Columbus River Dragons edge the Motor City Rockers 7-6
March 1, 2025 - Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL)
Columbus River Dragons News Release
FRASER, MI - A wild, back-and-forth affair was settled in overtime on Nolan Slachetka's game-winning goal at 59 seconds as the Columbus River Dragons beat the Motor City Rockers 7-6 on Saturday night.
Slachetka took a pass from Justin MacDonald and fired a wrist shot from the left circle that beat Rockers goaltender Trevor Babin (22 saves) to give the River Dragons the dramatic win and a weekend sweep on the road.
After MacDonald scored the first goal of the game, the Rockers scored the next three to take a 3-1 lead early in the second period.
Then the River Dragons offense erupted as the team scored four goals in a 2:13 span of the second period, starting with MacDonald's second of the night followed by goals from Ryan Hunter, Scott Docherty and Alex Storjohann to put Columbus ahead 5-3.
From there, Motor City would rally to tie the game at 5-5 by 3:53 of the third period as Eli Rivers completed the hat trick. Kyle Heitzner and Nick Gullo traded goals to tie the game at 6-6 and force the overtime.
Notes:
Nathan Balkwill appeared in his 100th professional game.
This weekend marked the only meetings between the River Dragons and Rockers.
Emergency Backup Goaltender Will Salnek was pressed into duty after Sammy Bernard went down with an injury early in the first period. Salnek stopped 23 shots to earn his first professional victory.
The River Dragons are back in action next weekend at Carolina against the Thunderbirds. Columbus returns home on Legends Weekend March 14 and 15, with tickets on sale now through the Civic Center Box Office and online at TicketMaster.com.
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