming off his 100th Thunderbirds goal last Saturday, Jan Salak on the power play beat John Moriarty to open the scoring just 4:23 into the game. Just over four minutes later, Gus Ford, making his return to the Annex for the first time in a month, beat the netminder glove side to double the Thunderbirds advantage. As the 3rd went on, Carolina waited until the final minute of the period when Dawson Baker built the lead to three for Carolina taking a 3-0 advantage into the 1st intermission.
Baton Rouge (7-24-4) did not have an answer for the Thunderbirds as Josh Koepplinger found a rebound in front on a shot from the point from Clay Keeley adding to the Carolina advantage, 4-0.
The Thunderbirds held that lead going into the 3rd period and tacked on four more goals with Ford getting his second on the evening, Jiri Pestuka, Jacob Schnapp and Nate Keeley all finding the back of the net as Carolina rolled to an 8-0 shutout victory. In the win, netminder Greg Hussey, in his first appearance since being traded from Baton Rouge, stopped all 21 shots he saw on the night as Carolina coasted to its 27th victory.
With the shutout, Hussey was named the 3rd star while Ford earned 2nd star honors with two goals and an assist. Koepplinger was given the 1st star with four points on the evening.
The shutout marks Carolina's second of the season and have now won six-out-of-seven. The Thunderbirds return to action on Saturday evening at home against the Mississippi Sea Wolves. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. from the Annex.
GREG HUSSEY GETS REVENGE AGAINST HIS FORMER TEAM THUNDERBIRDS WIN 8-0
by Joseph Furtado
Winston-Salem, NC -The second half of the FPHL regular season hasn't been too kind to the Baton Rouge Zydeco, after dropping their 11th straight game to the Carolina Thunderbirds on Friday night.
In their first meeting of the season against the Thunderbirds, the Zydeco were outscored 8-0, now leaving them with a record of 0-8-2 in their last 10 games. The Zydeco haven't won a game since their 6-5 victory over the Mississippi Sea Wolves on January 6th, 2023.
PERIOD 1:
Kicking off the first period, Jan Salak opened up the scoring to give the Thunderbirds the 1-0 lead at 04:23. Then moments later, Gus Ford would strike at 08:44 to double the lead (2-0). Carolina would close out the period leading 3-0 with the final goal coming from Dawson Baker. They would outshoot the Zydeco 16 to 10.
PERIOD 2:
In the middle period, things didn't look much better for the Zydeco, already trailing 3-0, were limited to just eight shots on net. Jacob Schnapp would add the only goal of the period for Carolina at 12:03 giving them a 4-0 lead heading into the final 20 minutes.
PERIOD 3:
The third period wasn't any better for Baton Rouge, surrendering four more goals and being held to three shots. Carolina's offense went to wotk, getting goals from Jiri Pestuka, Gus Ford, Jacob Schnapp and Nate Keeley. . They would go on to outshoot the Zydeco 45 to 21.
GOALTENDING:
Greg Hussey, who was reunited with his former team earlier this month after being traded from the Zydeco was given the start tonight. The 33-year-old made all 21 saves, recording his first shutout of the season.
Both teams will meet next week on February 29th for a three-game series in Baton Rouge. As for right now, the Zydeco will head to Wytheville for a doubleheader against the Blue Ridge Bobcats this weekend to close out their 19-game long road trip.
MISSISSIPPI SEA WOLVES at WYTHEVILLE BOBCATS
MARTIN'S BUZZER-BEATER GIVES 'CATS 3-2 OT WIN
by Brett Wiseman
Wytheville, VA -In a tight-checking, highly and hotly contested game between the fourth and fifth place teams in the Continental Division, things came down to the very last second. Literally. Danny Martin sniped home the game winning overtime goal just before time expired, his second goal of the night, to give the Blue Ridge Bobcats a massive 3-2 victory over the Mississippi Sea Wolves.
In the final regular season meeting between the two teams fighting for the last playoff spot in the Continental Division, the tilt certainly had a playoff feel and atmosphere. Justin Barr opened the scoring for Mississippi in the final handful of seconds of the first period.
Martin put home his first of the night midway through the middle frame when he picked up a loose puck in the high slot after a Sea Wolves turnover and slapped a shot past Anthony D'Aloisio.
Nikita Ivashkin, making his Bobcats debut after being acquired via trade from the Binghamton Black Bears this week, gave the Bobcats a 2-1 lead with under five minutes left in regulation, redirecting a shot from captain Cody Oakes into the back of the net for his 19th goal of the season and first as a Bobcat. Steven Ford, also acquired via trade earlier this week, earned his first point with Blue Ridge by picking up the secondary assist on the goal.
Justin Barr forced overtime by scoring with the extra attacker, and both teams traded chances in the extra frame. Martin picked up the puck on his defensive blue line with 7 seconds remaining in OT, raced to the other end of the ice and sniped one through the five-hole of D'Aloisio to beat the buzzer and give the Bobcats a much needed victory.
Martin's goals were his 9th and 10th of the season, and earned him first star honors. Ivashkin was awarded second star, and his goal brings him just one point shy of 200 in his FPHL career.
The Bobcats play host to the Baton Rouge Zydeco for the second game of a 3 game homestand tomorrow night.
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WATERTOWN WOLVES at BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS
Black Bears Best Wolves On ASHA Night
by Cole Parenti
Binghamton, NY - The Binghamton Black Bears and Watertown Wolves squared off at the Visions Veteran Memorial Arena for the first of two meetings this weekend. The Black Bears celebrated the American Special Hockey Association (ASHA) by donning specialty jerseys for the contest.
Connor Smith would get the Black Bears' party started early as he scored his 5th goal in two games at 1:06 of the first period. The Wolves would then answer with two straight goals of their own as Marc Bottero found the back of the net at 2:21. Then his line-mate Chase DiBari doubled the Wolves' lead about a minute later as he beat the Black Bear net-minder Nolan Egbert at 3:30.
The second period saw a different pace than the first as the ice seemed to open for both sides. Binghamton's rookie Stephen Gerbis would score the equalizer as he deflected his first professional goal at 2:45 in the second period. Andrew Logar would convert on the power play at 15:32. This gave the Black Bears their first lead since the opening four minutes of the contest and sent them to the third period up by one.
The Black Bears' lead would not last long into the third as Trevor Lord tied the game at :39. Binghamton responded at 3:47 when the captain, Tyson Kirkby, deflected a shot from the blue line past Eloi Bouchard. Then Austin Thompson would put the finishing touches on the game as he scored twice leading the Black Bears to a 6-3 victory.
The Black Bears improve to 7-1-0-0 against Watertown, win their 4th straight at home, and continue to grow their lead in the Empire division. Nolan Egbert finished with 25 saves on 28 shots while the Watertown goaltender Eloi Bouchard stopped 36 of the shots 40 he saw.
ELMIRA RIVER SHARKS at DANBURY HAT TRICKS
HAT TRICKS OUTSWIM RIVER SHARKS 3-2 IN OPENER OF NINE GAME HOMESTAND
by Doug Lattuca
Danbury, CT - The Hat Tricks held off a late surge from Elmira to secure their third win in a row and first of the weekend trio. Hat Tricks Captain Jonny Ruiz netted two goals and added an assist in the 3-2 victory. Ruiz has points in five straight games and since the birth of his child on Feb. 9, the Hat Tricks veteran has nine points (5g, 4a).
Less than a minute into the game, Ruiz snapped the puck into the top right corner of the net to give the Hat Tricks an early lead. Forward Chase Harwell returned to action for the first time since his suspension back on Jan. 21 in Binghamton and wasted little time finding the score sheet. With four minutes left in the period, Harwell sprung off the endboards, flashed in front, and tucked the puck under the crossbar from in tight on the power play. The goal marked Danbury's tenth power play goal in the last four games.
6:49 into the second period, Ruiz extended the Hat Tricks' lead with a shot from the right circle under the arm of Elmira's goaltender Sammy Bernard for his second goal of the night and seventh versus Elmira this season. With three seconds left in the period, River Sharks forward, and former Hat Trick, Dustin Jesseau wristed the puck through traffic to put Elmira on the board.
Elmira secured its second goal of the night from its leading-point producer Steven Klinck. The rookie forward elevated the puck over the flexed blocker of Hat Tricks goalie Conor McCollum. Danbury held strong in the remaining 15 minutes to secure the first win of the weekend. The Hat Tricks outshot Elmira 42-23 in the game.
The Hat Tricks finish off the two-game set with Elmira tomorrow night at the Danbury Ice Arena. The puck is set to drop at 6 p.m.
River Sharks Comeback Stymied, 3-2
by Jon Kliment
Danbury, CT - Elmira ventured out on the road for a pair in Danbury to kick off another three in three series. The last back to back against the Hat Tricks the River Sharks came away with six points with one in Danbury's home arena.
The Hat Tricks came out firing on all cylinders as their captain Jonny Ruiz got the game off to a quick start just 57 seconds into the game. Later in the first on a power play chance Danbury capitalized again as Chase Harwell crept out from behind the net and buried one over Sammy Bernard's shoulder for the 2-0 lead.
Ruiz found the back of the net again to kick of f the second frame 6:56 into the period, but Elmira had a late power play after a slash from Jhuwon Davis on Davide Gaeta landed Elmira an opportunity and former Hat Trick Dustin Jesseau buried a screened slap shot from the point to cut the lead to 3-1 heading into the final frame.
The River Sharks continued to push as Steven Klinck dangled Connor McCollum to bring Elmira back within one goal, 3-2, but that was all they could get.
Bernard stopped 38 of 41 in the loss.
The River Sharks return to action tomorrow night at 6pm against the Hat Tricks in Danbury. Follow along on Mixlr and Youtube! #feartheFin
COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS at MOTOR CITY ROCKERS
Rockers ShutOut For First Time This Season In 8-0 Affair with Columbus
by Ben Szilagy
Fraser, MI - The Motor City Rockers were shut out for the first time this season behind a 8-0 loss at the hands of the Columbus RiverDragons at Big Boy Arena on Friday night.
It was the second shutout the RiverDragons gave the Rockers dating back to last season when the Rockers lost 3-0 on the road in Columbus on Jan. 6th. The RiverDragons have an all-time series lead 6-to-2.
Columbus took the lead late in the first period off the stick of Ryan Hunter who finished the game with two goals and two assists on the night. The first one was completed as Justin MacDonald hit a stretch pass to Hunter on the far side point. Hunter walked the puck in and fired the puck for his 24th of the season. His 25th was the final goal of the game, scored with 6:34 left in the game.
MacDonald scored his first of the game when Hunter fed a rink wide saucer pass MacDonald at the far side post for a 2-0 lead. MacDonald scored his second goal and 25th of the season with 6:08 into the third period for a 7-0 lead.
The RiverDragons earned its lone power play goal off the stick of Cody Wickline when he followed his own shot and poked the puck through the five-hole of Trevor Babin for a 3-0 lead in the second period.
Motor City's back was broken on the fourth goal that proved to be controversial as the officials ruled a goal for Alex Strojohann but the puck never appeared to cross the end line. Due to lack of review, the goal stood and Rockers fell behind 4-0 with 9:52 to play in the middle frame.
Josh Pietrantonio and Sequoia Swan accounted for two goals, Pietrantonio's with 6:00 left in the second period and Swan's goal opened the scoring in the third period at the 5:22 mark.
The Rockers and RiverDragons will square off on Saturday at 6:05pm as Motor City celebrates Faith and Family Night at Big Boy Arena in the second of three games between the two teams.
River Dragons Clinch Playoff Spot with 8-0 Win
by Tom Callahan
Fraser, MI - The Columbus River Dragons became the first team to clinch a postseason berth with an emphatic 8-0 win over the Motor City Rockers on Friday night.
Justin MacDonald extended his league-record scoring streak to 26 games with two goals and two assists to pace the scoring. Ryan Hunter also contributed a two goal, two assist game as well while Breandan Colgan earned his second shutout of the season making 22 saves.
In total, six different Columbus players scored goals to cement the victory.
Notes:
Columbus ran its franchise-record Tim Hortons win streak to 16 games with the victory.
MacDonald now has points in 26 straight games and has totaled 21 goals and 38 assists for 59 points in that span.
Kyle Moore recorded a pair of assists to run his personal point streak to 15 games.
Cody Wickline's second period power play goal was his 100th pro and FPHL point.
Columbus held the top-ranked Rockers power play scoreless in three attempts.
The game marked the first time the Rockers and River Dragons had met since the 2023 Commissioner's Cup Playoffs. Columbus defeated the Rockers in the best-of-three Continental Division Semi-Final.
The weekend series continues between the two teams with a 6:05 pm ET faceoff Saturday and 2:05 pm ET puck drop on Sunday. Columbus' next home game will be Friday, March 8 against the Carolina Thunderbirds. Tickets are on sale for all remaining River Dragons home games at the Civic Center Box Office and online at TicketMaster.com.
BATON ROUGE ZYDECO at CAROLINA THUNDERBIRDS
Thunderbirds Handle Zydeco, 8-0
Ford scores twice, Koepplinger picks up four points, Hussey records shutout in win
by Brendan Reilly
Winston-Salem, NC - In the first ever meeting between the Carolina Thunderbirds and Baton Rouge Zydeco, the Thunderbirds dominated the visitors for 60 minutes picking up an 8-0 shutout victory at the Annex on Friday evening.
Carolina (27-9-1) scored early and often in the 1st period. Coming off his 100th Thunderbirds goal last Saturday, Jan Salak on the power play beat John Moriarty to open the scoring just 4:23 into the game. Just over four minutes later, Gus Ford, making his return to the Annex for the first time in a month, beat the netminder glove side to double the Thunderbirds advantage. As the 3rd went on, Carolina waited until the final minute of the period when Dawson Baker built the lead to three for Carolina taking a 3-0 advantage into the 1st intermission.
Baton Rouge (7-24-4) did not have an answer for the Thunderbirds as Josh Koepplinger found a rebound in front on a shot from the point from Clay Keeley adding to the Carolina advantage, 4-0.
The Thunderbirds held that lead going into the 3rd period and tacked on four more goals with Ford getting his second on the evening, Jiri Pestuka, Jacob Schnapp and Nate Keeley all finding the back of the net as Carolina rolled to an 8-0 shutout victory. In the win, netminder Greg Hussey, in his first appearance since being traded from Baton Rouge, stopped all 21 shots he saw on the night as Carolina coasted to its 27th victory.
With the shutout, Hussey was named the 3rd star while Ford earned 2nd star honors with two goals and an assist. Koepplinger was given the 1st star with four points on the evening.
The shutout marks Carolina's second of the season and have now won six-out-of-seven. The Thunderbirds return to action on Saturday evening at home against the Mississippi Sea Wolves. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. from the Annex.
GREG HUSSEY GETS REVENGE AGAINST HIS FORMER TEAM THUNDERBIRDS WIN 8-0
by Joseph Furtado
Winston-Salem, NC - The second half of the FPHL regular season hasn't been too kind to the Baton Rouge Zydeco, after dropping their 11th straight game to the Carolina Thunderbirds on Friday night.
In their first meeting of the season against the Thunderbirds, the Zydeco were outscored 8-0, now leaving them with a record of 0-8-2 in their last 10 games. The Zydeco haven't won a game since their 6-5 victory over the Mississippi Sea Wolves on January 6th, 2023.
PERIOD 1:
Kicking off the first period, Jan Salak opened up the scoring to give the Thunderbirds the 1-0 lead at 04:23. Then moments later, Gus Ford would strike at 08:44 to double the lead (2-0). Carolina would close out the period leading 3-0 with the final goal coming from Dawson Baker. They would outshoot the Zydeco 16 to 10.
PERIOD 2:
In the middle period, things didn't look much better for the Zydeco, already trailing 3-0, were limited to just eight shots on net. Jacob Schnapp would add the only goal of the period for Carolina at 12:03 giving them a 4-0 lead heading into the final 20 minutes.
PERIOD 3:
The third period wasn't any better for Baton Rouge, surrendering four more goals and being held to three shots. Carolina's offense went to wotk, getting goals from Jiri Pestuka, Gus Ford, Jacob Schnapp and Nate Keeley. . They would go on to outshoot the Zydeco 45 to 21.
GOALTENDING:
Greg Hussey, who was reunited with his former team earlier this month after being traded from the Zydeco was given the start tonight. The 33-year-old made all 21 saves, recording his first shutout of the season.
Both teams will meet next week on February 29th for a three-game series in Baton Rouge. As for right now, the Zydeco will head to Wytheville for a doubleheader against the Blue Ridge Bobcats this weekend to close out their 19-game long road trip.
MISSISSIPPI SEA WOLVES at WYTHEVILLE BOBCATS
MARTIN'S BUZZER-BEATER GIVES 'CATS 3-2 OT WIN
by Brett Wiseman
Wytheville, VA - In a tight-checking, highly and hotly contested game between the fourth and fifth place teams in the Continental Division, things came down to the very last second. Literally. Danny Martin sniped home the game winning overtime goal just before time expired, his second goal of the night, to give the Blue Ridge Bobcats a massive 3-2 victory over the Mississippi Sea Wolves.
In the final regular season meeting between the two teams fighting for the last playoff spot in the Continental Division, the tilt certainly had a playoff feel and atmosphere. Justin Barr opened the scoring for Mississippi in the final handful of seconds of the first period.
Martin put home his first of the night midway through the middle frame when he picked up a loose puck in the high slot after a Sea Wolves turnover and slapped a shot past Anthony D'Aloisio.
Nikita Ivashkin, making his Bobcats debut after being acquired via trade from the Binghamton Black Bears this week, gave the Bobcats a 2-1 lead with under five minutes left in regulation, redirecting a shot from captain Cody Oakes into the back of the net for his 19th goal of the season and first as a Bobcat. Steven Ford, also acquired via trade earlier this week, earned his first point with Blue Ridge by picking up the secondary assist on the goal.
Justin Barr forced overtime by scoring with the extra attacker, and both teams traded chances in the extra frame. Martin picked up the puck on his defensive blue line with 7 seconds remaining in OT, raced to the other end of the ice and sniped one through the five-hole of D'Aloisio to beat the buzzer and give the Bobcats a much needed victory.
Martin's goals were his 9th and 10th of the season, and earned him first star honors. Ivashkin was awarded second star, and his goal brings him just one point shy of 200 in his FPHL career.
The Bobcats play host to the Baton Rouge Zydeco for the second game of a 3 game homestand tomorrow night.
Federal Prospects Hockey League Stories from February 23, 2024
- River Dragons Clinch Playoff Spot with 8-0 Shredding of Rockers - Columbus River Dragons
- Martin's Buzzer-Beater Gives 'Cats 3-2 OT Win - Blue Ridge Bobcats
- FPHL Ice Chips - Game Recaps - FPHL
- Black Bears Best Wolves on ASHA Night - Binghamton Black Bears
- Thunderbirds Handle Zydeco, 8-0 - Carolina Thunderbirds
- River Sharks Add Four Ahead of Playoff Push - Elmira River Sharks
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
