FPHL Elmira Enforcers

Enforcers Take Down Prowlers In 7-3 Victory

January 19, 2019 - Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL)
Elmira Enforcers News Release


The Enforcers visited Port Huron on Friday night as they sought to continue their three-game winning streak at McMorran Arena. Unlike the other three victories against Port Huron this season, Elmira would be missing a major piece to their lineup in Sean Reynolds. Reynolds was deservingly called up to the SPHL this week after putting together a fantastic season with 39 points through 27 games. Unfortunately for Elmira, the Enforcers would be missing their leading scorer and would be forced to find someone to fill Reynolds' shoes. One Enforcer they may be able to lean on is Cal Miska as he leads the season series against Port Huron in points with eight, including three goals and five assists. Ahmed Mahfouz would make his return to his homeland after playing two seasons in Port Huron, including a 103-point campaign with the Prowlers in 2016.

After a fast-paced start to the game, with plenty of bodies being thrown around, Elmira struck first in enemy territory. Halfway through the first period, the Enforcers received some energy from their sparkplug, Kyle Stevens. Ahmed Mahfouz curled in the corner with his head up and caught Stevens out of the corner of his eye sitting on the backdoor. Mahfouz fired a dime onto the stick of Stevens who mashed the puck into the back of the net from the doorstep for an early 1-0 lead. It was not much longer before the Enforcers were hungry again, 2:39 to be precise. With another nice feed, this one coming from Dmytro Babenko, Brendan Hussey sent an absolute rocket starting from the slot and ending in the back of Port Huron's net. Elmira came out firing in the 1st period and kept the home crowd completely silent. After going up 2-0 with dominant play through one period, it appeared the absence of their leading scorer was nonexistent.

The 2nd period was an emotional roller coaster for both teams to say the least. Just when the home crowd was packing their bags, things got interesting. The Enforcers continued their dominance from the 1stperiod into the 2ndperiod as they tallied another goal just 2:47 from the drop of the puck. Dmytro Babenko was feeling rather generous tonight as he was able to set up back-to-back goals for his line. Babenko fed Marko Novosel across the slot to put Elmira up 3-0. Just when you thought things were starting to get out of hand, they got even more out of hand. Brandon Vuic found himself down near the crease where he was able to finesse the puck over the shoulder of the Prowlers' netminder and into the roof of the net. There was not much of a window for Vuic, but he found it and made the score 4-0. Matt Robertson finally put Port Huron on the board with 5 minutes to go in the 2nd period, but nothing much was thought about it, although it was a shorthanded goal. However, things started to really go downhill for Elmira when they took back-to-back penalties, gifting the Prowlers a long 5-on-3 man advantage. Giving Port Huron an opportunity on the Powerplay turned out to be a mistake as the Prowlers pounced on the offering from Elmira. Just 26 seconds into the 5-on-3, Ryan Rotondi wound up from the point and blasted it by the glove of Troy Passingham. This decreased the deficit to two goals, making the score 4-2, but the Prowlers were not finished. With 1:10 to go in the 2nd period, the Prowlers struck again. Tom Kilgore took a wrister from the top of the circle and was able to beat Passingham on the far-side once again to trim the score to 4-3 after two periods of play. Just when Elmira thought they were safe, even a four-goal lead proved to not be enough. Fortunately for the Port Huron crowd, the 3rd period was shaping up to be something to stick around for after all.

As previously stated, this game was up and down through two periods, but the 3rdperiod only went one way; the Enforcers way. Brendan Hussey lead the way as he was relentless and had himself the game of his season. After shrinking the deficit down to a one-goal game, Elmira was finally able to find some breathing room 9 minutes into the final period of play. Brandon Vuic rifled one of his notoriously heavy shots on net and created a juicy rebound for Hussey. The 22-year-old Boston-native recorded his second goal on the night and put his team up 5-3. To crush any Prowlers' hopes in a comeback, Elmira tacked on two empty-net goals. One coming from their big D-Man, Glen Patterson, who fired the puck the length of the ice off of the faceoff in their defensive-zone. The other empty-net and final goal of the night came from Brendan Hussey once again. Hussey deservingly recorded the hat-trick in the 7-3 victory over the Port Huron Prowlers.

The Enforcers and the Prowlers will go at it again tomorrow evening at 6:00 p.m. in Port Huron. With the absence of their leading goal scorer, Sean Reynolds, Elmira was able to find some life from some new players as they coasted to a 7-3 victory, marking their fourth win in-a-row. Tune in once again tomorrow at ebw.tv or follow us on social media for live action to support the Enforcers going for their 5th victory in-a-row.

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Federal Prospects Hockey League Stories from January 19, 2019


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