FPHL Federal Prospects Hockey League

FPHL Ice Chips - Game Recaps

December 16, 2023 - Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL) News Release


Binghamton, NY - The Binghamton Black Bears defeated the Danbury Hat Tricks for the sixth-straight time this season, 4-2 on Friday night. Dakota Bohn, Don Olivieri and Connor Smith all had multi-point nights.

Binghamton started the scoring in the first period, as Dakota Bohn scored his first of the night, second of the season. Jesse Anderson won a faceoff cleanly to the defenseman, and with open-ice, Bohn was able to sling one past the goaltender. That would be the only goal on the frame, as the Black Bears skated away with a 1-0 lead.

The middle period lulled for most of the game-time until five minutes remained. A slew of penalties in the final stretch of the period resulted in a Black Bears power play. Eventually the teams found themselves in a 4-on-3 situation, and as Thomas Wray returned from the penalty box, he was able to fire a one-timer pushing the Black Bears lead to 2-0 with 13 seconds left in the middle period.

Danbury was able to get on the board first in the third period, as a low roller sneaked past Connor McAnanama, giving Danbury hope. It was extinguished the next shift, as Don Olivieri snuck through the neutral zone, and was gifted a breakaway that he would take advantage of. Binghamton reclaimed the two-goal lead. Bohn added his second of the night, making it 4-1, but Danbury scored a power play goal with under a minute left.

Binghamton wins 4-2, picks up three points in regulation time, as Connor Smith extends his point streak to 10.

CAROLINA THUNDERBIRDS at MOTOR CITY ROCKERS

Rockers Drop 5th Straight, Lose to Carolina 3-2

by Ben Szilagy

Fraser, MI - The Motor City Rockers' losing streak continued with a 3-2 loss to the Carolina Thunderbirds on Friday night.

The Rockers have now lost five straight.

Nothing was resolved in the first period as most of the both team's offense was pushed out towards the wall. Carolina led shots 10-8, until the Rockers cracked the scoreboard in the second period.

Leading goal scorer Scott Coash slipped behind an over eager Thunderbird back line as Dante Suffredini hit the Plainfield, IL forward in stride. As Coash raced into the zone, he fired the puck and followed up his own rebound and buried it short side for a 1-0 lead on his 11th of the year 1:48 into the middle frame.

Four minutes later the Motor City struck again as the revamped second line found its footing.

Cade Lambdin, who is playing in his first game since returning to the team this week, chipped the puck ahead to Pavel Svintsov. The Russian offered a no-look drop pass to TJ Sneath who buried a wrister from inside the left circle for a 2-0 lead.

The Thunderbirds were able to fight back at the midway point of the second after finishing off a loose puck battle in front of the net.

After an initial attempt by John Buttitta and a follow-up by Joe Kennedy left the puck loose in the crease for Jacob Schnapp who lifted the puck past a sprawled Trevor Babin to cut into the lead 2-1 with 10:44 remaining.

Two and a half minutes later, the Thunderbirds' Czech line pulled the game to even at 2-2.

Jiri Pestuka fed the puck to the neutral zone to Petr Panacek. Panacek one touched the puck to a driving Jan Salak to the nearside post and he put away his seventh goal of the season with 8:26 to play.

The game winner and third straight goal came with 52-seconds left as Schnapp entered the zone and caught Motor City in a line change. As a too-many men call was prepped, Schnapp had a clear walk-in opportunity and fired the puck to the top shelf to negate the power play and give the Thunderbirds a 3-2 win.

Motor City will get to regroup as it looks to break the five game losing skid to a halt on December 22nd and 23rd against the Elmira RiverSharks at Big Boy Arena before the team goes on Christmas break.

Carolina Scores Three Unanswered, Defeat Motor City, 3-2

Schnapp wins it with 58 seconds remaining on breakaway

by Brendan Reilly

Fraser, MI -After going down 2-0 in the second period, the Carolina Thunderbirds rattled off three unanswered goals, including the game winner from Jacob Schnapp with just 58.2 seconds remaining, to take down the Motor City Rockers, 3-2, Friday night at Big Boy Arena.

In the first period, neither side could figure out the netminders as the game went to the 2nd period scoreless. Just 1:48 into the middle frame, Motor City (9-5-3) took the advantage after Scott Coash beat Mario Cavaliere on a rebound making it 1-0. A few minutes later at the 5:45 mark, TJ Sneath beat Cavaliere on a one-timer doubling the Rockers lead, 2-0.

Trailing by two goals, Carolina (13-3-0) searched for a response. Just coming off the power play, Jacob Schnapp battled in front of the net and slotted home a rebound cutting the deficit in half, 2-1. Just over two minutes later, the 'Czech Line' found the equalizer. Petr Panacek delivered a centering pass to Jan Salak who beat Trevor Babin tying the game at two heading to the 3rd period.

The Thunderbirds had opportunities early in the 3rd period, but Babin continued to make big saves. With 3:11 remaining in regulation, Roman Kraemer took a goalie interference penalty sending the Rockers to the power play. The Thunderbirds held off the league leading Motor City power play and just after Kraemer came out of the penalty box, Schnapp found himself on a breakaway and beat Babin high glove side with just 58 seconds remaining giving the Thunderbirds their first lead, 3-2.

Carolina held off the Rockers across the next 58 seconds even with the extra attacker on, and the Thunderbirds rallied with three unanswered goals to secure all three points against Motor City, 3-2.

Schnapp picked up 1st star honors on the evening with the two goals and the game winner while Carolina has now won nine of its last ten.

After the victory, Carolina remains on the road on Saturday evening against the Port Huron Prowlers. Puck drop is set for 6:05 p.m. from McMorran Arena.

ELMIRA RIVER SHARKS at WATERTOWN WOLVES

River Sharks Gain First Road Win Downing the Wolves, 8-5

by Jeff Barrett

Watertown, NY- For the first time in the regular season, the Elmira River Sharks travelled up route 81 in New York state to the Watertown Municipal Arena to face the Wolves.

The River Sharks wasted no time in getting the jump on the hometown Wolves. In just under a two minute stretch, the River Sharks would net 3 goals for the early lead.

First at the 9:10 mark, Steven Klinck picked up a rebound off Wolves starter Eloi Bouchard, and lifted a shot over the sprawling goal keeper., assisted by Darius Davidson and Rasmus Asp.

Just a minute and twenty four seconds later Houston Wilson received a crossing pass from Elijah Wilson and beat Bouchard to the short side making the score 2-0 at the 10:34 mark.

Less than a minute later, Cody Roger would snipe a shot to the top of the cage making the score 3-0 and ending Bouchard's evening. The goal came at 11:02 of the period with assists going to Elijah Wilson and Austin Pickford.

The Wolves and River Sharks both had 17 shots on goal in the first.

At the 5:17 of the second period, the River Sharks extended their lead on Steven Klinck's second goal of the night making the score 4-0, assisted by Austin Pickford.

Klinck would get a hat trick for the night just a little over two minutes later at the 7:56 mark assisted by Darius Davidson extending the lead to 5-0.

The Wolves finally found some life when Tate Leeson ripped the back of the cage beating the River Sharks starter Brandon Collett, cutting the lead to 5-1, Assists on the goal went to Trevor Lord and Ivan Sergeev.

At the 14.21 mark, Aleksandr Gamzatov picked up his third goal of the season for the Wolves making the score 5-2, giving the Wolves some hope.

Just :22 seconds later Tate Leeson notched his second of the night, tightening the game to 5-3 in favor of Elmira.

Leeson wasn't quite done just yet as he got his hat trick on a knifing pass from Trevor Lord to get the Wolves within one, 5-4 at the 16:30 mark for a power play goal.

The period ended with that score, but was marred by multiple scraps.

Watertown outshot Elmira 19 to 17 in the second.

Period number 3 found tensions continuing to flare, as again there were multiple battles early in the frame.

Steven Klinck continued his goal scoring frenzy adding his fourth of the night at the 8:14 mark, when he snuck between two Watertown defenders and found himself alone with Wolves netminder Owen Liskiewicz, and slid a shot through the five hole, stretching the lead to 6-4.

At 15:54 of the third, Watertown would end up on the power play courtesy of a Klinck slashing penalty, and pulled Liskiewicz in favor of an extra skater. The move paid off as Trevor Lord smacked home a rebound after initial shots from Marc Bottero and Vladislav Pavlov, to get the Wolves within one once again at the 16:14 point to make it 6-5.

But the one man wrecking machine, Steven Klink, struck again at 18:14 for a power play goal, giving him his fifth of the game. Blake Peavey added a shorthand empty netter at 19:07 to make the final score 8-5 Elmira.

Watertown outshot Elmira 19 to 14 in the third and 55 to 48 for the game.

The Wolves head down route 81 to the Visions Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton on Saturday night to face the Black Bears, while the River Sharks head home to host the Danbury Hat Tricks.

River Sharks Throw the Klinck At Wolves, 8-5

by Jon Kliment

Watertown, NY- After smashing an 8 game losing streak last Friday night against Watertown, the River Sharks came out hungry for another victory as they sought their first road win in franchise history on Friday night in Watertown.

The first period seemed a continuation of last weeks dominant victory after Sten Klinck took a Darius Davidson pass and buried it behind Eloi Bouchard 9:10 into the first period to give Elmira the 1-0 lead. 84 seconds later Houston Wilson got a chance of his own burying his 4th in 2 games to propel the Sharks to a 2-0 lead.The dam was open at this point as Cody Rodgers sniped a shot from the point 28 seconds later to give Elmira a commanding 3-0 lead which drove Bouchard from the night in favor of Owen Liskiewicz and the lead would hold up after one period of play.

Klinck was not done for the night by a long shot as 5:17 into period two he was able to snipe the first past Liskiewicz on the power play at 5:17 to give Elmira a 4-0 lead. 2:39 later Klinck buried his first professional hat trick and gave the River Sharks a 5-0 lead before the halfway point of the game. 1:26 later however Watertown's Tate Leeson finally broke Brandon Collett's shutout bid. The Wolves continued their relntless attack as the second period ticked down and Aleksandr Gamzatov scored one and Leeson scored two more including one on a power play to narrow the game to 5-4 heading into the final frame. At the end of the second in a crazy play Leeson took out Collett bringing in Sammy Bernard to finish out the game.

Though Watertown had the momentum Klinck reared his head again on a breakaway for his 4th of the game at 8:14 of the third. Lord added another one on the power play with the extra attacker to close the gap againat 6-5. Klinck scored his fifth goal of the night on the powerplay at 18:14 to make it 7-5 before Blake Peavey scored his first as a River Shark at 19:07 into an empty net to finish off the game.

Collett stopped 32 of 36 over 2 periods while Bernard stopped 18 of 19 to get the win.

The River Sharks are back at home tomorrow night against the Danbury Hat Tricks at 6:07pm. Get your tickets on Ticketmaster or by calling the box office at 607-734-PUCK to get your tickets! #FearTheFin

COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS at MISSISSIPPI SEA WOLVES

LIARAKOS SCORES 40th POINT OF SEASON, SEA WOLVES FALL, 7-3, TO COLUMBUS

River Dragos tally five unanswered goals, Turner nets three assists

by Javik Blake

Biloxi, MS - After a tie game through 40 minutes, the Columbus River Dragons (12-0-2-1) scored three goals in 1:42 and added another late in a 7-3 loss for the Mississippi Sea Wolves (6-1-1-10) at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum on Friday night.

The River Dragons took a lead less than 90 seconds in with a goal from Justin MacDonald assisted by Jordan Popoff and Ryan Huter. The Sea Wolves tied the game exactly halfway through the period off a feed from Sam Turner that was buried home by Hugo Koch. Yianni Liarakos gave the Sea Wolves their first lead of the night with 42 seconds left in the period with an assist from Turner. In goal, starter Anthony D'Aloisio turned away 19 of 20 shots in the opening period.

In the second, Alex Jmaeff knotted the game at two midway through the second off assists from Popoff and Cody Wickline. The Sea Wolves answered two minutes later with a goal from Liarackos, making him the first FPHL player to reach 40 points on the year. Minutes later, Kyle Moore knotted the game at three off a feed from Justin MacDonald.

The River Dragons then exploded in the third for three goals in 1:42 from Austin Daae, Alex Strojahan and Nolan Slachetka. Jmaeff netter his second of the night at 12:04 of the period, making it 7-3.

D'Aloisio turned away 41 of 48 shots for the Sea Wolves, while Talor Joseph turned aside 25 of 28 shots.

The Sea Wolves will continue their homestand on Saturday night against the Baton Rouge Zydeco at 6:05 for Alzheimer's Awareness Night powered by the Alzheimer's Association Mississippi Chapter.

Three Quick Goals in Third Period Led River Dragons to Victory

by Tom Callahan

Biloxi, MS - The Columbus River Dragons scored three times in a 1:42 span early in the third period Friday night, turning a tie game into a rout en route to a 7-4 win over the Sea Wolves in Mississippi.

With the game tied 3-3 entering the third period, Austin Daae started the game-changing roll just 2:57 in with his sixth goal of the season. Alex Storjohann then potted his sixth of the season at 4:07, followed just 32 seconds later by Nolan Slachetka's third of the year to make it 6-3 and take the drama completely out of the game.

Alexander Jmaeff led the offense for Columbus with two goals and an assist as six different River Dragons lit the lamp. Talor Joseph made 25 saves to earn the win.

In the first period, Columbus jumped ahead 1-0 just 1:28 in on Justin MacDonald's 11th goal of the season, but the Sea Wolves fought back to take a 2-1 lead before the end of the first period on goals by Hugo Koch and Yianni Liarakos.

Columbus managed to score twice in the second while Liarakos notched his second of the night, sending the two teams to the locker room tied through 40 minutes of play.

Notes:

The River Dragons trailed after one period of play for the first time all season tonight.

Columbus recorded its second-highest single-game goal total on the year, and for the sixth time this season scored six-or-more goals in a game.

All 10 goals in the game were scored at even strength.

Columbus is now 18-1 lifetime against the Sea Wolves.

The River Dragons host the Blue Ridge Bobcats for Teddy Bear Toss and Ugly Sweater Night Saturday at 7:05 pm. Fans are encouraged to bring a new, unwrapped stuffed toy to the game to toss on the ice when the River Dragons score the first goal of the game. All toys will be distributed to families and organizations in need in the Chattahoochee Valley. Single game seats are on sale now through the Civic Center Box Office and online at TicketMaster.com.

WYTHEVILLE BOBCATS at BATON ROUGE ZYDECO

Bobcats Shutout Zydeco

by Lily Gayle

Baton Rouge, LA - The Baton Rouge Zydeco ended their final 2023 home slate with a 2-0 loss to the Wytheville Bobcats Friday night in the Raising Canes River Center.

The first period did not go the way that either team wanted as both teams earned shots on goal, but no scoring to show for it. The period ended 0-0 for both teams.

The second period ended up being the end of the scoring drought for the Bobcats as were able to get on the board with a goal from Jakub Volf off an assist by Daniel Martin. The scoring for the entirety of the game would end with another goal for the Bobcats by Savva Smirnov with assists by both Martin and Justin Daly. Bobcats go into the intermission up by 2.

The final period of the game was scoreless as both teams added shots on goal to the scoreboard, but Zydeco had no goals to show for it. They ended up beating the Bobcats in shots with 33 as the Wytheville ended with 27.

The Baton Rouge Zydeco will go on the road for a 19 away game slate and will return home to the river center in February. Their next game is Saturday December 16th, against the Mississippi Sea Wolves. The puck drops at 6:05 p.m.

GREEN EARNS FIRST CAREER SHUTOUT, CATS BLANK ZYDECO 2-0

by Brett Wiseman

Baton Rouge, LA -In the final meeting between the FPHL's two newest franchises in Baton Rouge this season, Blue Ridge Bobcats goaltender Connor Green rode the momentum of last Saturday into tonight and earned his first career shutout in a 2-0 victory over the Zydeco.

After a scoreless first period, Jakub Volf netted the game's opening goal at 4:09 of the middle frame, after Danny Martin intercepted a clearing attempt from Davide Asslin and found Volf on the backdoor to beat William Lavalliere.

Savva Smirnov doubled the Bobcats lead late in the second, pouncing on the rebound of a Justin Daly shot and backhanding one past Lavalliere for his third goal in two games.

Danny Martin earned third star honors, assisting on both Blue Ridge goals. Volf earned second star.

Connor Green stopped all 35 Zydeco shots he faced, stonewalling Baton Rouge en route to earning first star honors for his first career shutout.

The Bobcats now head to Columbus to face the River Dragons tomorrow night. Puck drop is set for 7:05 ET with pregame coverage on the Bobcats YouTube channel scheduled to begin at 7:45. Fans at home can attend a watch party for the game at the Apex Center in Wytheville beginning at 6PM.

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