Friday Night Advantage: Home Teams Take 10 of 13 games

Photo Credit: Bulldog Photography

New Hampshire 3 @ Norwich 4 - The Norwich Sea Captains edged out the New Hampshire Jr. Mountain Kings with a thrilling 4-3 victory. The Sea Captains rallied back from a deficit in a nail-biting matchup. The opening goal came at 15:00 of the first period when Sedrick Swygert Jr. of the Jr. Mountain Kings found the net, assisted by Adam Osman. But Norwich responded quickly at 11:03 with Logan Niesen scoring, thanks to assists from Louis Allanson and Matthew Pavlik. Kolin Krizan then took advantage of a power play, netting a goal at 4:21, only to score again just under a minute later at 3:47, wrapping up the period with Norwich leading 3-1. The Jr. Mountain Kings weren't done, with Tommy Titone scoring at 16:10 of the second period and Talon Schackman closing the gap further at 3:45. But it was Trenton Impens who secured the win for Norwich with a goal at 16:20 of the third period. Anderson Weimer stood out in goal for Norwich, saving 22 of 25 shots, while Kolin Krizan shone with two goals and an assist, earning him the first star of the game. The Sea Captains dominated the shot count with 34 to New Hampshire’s 25. Despite a spirited effort, the Jr. Mountain Kings came up short.

Texas (R) 0 @ Texas (B) 2 - In a battle of the Texas teams, the Brahmas earn a 2-0 win off a strong performance from their goaltender. Jayani Benson opened up the scoring early in the first giving the Brahmas a 1-0 that they would hold on to for the first two periods. In the final frame, John Scharf added to the lead, making it 2-0. The Brahmas shut down their opponent for the rest of the game and goaltender Luke Romney stopped all 29 shots he faced to earn a shutout. The Brahmas add to their already dominant record as they remain in control of the South Division. 

Louisiana 9 @ Bayou State 0 - In a dominant showing at the Monroe Civic Center, the Louisiana Drillers cruised past the Bayou State Rougarou with a 9–0 shutout. Zachary Marsell got the scoring started midway through the first period, and the floodgates quickly opened. Draydin Johnson followed shortly after as Louisiana jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. The Drillers kept their foot on the gas in the second period, with goals from Emerson Laroche, Brody Neish, and Skyler Tompkins stretching the advantage even further. The third period was more of the same, as Neish added his second of the night, Marsell picked up his second, Isaac Erickson found the back of the net, and Brayden Pelcl closed out the scoring. Bayou State goaltender Jared Lang faced a heavy workload, turning aside 78 shots on an 87-shot night, while Cole Schmidt earned the shutout for Louisiana with 11 saves. Neish led the way offensively with two goals and an assist to earn first-star honors, with Erickson and Lang rounding out the three stars. Despite the Rougarou’s efforts, including a quiet night from leading scorer Ethan Tierman, the Drillers’ depth and pressure proved too much, as Louisiana added another convincing win to its unbeaten season.

Maine 1 @ Buzz 5 - The Buzz picked up an impressive 5–1 win over the Maine Nordiques, using strong offense and steady defense to take control after an early deficit. Maine struck first when Ronan Howard opened the scoring midway through the first period, but the Buzz responded quickly. Jaylen Nurse tied the game later in the frame, and from there the momentum shifted. Mason Bryant gave the Buzz the lead early in the second period, and Keegan Elliott followed with a power-play goal just moments later to make it 3–1. The Buzz continued to build on that advantage in the third, with Yaromir Chicherin finding the back of the net before Tannan Nenninger capped the scoring with another power-play tally. Dalton Elliott was solid in goal for the Buzz, stopping 30 of 31 shots, while the Nordiques’ Tyler Miller faced heavy pressure, making 34 saves before giving way to Josef Simon. With two power-play goals and a strong penalty kill, the Buzz controlled the game and skated away with a convincing division win.

El Paso 6 @ Tulsa 3 - The El Paso Rhinos come up with a dominant win on the road against the struggling Tulsa Oilers. In a competitive first period, the Rhinos were able to get off to a hot start, scoring the opening goal. Despite getting outshot 23-4 in the second period, the Oilers were able to find some success. Stone Baulch tied it for Tulsa early in the period and things were looking positive until the Rhinos scored three straight including a powerplay goal. After trailing 4-1, the Oilers tried to get back in the game with goals late in the second and early in the third which brought the score to 4-3. However, the Rhinos reestablished their lead with two more goals in the final frame to secure the 6-3 win. The final shot count was 50-16 for El Paso which gave them plenty of opportunities to find the back of the net, leading to the win. 

Wausau 1 @ Rochester 5 - The Rochester Grizzlies secure a dominant win at home over the Wausau Cyclones. After outshooting the Cyclones 12-6 in the first frame, the Grizzlies were finally able to find the back of the net to open up the scoring. In the second, the teams each scored one goal with Wausau doing so on the powerplay and the game headed into the final frame with ROchester up 2-1. In the third period, the Grizzlies put up three straight to extend the lead to 5-1 and secure the win. Throughout the game, both teams struggled to stay out of the box, but the penalty kills did a good job limiting scoring chances across the nine total power plays. Grizzlies goaltender Kyle Lappi stopped 18 of 19 shots, leading his team to victory. 

Minnesota (W) 1 @ Minnesota (M) 6 - The Minnesota Moose took on the Minnesota Wilderness last night at Fogerty Ice Arena, taking a 6-1 victory on the road. The Moose got an early lead to start the contest with three goals in the first frame scored by Mark Denoyer, Connor Zgoda, and Will Burnevik. After a quiet second period, Charlie Marchand notched one in for the Moose to bring their lead to four. Ethan Jacobson responded with the Wilderness’ only goal for the night, which he scored from a pass from Brighton Pollard. Marchand found the back of the night two more times in the contest, sealing the victory for the Moose and earning his second hat trick of the season. Jay Svaren had a busy night in net for the Wilderness with 44 saves in net, and Easton Lemke earned 15 saves between the pipes for the Moose. 

Alexandria 5 @ Willmar 6 - The Willmar Warhawks complete an incredible comeback over the Alexandria Blizzard to win their home matchup 6-5. In a close first period, the Warhawks found the back of the net twice, including a powerplay goal from Gabe Adams, and the Blizzard were also able to score making the score 2-1 Warhawks heading into the first intermission. The second period was utter domination for the Blizzard as they outshout the Warhawks 21-8 and netted four straight to make the score 5-2. After trailing by three, the Warhawks began the comeback. Carson Wendorff added a tally at the end of the second, but Willmar was still down by two to start the third period. After dominating the shot count in the final frame, the Warhawks scored three consecutive goals to tie the game and get the go-ahead goal. The Warhawks held on for the final five minutes and secured the regulation win. Willmar comes back to upset the dominant Blizzard team as they continue trying to climb up the standings in the West Division.

Peoria 0 @ Wisconsin 6 - The Wisconsin Woodsmen hosted the Peoria Mustangs last night in an exciting 6-0 shutout at Tomah Ice Center. Tyler Osborne kicked off the scoring frenzy halfway through the opening frame, and Patrick Bowser found the back of the net to open the second period. Parker Holloway and Nolan Mix earned two more goals in the middle frame, scored nearly a minute apart. Anthony Moorehead and Brandon Slasor would notch in the final goals of the contest, both in the third period. Lleyton Jaschke had a night in net, earning a shutout with 14 saves for Wisconsin. 

St. Louis 5 @ West Bend 8 -  In an exciting matchup at Kettle Moraine Ice Center, the West Bend Power defeated the St. Louis Jr. Blues 8-5. The Jr. Blues got to an early start in the contest as Lonnie Land and Jack Reuss each found the back of the net. They did not keep the lead for long, as Shaun Paulson, Mason Wanka, and Danny Jurcich each notched a goal in to end the opening frame with West Bend in the lead. Each team tallied in another point in the middle frame, but the Power amped up the energy heading into the third period. Three more Power notched in goals in the final frame before Andrew Sparacino wrapped up the scoring with his power-play goal at 7:44. The Jr. Blues responded with two goals from Nicholas Cissi and Rece Sanderson, but it was not enough to overcome their three-point deficit. Sam Ahl defended West Bend in net with 22 saves, and Travis Visvadra earned 39 saves for St. Louis.

Butte 2 @ Gillette 6 : The Butte Irish went on the road to take on the Gillette Wild. In the opening period the Irish would strike first with a goal from Loghan Weber, Alexander Wainio with the assist. Just 25 seconds later the Wild would answer and get on the board with a goal from Riley Schmidt, Dylan Herold and Donovan Balek picking up the assist. In the second period the Wild would take their first lead of the game with a goal from Donovan Balek, Riley Schmidt and Dylan Herold getting the assist. The Irish would then tie the game back up with a goal from Josh Halverson, assisted by Jackson Thomas and Koll Tait. Before the end of the period Riley Schmidt would score again for the Wild to take the lead back, being assisted by Donovan Balek and Dylan Herold, his third assist of the game. To start the final period the Wild would extend their lead with a power play goal from Beau Delich, Riley Schmidt and Brayden Waters getting the assist. The Wild would then score again with a goal from Joshua Sauro, CJ Lang and Beau Delich with the assist. To finish the game the Wild would score on an empty net, short handed goal from Riley Schmidt, finishing his hat trick. CJ Lang and Joshua Sauro each getting an assist. The Wild defeat the Irish 6-2.

Bozeman 1 @ Badlands 4 - The Bozeman Icedogs went on the road to take on the Badlands Sabres. The opening period would go scoreless with each team going into the second period 0-0. In the second period the Sabres would start the scoring with a goal from Cole Schneider, Carter Kilen getting the assist. About a minute later Zackary Dubois would score for the Sabres, Rylan Salo and Wyatt Pink getting the assist. After that the Sabres would extend their lead to 3 with a goal from Carter Kilen, being assisted by Matthew Cordis and Charlies Eastman. Finally the Icedogs would get on the board with a goal from Marshall Deraeve, Ryan McCreary and Hayes Masopust getting the assist. In the final period the Sabres would score the dagger with a goal from Charlie Eastman, Eathan Seanor and Carter Kilen getting another assist. The Sabres get a big home win over the Icedogs 4-1.

Sheridan 4 @ Helena 3 - The Sheridan Hawks went on the road to take on the Helena Bighorns. In the opening period the Hawks would strike first with a goal from Jeff Slivon, Max Krueger and Jameson Clark getting the assist. The Hawks would then extend their lead to 2 with a goal from Easton Langemo, being assisted by Dante Hunziker and Charles Stow. In the second period the Bighorns would get on the board with a power play goal from Blake Chapman, Austin Uecker and Kade Pareja with the assist. The Bighorns would then score on another power play goal from Lincoln Kearney, Cameron Kimmerly and Caden Feinstein picking up the assist. Soon after that the Bighorns would take the lead on another power play goal, this time Cameron Kimmerly scoring with an assist from Braden Davis and Ty Schell. In the final period the Hawks would answer back to tie the game with a goal from Easton Langemo, his second of the game, Vincent Leaf getting the assist. To give the Hawks the win, Jameson Clark would knock one in, Max Krueger and Lucas Paliwodzinski picking up the assist. The Hawks win a thriller on the road over the Bighorns 4-3.