Federal Hockey League Game Recaps

January 30, 2015 - Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL) News Release

Danbury Ices Dayton

By Mason Hickey

(Dayton) The Demonz squared off against the Danbury Whalers Friday night. Danbury has a record of 3-1-1 against the Demonz this year so far, but trail Dayton by two points in the standings. A win tonight would launch the Demonz into first place, giving them a much needed three points as they push towards the playoffs.

The Demonz put forth their best efforts against Danbury but lost a close battle with a final score of 3-2. Both teams played very physical in a game that went down to the wire. Dayton was able to outshoot their opponents 49-25 and had a five on three man advantage with one minute left in the game but could not capitalize.

The first period started with a flurry of offensive opportunities for the Demonz. Ryan Patsch drew first blood for the Whalers however, scoring off a rebound chance down low to give Danbury a 1-0 lead. Brett Liscomb took advantage of a deflection opportunity just three minutes after the first goal and slipped the puck past the Demonz net minder, ending the first period with Dayton trailing 2-0.

The Demonz came out in the second period not willing to be pushed around and cut the lead to 2-1 with the help of a goal from the stick of Mark Rivera. Both teams picked up their intensity realizing what was at stake in this game as the game became much more physical. Neither team gave up many scoring chances but the Demonz still managed to pressure the opposing goaltender with 31 shots on net. The score remained 2-1 in favor of the Whalers going into the final intermission.

Alex Norman lifted a shot over the Whalers' goaltender to start the third period and tying the game at 2-2. Danbury refused to make it easy for the Demonz and answered right back with yet another deflection goal from the stick of Brett Liscomb (his second of the game) to regain the lead at 3-2. The Whalers would give Dayton a chance to get back in the game, giving the Demonz a five on three man advantage with one minute to go in the final period. Danbury was able to hold on for the win with a final score of 3-2 in favor of the Danbury Whalers.

Stars of the Game:

1 star: Brett Liscomb (Danbury)

2 stars: Mark River (Dayton)

3 stars: Alex Norman (Dayton)

Battalion Bitten by Penalties, Fall in OT

By Alec Kessler

In the third match-up in a row between the Berkshire Battalion and the Watertown Wolves saw a slow start with a wild ending. The Wolves would skate away with a 3-2 win in overtime after a pair of late penalties cost the Battalion the game.

The first period saw an offensive performance from the Wolves who spent most of the period in the Berkshire end but despite possessing the puck, Watertown was having difficulty putting the puck on net. The action started to shift towards the Battalion as Cody Dion took a tripping call and even after the penalty was killed Berkshire kept the offensive pressure up. A cleared puck was picked up by winger Matt Wray and fired past Louie George to open the scoring. Tristan Lysko and Phil Bronner would also drop the gloves earlier in the period, and after 20 minutes of play Watertown went into the locker room with a 1-0 lead.

The 2nd period would open up more and the Battalion's offensive chances would increase as well. Mike Kaslowskas would even the game up on a hard wrist shot assisted by Robert Morton and Tom Tracy. Andrew Dadds and Matt Wray would square off in a tilt that also saw Wray take a cross checking penalty in addition. Despite a host of penalties neither team was able to capitalize on the man advantage although both sides had a shorthanded chance apiece.

The third period would be a wild affair as the two teams battled back and forth, and just 5 minutes in Tyler Prendergast would shuffle home the puck to put Berkshire ahead by a score of 2-1. A following scoring chance would see Mike Kaslowskas run hard into Jo St. Pierre, who would stay down on the ice for a time before getting up to stay in the game. The penalties would continue as Kaslowskas was called for a high stick with 2:11 left in the third followed by a Vadim Guskov interference penalty as he ran hard into St. Pierre once again. With the goalie pulled Justin Macdonald scored on the powerplay with 16 seconds left to tie the game. The overtime period would go quickly with Watertown playing a man up, and it was Cody Dion scoring in OT to secure the win for the Wolves.

Jo St.Pierre would make 42 saves on 44 shots in the win while Louie George stopped 45 of the 48 shots he faced in the goaltender duel. The two teams will play each other again on Saturday night when they skate in North Adams Mass.

Dashers Extend Winning Streak, Defeat Warriors 6-2

Easton Hoskins

The Danville Dashers came into tonight's contest off an 8-2 win over the Danbury Whalers. Taking on the Steel City Warriors, the Dashers hope to extend their win streak to five in a row. At 8:04 into the first period the Dashers own Brad Denney draws the first score and makes it 1-0. Later on in the first period Denney finds the net once more and makes it a 2-0 lead that looked promising but Steel City's Daniel Minnicks answers with a goal of his own and like that it's 2-1. There seemed to be some tension between the two teams as Aleh Shypitsyn runs into Dalton McGrath and starts a big scuff. Shypitsn fights Nicola Levesque, while Levesque's teammate Edgars Ozolins tries to pick a fight with one of the Dashers.

After all the penalties that we ended the first period with we start up the second right back where we left off. Dashers, Justin Brausen tips in a goal to make it a 3-1 game and the team was electrified until MJ Graham of Steel City scored to make it 3-2. After Graham's goal, goalie Breton Lindoff tried pleading to the ref that he had it saved under his pad but the refs went ahead and counted the goal. Seems that the second period was filled with slashing penalties, especially by Nicola Levesque.

Coming into the third period both Steel City and Danville were electrified to make this a good game, Danville wanting to extend their lead and Steel City wanting to tie the game and possibly take the lead. Well one of those happened as A J Tesoriero extended the Dashers lead to 4-2 with a little over one minute to play. The Warriors kept on fighting but just couldn't capitalize on their opportunities but Danville did one more time as Gehrett Sargis get Daniel McGrath down and does a slow backhand into the net to seal the deal at 5-2 extending the Dashers winning streak to five. They hope to make it six as they take on Danbury again in Port Huron, Michigan, Saturday night.

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Federal Prospects Hockey League Stories from January 30, 2015

• Demonz Lose at Home this Evening to the Danbury Whalers - Dayton Demonz
• Federal Hockey League Game Recaps - FPHL
• Demonz LOSS - Dayton Demonz
• Danbury Whalers Host Treasure Hunt - Danbury Whalers

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