Saturday Scores: Garden State Takes Down The Sharks!

Provided by Brandon Lauchnor

New Jersey 3 @ New Hampshire 7 - A hat trick and three assists from Jacob Landry helped the New Hampshire Jr. Mountain Kings bounce back from yesterday’s loss to defeat the New Jersey Titans 7-3 at Delta Dental Arena. The New Hampshire’s offense got out to a quick start with Sedrick Swygert Jr. connecting with Landry on a backhanded pass to put the Mountain Kings up by one at the 17:03 mark. However the last two goals of the period belonged to the Titans. With three minutes remaining, Andrew Metzger stole the puck from the Mountain Kings power play unit and made the leading pass to Kane Clark who outskated two defenders to take advantage of the shorthanded opportunity. With :20 remaining the Titans capitalized on a power play opportunity when Dom Marnauza snuck the puck past the goaltender on a slap shot set-up from Clark to give the Titans the 2-1 lead heading into the middle frame. New Hampshire took control in the second period, at 11:13, Evan Yates scored the tying tally finding a loose puck in the paint to tie the score at 2-2. Clark brought the Titans back in front taking the puck himself on the power play with 6:14 left in the period. New Hampshire was able to add two in the final minute and a half, Joshua Lang found the back of the net at 1:03, finding the gap in Titans power play to tie the game at three each. With just :17 remaining, Gavin Deroma scored the go-ahead goal to give New Hampshire their first lead of the afternoon heading into the final period. The Mountain Kings carried that momentum into the third, with Landry adding his second goal after Talon Schackman intercepted a goaltender pass attempt to feed Landry for the score. The teams traded shots throughout the period, but it was Landry who found the back of the net again, taking the puck straight from the face off to give New Hampshire a 6-3 lead with 2:48 to play. Less than a minute later, Landry added his third assist, stealing the puck from a Titans defender and leaving it for Everett Horrocks who buried it to secure the 7-3 victory. 

Phoenix 5 @ Tulsa 1 - Goals from five different Inferno players elevated Phoenix to a 5-1 victory over the Tulsa Oilers at WeStreet Ice Arena. Phoenix wasted little time getting on the board, as Brayden McMillian fired a shot from the blue line into the back of the net at the 16:46 mark to give the Inferno the lead heading into the second period. The Inferno scored early into the middle period as Camden Babin found a driving Trevor Grazier on the power play just a minute and a half into the period. The Inferno held off the Oilers for the remainder of the frame to carry a 2-0 lead heading into the third period. Phoenix struck just :20 into the third, when Grazier hit a streaking James “JC” Greenwood who tucked it between the goaltenders pads to make the score 3-0 in favor of the Inferno. Phoenix continued to build on their lead as Greenwood connected with Babin for a fourth Inferno goal at 13:22. The Tulsa offense scored their first of the night with 6:17 remaining when Logan Donham’s shot from the blue line found its way through traffic and into the net. The Inferno responded just 21 seconds later, as Kash Benson found Dez Mucha, who tucked the puck into the open side of the net past the diving goaltender. Phoenix carried the 5-1 advantage through the remainder of the period to take home the 5-1 win and sweep the weekend series. 

Long Beach 4 @ Garden State 3 - The Garden State Gamblers gave the Long Beach Sharks their first loss of the season in a hard-fought overtime battle. The Gamblers offense dominated the opening period, scoring three unanswered goals. At 18:20, Votja Lucas lit the lamp first, capitalizing on a rebound off the post for his first goal of the season. Andrew Norris added to the scoring with his first goal of the season at 15:16, sending a shot through traffic and past the goaltender. Filip Piatowski capped off the period’s scoring at the 11:57 mark, putting away a loose puck near the net for the period’s final goal to give the Gamblers a 3-0 advantage heading into the second period. Long Beach got on the scoreboard at 15:49 second period when Thatcher Beaudoin put away a rebound on the power play to cut the deficit to 3-1. Two Long Beach goals in the third period sent the matchup into overtime. At 7:47, Eli McCarthy found the stick of Peyton Dahlke for the duo’s second goal of the series and at 4:59 McCarthy converted on a two-on-one opportunity to deadlock the score at three and send the game to extra time. Joseph Foody netted the game winner with a shot that went in off the top crossbar to secure the overtime victory for the Gamblers and hand the Sharks their first loss of the season. 

Peoria 0 @ Rochester 12 - The Rochester Grizzlies piled on shots and goals against the Peoria Mustang, winning in dominant fashion at home. In a game where they had 10 different skaters record a goal and all but two of their players record a point, they were completely relentless in the offensive zone. Benjamin O’Leary, Jay Reese, and Konnor Gochlan would score in the first period as the team itself had 19 shots on net. Peoria put up decent numbers as well, getting ten shots on net, but they couldn’t get one past Grizzlies goaltender Cameron Patrick. The second period saw Goclan record his second goal of the game, along with Dominic Arndt, Sawyer Zaruba, Jace Jordan, and James Esposito score as well. Peoria goaltender Chase Vaugh had faced 34 shots at that point and was trying his best to keep his team in it. Rochester would add on to their lead in the third period after Reese scored his second of the game, followed quickly by Camryn Koch. Conrad Edlund and Rocco Corl would also score late in the period bringing the score to 12-0. The Grizzlies continue to keep pace in a close divisional race with Wisconsin for second in the Central, while Peoria need to bounce back and gain some momentum as they currently sit in 5th place in the division. 

Alexandria 8 @ Minnesota 4 - The Alexandria Blizzard win a high scoring game against the Minnesota Wilderness, powered by an excellent second period. Alexandria and Minnesota were trading goals back and forth all through the first period as both teams scored three. First, Neil Elsmorer scored on the power play for Minnesota before Wyatt Mineheine countered for Alexandra on a power play of their own. Evan Brown would score for Minnesota before Mineheine would score his second the game on another power play, tying things back up. Minnesota forward Joey Gabardi would score after that giving the Wilderness their third lead of the game but one they wouldn’t hang on to after Landyn Randt scored his first goal of the season for Alexandria, tying the game before intermission. The evenness of these two wouldn’t last all game as Alexandria would score four goals in the second period while Minnesota would answer with just one. Dillan Smidt would score on another power play for Alexandria which was followed by fellow Blizzard Edren Anderson. Nick Bogert would score for Minnesota but that was quickly answered by Andersen’s second goal. Mineheine would score his third goal of the game not even a minute later, firmly putting Alexandria in control of the game. Chase Collings would add to the lead even further, scoring a shorthanded goal halfway through the third period setting the game at its final score of 9-1.

Granite City 8 @ North Iowa 3 -  The Granite City Lumberjacks blew a close game wide open, scoring 5 goals against the North Iowa Bulls to get the road victory. Granite City would score the first two goals of the game within 11 second of each other as Jackson Enberg would score two power play goals back to back halfway through the period. Their goaltender, Zach Price, had a great period as well, stopping all eight shots in the period. The Lumberjacks were right back at it after the first intermission as Engberg would score early in the second period to pick up a game hat trick. North Iowa would storm back in the second scoring two goals from Boone Theiler and Logyn Kaufman before Xander Sheehy would tie the game with under 90 seconds left in the period. The third period had shown why the Lumberjacks are undefeated at this time, as they poured on the goals in the third, scoring five goals as a team with Vince Murn, Braden Payne, Dylan Clayton (two goals) and Elijah Fitch scoring goals across a six minute span, slamming the door on an exciting comeback attempt by North Iowa. Granite City will stay in firm control of the West division while North Iowa will stay tied with Alexandria for third. 

West Bend 10 @ Fox Cities 1 - The West Bend Power extended their unbeaten streak to 14 games with a 10-1 victory over the Fox Cities Forge on Saturday night at the Appleton Family Ice Center. After a scoreless opening stretch, Ivan Schmitz broke through midway through the first period before Luke Whitehead and Braylon Jansen added goals to extend West Bend's lead. Adam Sexton and Shaun Paulson combined for three additional goals in the final three minutes of the period, giving the Power a commanding 6-0 advantage entering the first intermission. West Bend continued its offensive production in the second period as Paulson completed his hat trick with a shorthanded goal before Sexton added his second of the night to make it 8-0. Fox Cities responded early in the third period when Maxim Bachmann scored a shorthanded goal to put the Forge on the board. However, Sexton completed his own hat trick with another shorthanded tally before Schmitz added his second goal to close out the scoring. Paulson and Sexton each finished with six points on three goals and three assists, while Drew Sparacino contributed four assists. West Bend outshot Fox Cities 42-12, with goaltender Crew Staudacher making 11 saves in the victory. Forge netminder Filip Kaczmarczyk recorded 32 saves.

Willmar 1 @ Minnesota 6 - The Minnesota Vulcans scored four unanswered goals in the third period to secure a 6-1 victory over the Willmar WarHawks on Saturday night at Fogerty Arena. Cooper Hehir opened the scoring late in the first period, giving Minnesota a 1-0 advantage entering the intermission. Willmar responded midway through the second period when Jesse Hendrickson capitalized on the power play, with assists from Brodie Goode and Jacob Canfield, to even the score at one. However, Grady Miller restored Minnesota's lead with a power-play goal in the final 30 seconds of the period, sending the Vulcans into the third with a 2-1 advantage. Minnesota extended its lead early in the final period as Wyatt Hoepfl scored at 4:41, followed by Miller's second power-play goal just under two minutes later. Noah Osland added another power-play tally midway through the period before Rory Kronick closed out the scoring with 1:46 remaining. Miller led the Vulcans with two goals, while Hehir and Osland each recorded a goal and an assist. Despite being outscored, Willmar generated 36 shots and converted one of its five power-play opportunities. Minnesota finished 3-for-10 on the man advantage and held a narrow 39-36 edge in shots. Vulcans goaltender Dawson DesJardins stopped 35 shots in the victory, while Willmar's Noah Germain made 30 saves before Chris Ernster entered late in the third period.

Oklahoma City 0 @ West Texas 12 - The West Texas Wranglers delivered a commanding offensive performance Saturday night at the Amarillo Ice Ranch, shutting out the Oklahoma City Warriors 12-0. West Texas established an early advantage when Gunnar Vick opened the scoring just 53 seconds into the contest, followed by Caelen Cross at 5:32 to give the Wranglers a 2-0 lead after the first period. The offense continued in the second as Macklin Zimmerman, Gavin Brown and Cross each found the back of the net, extending the advantage to 5-0 entering the final frame. West Texas added seven unanswered goals in the third period to complete the shutout. Justin Fielden recorded a hat trick in the final 20 minutes, while Zimmerman scored twice more to complete a hat trick of his own. Brendan Sise and Max Kadish also contributed goals during the seven-goal period. Zimmerman finished with three goals and two assists, while Fielden added three goals. Jacob Odell led all players with five assists, and Easton Massengale and Zac Polkes each recorded three. Despite six power-play opportunities, Oklahoma City was unable to convert, finishing with 11 shots on goal. West Texas outshot the Warriors 41-11 and went 1-for-3 on the power play. Wranglers goaltender Jack Rogers stopped all 11 shots to earn the shutout, while Oklahoma City's Sean Biebrich made 27 saves in relief of Nicholas Gormish.

Wausau 4 @ Wisconsin 5 - The Wisconsin Woodsmen took down the Wausau Cyclones in a hard-fought battle Saturday night. Less than five minutes into the contest, the Woodsmen tucked one home with a goal by Ian Findlay. The Cyclones responded when Lucas Mankoff found the back of the net with 5:23 remaining in the first. Mankoff put one past the goaltender once more with 1:04 remaining in the opening period, giving the Cyclones a 2-1 lead entering the second period. Wausau’s Maksim Salienko extended the Cyclones’ lead early in the second period, but the Woodsmen responded when Parker Holloway found twine. The teams traded penalties before Ty Paulios found the equalizer for Wisconsin to tie the game 3-3 heading into the final frame. Penalties continued into the final frame, and Jackson Schroeder capitalized on the power play less than five minutes into the third to put the Cyclones back in front. Wisconsin’s Holloway struck again on the power play to even the score 4-4 with 2:04 remaining in the contest. Bryce Bechen delivered the game-winner just 35 seconds before the final buzzer, securing a 5-4 victory for the Woodsmen.

 Pelham 6 @ Austin 4 - The Pelham Prowlers hit the road to take on the Austin Ice Bats in a high-scoring showcase Saturday night. The Prowlers lit the lamp first when Bearic Wolle capitalized on a power play just over two minutes into the first period. The teams traded minor penalties before the Prowlers found the back of the net again, with Colton Edman scoring on the power play with 5:25 remaining in the opening frame. Edman got to work once again early in the second, netting his second goal of the night to give the Prowlers a 3-0 lead. Less than two minutes later, Pelham extended its lead once more with a goal from Owen Harries followed by Wolle with his second power play goal of the night. The Ice Bats got on the board for their first time of the night when Cayden Reamer went bar down, cutting the deficit to 5-1 heading into the third period. Pelham added to its lead early in the final period with Jacob Hums finding twine to make it 6-1. The Ice Bats went on to light up the third period with three goals by Ronan Howard, Karson Abel, and Marek Gallenberger, but their comeback effort fell short as Pelham held on for a 6-4 victory.

 Badlands 1 @ Great Falls 2 (OT) - The Great Falls Americans defeated the Badlands Sabres in an overtime thriller on Saturday. Each team looked to take the season-series lead, entering the matchup tied at 1-1. After trading penalties throughout the first two periods, the Sabres struck first with 8:02 remaining in the second period on a power play goal from Justin Reams, assisted by Mason Harn and Kento Sanchez-Maruyama. The Americans answered with 2:41 to go in the second when Jase Troyer went bar down, finding the equalizer with help from Xander Troyer and Jordan Antar. The third period saw more penalties before the game headed into overtime. Great Falls’ Xaden Troyer found the back of the net to secure the victory, assisted by Jase Troyer and Gordon Jennings. The Badlands totaled 34 shots on goal and 29 saves, while the American’s tallied 31 shots and 33 saves on the day. The Americans walked away with the 2-1 win and 2-1 season-series lead against the Sabres.

Bozeman 0 @ Helena 9 - The Helena Bighorns completely shut the door on the Bozeman Icedogs. The first period saw five different Bighorn skaters finding the back of the net. Three of those goals by Cameron Kimmerly, Joey Hemr and Kade Pareja were on power plays. Kimmerly scored his second goal of the night early in the second period. The third period ramped up when Braden Davis scored with only six minutes left in the game. Caden Feinstein found the back of the net less than a minute later, and Kimmerly completed his hat trick at 2:41 left in the game. Bighorns goaltender Oliver Skog recorded a shutout when he turned away all 23 shots on goal. The final score was 9-0.

Butte 4 @ Yellowstone 2 - The Butte Irish overcame the Yellowstone Quake in the Riley Arena with a final score of 4-2. The Irish wasted no time getting started. Cohen Weiderick scored the first goal of the game on a power play. Jack Whitelaw would find his scoring momentum only a few minutes later, leaving the score 2-0 going into the middle frame. Whitelaw would net the only goal of the second period on a power play. Yellowstone would finally make their way onto the board early in the third period, when Shayne Smith scored on a power play, and Hunter Hilde found the back of the net, putting Yellowstone within one of the Irish. Whitelaw would complete his hat trick with an empty-netter, also sealing the win for the Irish. Butte goaltender Jackson Wagner faced a barrage of shots, turning away 49 out of 51 shots on goal, leaving him with a .961 save percentage.

Gillette 2 @ Sheridan 8 - The Gillette Wild fell to the Sheridan Hawks on the Hawks’ home ice. Dylan Crossley would net the first goal of the game, giving the Wild an early lead. Josh Halverson would start the momentum for the Hawks when he scored with 8:37 left in the first period, tying the score. The Hawks would go on a three goal streak in the second, quickly pulling away with a three point lead going into the final frame. Caden Gleason would add to the Hawks’ score early in the third. Cody Lang of the Wild found the back of the net at 14:11, but the Hawks were on a roll. They would score three more times before the final buzzer, bringing the final score to 8-2.