Saturday Scores: Rochester Battled to a Shootout Victory Over West Bend

Photo Credit: Dave Tester

​Louisiana 18 @ Bayou State 0 - The Louisiana Drillers continue to roll as they dominated their second game in a row against the Bayou State Rougarou. The first period was actually scoreless, but not for lack of trying by Louisiana as they managed to get 33 shots on net in an offensive onslaught but Bayou State goaltender Owen Anderson stood tall and turned aside every shot. Bayou State did get two shots on goal in the period as well, but Louisiana goalie Reece Hutcheson stopped both shots. The second period is where Louisiana took firm control as forward Andrew Kozhushko would open the scoring two and a half minutes into the period after finding a soft spot in the defense near the left circle and firing it past Anderson. Louisiana would score 11 goals in the period from seven different skaters, highlighted by Bryson Oliver’s natural hat-trick. These goals were also Oliver’s first three goals of the season. Defenseman Daniel Vihavainen also had a stellar period, dishing the puck to several of his teammates en route to getting six assists in the period. All this culminated in Louisiana outshooting Bayou State 37-5 in the period and 70-7 after two. The Rougarou would make a goalie change going into the third period,  switching in Chase Kral for Anderson. Louisiana would go on to score seven more goals in the third period off of 20 shots. Notably, defenseman Braden Bates capped off his night with a hat trick as well. Vihavainen (1G, 6A) and Kozhusko (2G, 5A) tied for point leaders on Louisiana with seven, while Hutcheson saved all eight shots he faced in the win. For Bayou State, Anderson saved 59 out of 70 for a .843 save percentage, while Kral stopped 13 out of 20 for a .650 save percentage. These two teams will face off again tomorrow afternoon.

Phoenix 5 @ Tulsa 4 (OT) - The  Phoenix Inferno escape with a road win in overtime against the Tulsa Oilers. The Oilers kicked things off early as John Scown corralled a pass from William Saunders off the boards before firing it on a rush that just trickled past Phoenix goaltender Ryder Ness. Phoenix would answer back quickly as Otaro Inoue would take a sharp angle shot and sneak one past Tulsa goalie Derek Hetland. After a long time of back-and-forth play, Tulsa would regain the lead as Scown would score his second of the night with 6:03 remaining in the period. After Tulsa killed off a cross-checking minor, there was some chaos in front of the Inferno net after a faceoff, and Ness seemed to lose sight of the puck, in which Scown was able to put away the rebound to give the Oilers a 2-1 lead that they would take into the first intermission. Whatever Inferno head coach Troy Mick said to his players to light a fire under them must have worked because from the second period onward, the Inferno would pepper Hetland and test that Tulsa defense. Inferno forward Cash Benson would get the lone goal for either team in the second period as he put home a rebound from Connor Hallgren. Inoue would also pick up an assist on the goal. As both teams were looking for an advantage to break the tie, in the third period they would score on a rush, shooting a low shot that beat Ness on his far side, giving the Oilers a 3-2 lead and all the momentum. Phoenix wouldn’t have to wait long to score right back as Nicholas Nunez would score on the power-play after he jumped on the ice for an injured teammate and received the puck, firing a shot right away that beat Hetland. Inoue would give the Inferno a 4-3 lead shortly after as he found a loose puck in front of Hetland and snuck it past the goalie. Needing to answer, Tulsa forward Luke Yahola would score on a pass from Owen Feinstein to tie the game with less than five minutes left, and the period would end 4-4, sending us to overtime. After each team exchanged rush chance after rush chance, Inoue would end up being the hero for Phoenix as he fired one past Hetland to score his third of the game and to send the Inferno home with the win. Inoue would end up leading the Inferno in points with four total, and Ness would save 25 out of 29 shots in the win. For Tulsa, Scown (2G) and Feinstein (2A) would tie for the team lead in points, and Hetland would stop 50 out of 55 in the overtime loss. Phoenix will play Oklahoma City at home after a long break, while Tulsa will look to bounce back against Oklahoma City on the road next week.

Wisconsin 7 @ Peoria 3 - The Wisconsin Woodsmen find goal-scoring touch in the third, defeat Peoria Mustangs on the road. The game started out defensively as neither Wisconsin nor Peoria registered double-digit shots in the first period. Both teams would find the back of the net in the second as Jackson Haupt, Ty Paulios, and Parker Holloway would score for Wisconsin while Braden Hillebrand and Brendan Miller would find the back of the net for Peoria. The third period is where the Woodsmen shined, as they would score four goals, with Haupt opening the scoring quickly. The Mustangs’ Breyon Maroney would answer after a few minutes of back-and-forth play, but the Woodsmen would go on to score three unanswered goals in the contest, getting goals from  Dayne Wafle, Parker Holloway (his second of the contest), and Ozbej Muzan, who scored on a late power-play. Dominic Seligman stopped 18 out of 21 shots and earned himself the victory for Wisconsin, while Jaemeson Keith saved 20 out of 27 in the loss. Wisconsin will look to keep things rolling next week when they host the St. Louis Jr. Blues. Peoria will look to get back in the saddle against the West Bend Power at home next week.

Wausau 4 @ St. Louis 3 (OT) - The Wausau Cyclones eliminated a three-goal deficit to defeat the St. Louis Jr. Blues 4-3 in overtime. St. Louis opened the scoring in the first period when Austin Hodge found the back of the net for his first goal of the season. The Jr. Blues extended their lead early in the second as Jack Vahle scored with assists from Stephen “Fonz” Craig and Chase Kozma. Craig added another goal later in the period to give St. Louis a 3-0 advantage. Wausau began to battle back before the end of the period as Sean Hall scored his first goal of the season to cut the deficit to two. The Cyclones carried that momentum into the third period, with Jackson Maddock finding the back of the net twice to tie the game at three and force overtime. After Wausau outshot St. Louis 15-7 in the third period, the Cyclones continued to apply pressure in the extra frame. Maksim Salienko completed the comeback 3:16 into overtime with his first goal of the season to secure the 4-3 victory. Maddock led Wausau with two goals, while Cade Doud and Gabe Field each recorded two assists. Draven Wirth made 22 saves in the win, while Keaton Pardy stopped 33 shots for St. Louis. Wausau finished with a 37-25 advantage in shots.

West Bend 2 @ Rochester 3 (SO) - The Rochester Grizzlies erased a two-goal deficit before defeating the West Bend Power 3-2 in a shootout. West Bend took control in the opening period with a pair of power-play goals. Adam Sexton opened the scoring with assists from Nathan Antti and Josh Graves before Ivan Schmitz doubled the Power’s lead with Antti picking up his second assist of the game. Rochester began its comeback late in the second period when Andrew Sherland found the back of the net. The Grizzlies carried the momentum into the third period as Edlund scored midway through the frame off an assist from Jordan to even the game at two. Neither side could find the go-ahead goal through the remainder of regulation or overtime, sending the matchup to a shootout. Rochester’s Dominic Arndt scored on the opening attempt before goaltender Cameron Patrick denied all three West Bend shooters to secure the 3-2 victory. Patrick finished the night with 32 saves, while West Bend goaltender Jacob Iallonardo stopped 27 shots. West Bend outshot Rochester 34-29 and finished 2-for-8 on the power play.

New Mexico 4 @ Oklahoma City 1 - The New Mexico Ice Wolves completed a two-game sweep of the Oklahoma City Warriors with a 4-1 victory. New Mexico controlled the opening period as Tanner Ross started the scoring with an assist from Gavin Fine. Brody Ososki added another goal later in the frame to give the Ice Wolves a 2-0 lead. New Mexico extended its advantage in the second period as Sammy Albano scored a pair of power-play goals less than two minutes apart to make it 4-0. Oklahoma City responded late in the period when London McDougall scored a short-handed goal off an assist from King McDougall to cut the deficit to three. Neither team found the back of the net in the third period as New Mexico closed out the 4-1 victory. Tyler Boynton-Fisher stopped 16 of 17 shots for the Ice Wolves, while Sean Biebrich made 37 saves for Oklahoma City. New Mexico outshot the Warriors 41-17 and finished 2-for-8 on the power play.

Garden State 4 @ New Jersey 0 - The Garden State Gamblers opened their season with a 4-0 victory over the New Jersey Titans. Garden State took control early, scoring three times in the first period. Radek Tervo opened the scoring with an assist from Evan Auclair before Alex Patsilevas extended the lead with assists from Wells and Malecki. Tervo found the back of the net again later in the frame to give the Gamblers a 3-0 advantage heading into the first intermission. Tervo completed his hat trick in the second period, scoring off assists from Lukas and Margetis to extend Garden State’s lead to four. The Gamblers held New Jersey to five shots in the third period to preserve the shutout and close out the 4-0 victory. Dennis Michaels stopped all 13 shots he faced to record the shutout, while Titans goaltenders Danny Gurtner and Tony Shaw combined to make 41 saves. Garden State outshot New Jersey 45-13 in the win.

Gillette 3 @ Great Falls 2 (SO) -In a back-and-forth battle between the two clubs, the Gillette Wild skate to a shootout victory thanks to a come-from-behind performance. The opening frame was scoreless as both teams traded chances. In the second frame, the Great Falls Americans net their first of the contest when Sacre Paxon scores his first of the year to give the Americans the lead. 13 minutes later in the contest, Gillette would even the score when Jacen Rustand lit the lamp in unassisted fashion for the Wild. That even scoreboard would be short-lived as Great Falls’ Jarrett Parker scored on the man advantage with 16 seconds to spare in the second frame. The final period of regulation featured the Wild equalizing the score when Dylan Herold lit the lamp midway through the period. As the contest was forced into overtime and then an eventual shootout, the Wild would skate to a victory thanks to Jay Reese and Donovan Balek finding twine.

Sheridan 4 @ Badlands 3 (OT) - The Sheridan Hawks take a road win in overtime fashion thanks to late-game scoring. The contest opened with the Hawks lighting the lamp four minutes into the frame when Max Krueger found twine. In the final 30 seconds of the opening period, Rhylan Olson for the Sabres scored short-handed to even the score moving into the middle frame. The second period featured the Sabres gaining the lead with another short-handed tally, this time by Dayton Niedert seven minutes into the period. The Hawks would respond in the final two minutes of the middle period when Jarek Solak nets his first of the contest. As the game moved into the final period of regulation, the Sabres would quickly take the lead once again. Jackson Hepper nets his first of the season while on the man advantage for Badlands. That lead would be eliminated once again, this time with Lucas Paliwodzinski scoring for the Hawks. As the game was forced into an extra frame, the Hawks would skate to a victory thanks to an unassisted tally by Tate Haugenoe.

Yellowstone 6 @ Butte 4 - The Yellowstone Quake secured their first win of the season with a 6-4 victory over the Butte Irish on Saturday night. The contest opened with Carson Joersz securing the advantage with a tally 20 seconds into the contest for the Quake. The Irish would even the score in the first frame as Keegan Adams lit the lamp on the man advantage. Moving into the second period, Mason Chapmon helped to give Yellowstone the lead once again, with a power-play goal two minutes into the frame. The Irish would cut the deficit once again, this time with Bryce Hodges notching his first tally of the year. Yellowstone would not go down without a battle as Carson Joersz scores his second of the night to give his team a 3-2 advantage heading into the third period. Yellowstone would score a trio of goals in the matter of three minutes in the final frame. Grady Perry, Cooper Miller and Davin Moeller received the credit for the three tallies. Butte would respond with two goals of their own in the final 10 minutes of the period. Bryce Hodges nets his second of the night as Jacob Avgustovskiy lights the lamp for the first time this season. Yellowstone skates to a road win and their first victory of the season.

​Helena 4 @ Bozeman 5 - The Helena Bighorns went on the road against the Bozeman Icedogs in a thrilling back-and-forth matchup that went into overtime. The scoring started late in the first period after an Icedogs goal by Lex Steckelberg, assisted by Luke Craig. Early in the second period, Bozeman added to their lead after Hayes Masopust snuck one past Helena’s goalie. Minutes later, Helena’s Cameron Kimmerly put the Bighorns on the board for the first time of the night. With 12:54 remaining in the second, Cal Kellenberg found the back of the net for Helena. 20 seconds later, the Bighorns tallied another goal after John Freitas scored on a breakaway, giving Helena the lead. Bozeman’s Lex Steckelberg answered back with a power-play goal to tie the game, followed by another goal to complete his hat trick and give the Icedogs the lead heading into the final period. Helena’s Kellenberg scored his second goal of the game less than 30 seconds into the final period, tying the game at 4-4. After a hard-fought third period, neither team was able to pull away with the lead, sending the game into overtime. Just one minute into OT, Bozeman’s Daniel Heath scored the game-winning goal, assisted by Avery Martin on a 2-on-1, securing a 5-4 victory for the Icedogs.