FPHL Ice Chips - Game Recaps
FPHL Federal Prospects Hockey League

FPHL Ice Chips - Game Recaps

Published on January 23, 2026 under Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL) News Release


WATERTOWN WOLVES at DANBURY HAT TRICKS

RUBTSOV PUNCHES SHOOTOUT WINNER OVER WOLVES

By Tyler Platz

Danbury, CT - The Danbury Hat Tricks earned a much-needed two points, defeating the Watertown Wolves 3-2 in a shootout behind a pair of second-period goals in the Empire Division matchup.

The Hat Tricks had a strong opening two minutes, breaking out cleanly and possessing the puck in Watertown's zone. Despite dictating the early pace, one shot was all the Wolves needed to take a 1-0 lead when forward Chase DiBari beat Danbury goaltender Kyle Penton with a backhand deke at 15:18 of the first period.

DiBari's goal, combined with a threatening but unsuccessful power play following a tripping penalty on Danbury forward Joshua Tomasi, gave the Wolves momentum they carried through the period. Watertown's forecheck fueled that momentum, forcing a pair of dangerous Hat Tricks' turnovers in the defensive zone, but the score remained 1-0 after 20 minutes.

At 11:30 in the second period, Danbury captain Jonny Ruiz similarly scored career goal No. 201 to his 200th, a one-timer from the circle one the man advantage to tie the game 1-1. Much like the Wolves in the first period, the Hat Tricks had a momentum swing of their own in the second after getting on the board.

With control of the game, Danbury extended the lead just over two minutes after evening the score. At 8:50, forward Maxim Maziarchuk scored his first goal as a Hat Trick, hustling through the neutral zone to collect a loose puck, splitting two Wolves defenders and dekeing Watertown goaltender Matt Lenz for a 2-1 lead.

Danbury carried the momentum into the third period, keeping Lenz busy with offensive zone time for most of the frame. A late Wolves push resulted in the tying goal with 1:51 left when Watertown forward Yefim Mishkin put the puck in through traffic. After a review, the goal was confirmed and the game went to overtime.

After a scoreless overtime, highlighted by near goals on a Ruiz breakaway and Konstantin Chernyuk hit post, the game went to a shootout, where Danbury forward Anton Rubtsov beat Lenz with a five-hole to win the game 3-2.

The Hat Tricks travel to Watertown on Saturday for Game 2 of the weekend series. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m.

PEE DEE ICECATS at BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS

Inverse Colors, Same Result

By Cole Parenti

Binghamton, NY - The Binghamton Black Bears and Pee Dee IceCats met for the first time ever inside Visions Veterans Memorial Arena. The game was tightly contested through two periods, but in the third, the home team was able to pull away.

The opening period featured just one goal, which came in the first five minutes. Dominiks Marcinkevics roofed a rebound in tight past Dominik Tmej to give Pee Dee its first lead of the night. The score would hold as the first period ended with the IceCats leading 1-0.

The second period was where the game began to open up, as the Black Bears struck early. Ivan Bondarenko tied the game with a deceptive shot from the boards that beat IceCats netminder Parker Rutherford. Pee Dee responded quickly, as Houston Wilson finished off an odd-man rush to restore the IceCats' one-goal lead. The Black Bears answered once again when Jacob Shankar scored in his first game back from injury. Scott Ramaekers then gave Binghamton its first lead of the night, wiring a shot into the top shelf. The second period seemed destined to end with the Black Bears ahead by one, but in the final minute Marcinkevics scored his second goal of the game, sending the teams into the final period tied 3-3.

The third period belonged to the Black Bears, as the home team scored three times in the final frame. The first came on the power play, with Mac Jansen finishing off an odd-man rush to restore Binghamton's lead. The second also came with the man advantage, as Dan Stone wired a shot from the hash marks to give the Black Bears the first two-goal lead of the game. C.J. Stubbs capped off the scoring with an empty-net tally, as Binghamton secured a 6-3 victory.

Dominik Tmej was stellar once again, stopping 22 of the 25 shots he faced. Parker Rutherford was strong on the other side as well, making 34 saves on 39 shots in the loss. The Black Bears return to action tomorrow night as they face the Pee Dee IceCats once again at home.

BILOXI BREAKERS at ATHENS ROCK LOBSTER

Athens Breaks Its Single-Game Goal Record and Beats Breakers

By Matteen Zibanejadred

Athens, GA - The Athens Rock Lobsters defeated the Biloxi Breakers 12-3 Friday night in Akins Ford Arena, a new single-game goal record in Athens' franchise history.

Making his return from the IR, Kayson Gallant sent a five-hole shot through Rahul Sharma to open up the scoring at 7:58 of the first period.

Eric Neiley took the team lead in goals with another wicked release; a shorthanded, top-shelf laser doubled the host's advantage.

Less than a minute later, Gleb Bandurkin's patience paid off as he glided with the puck through the crease and touching it in to cap off the three-goal first period.

Biloxi made a better effort to trouble Carter McPhail in the second period, netting through Ross Bartlett and Lare Pahtayken with Gallant's second of the night sandwiched in between.

However, the Rock Lobsters ran rampant late in the middle frame, starting with a Carter Shinkaruk snipe of the opposite corner from the tightest of angles.

Garrett Milan would follow suit with a goal that he's been on the hunt for since his last on Dec. 27 against the Pee Dee IceCats.

Finding the puck on the end of his stick, Joe Mack made no mistake down low as he polished off a five-goal frame for the Crustaceans.

The Rock Lobsters were relentless and continued to pile on in the third, with Mack scoring his second, Milan netting two to complete his first hat trick since Feb. 12, 2025 and a poetic goal from Dustin Perillat who made his return from injury.

The 12 goals marks the most in franchise history, besting the team's previous record of 10.

The Rock Lobsters (22-5-5-0, 76 pts) return to Akins Ford Arena next weekend for a three-in-three set. Game one drops the puck against the Pee Dee IceCats on Jan. 30 at 7:05 p.m.

Lobsters Historic Night Drowns Breakers 12-3

By Devin Dobek

Athens, GA - The first meeting between Athens and Biloxi ever was finally here, and the Rock Lobsters were looking to drown the Breakers in their first visit to the Tank. With the help of a Garrett Milan Hat Trick, Athens scored a franchise record 12 goals en route to a dominant 12-3 victory over Biloxi.

Early on to begin the contest both teams took a few moments to feel each other out. There was a good exchange of chances at either end, until Athens went a man-up. Although they didn't cash in on the man advantage, they had taken over the tempo of the game. The possession, zone time, and shots were all heavily tilted for the home team early on. Athens struck first at 7:58, with Kayson Gallant fresh off of IR locating a loose puck and firing it through the five-hole of a sliding Rahul Sharma to make it 1-0. The door of opportunity for Biloxi to grab some momentum came shortly after as Malik Johnson was booked for a slash. However, at 10:42 off a turnover, Eric Neiley caught a pass in the high slot and beat Sharma with a bullet over the blocker side to make it 2-0 with Athens shorthanded. The run wouldn't stop there, as at 11:33 Gleb Bandurkin patiently glided around Rahul Sharma and slid home a tally to make it 3-0. The final 8 minutes was very sloppy, with Athens heading to the room with a 3-0 lead and outshooting Biloxi 24-4.

The middle chapter was littered with offense, with Athens ultimately putting the game on ice by the conclusion. Athens threw the first period 2 punch with Daniil Glukharev completing a beautiful passing play to light the lamp and make it 4-0. At 5:57 the Breakers would answer, with the newest addition Ross Bartlett flipping a rebound chance past McPhail to make it 4-1. Just 27 seconds later Athens answered, with Kayson gallant ripping home his 2nd of the contest to make it 5-1. The Breakers were looking for any way to hold on, and 66 seconds later off a faceoff win in the O-zone Lare Pahtayken whistled a shot past McPhail to make it 5-2. Things remained pretty stagnant both ways until Athens opened up a 3 goals in 3 minutes barrage to pull away. At 14:10, Shinkaruk banged a tic-tac-toe passing play past Sharma to elevate the lead to 6-2. At 16:45, Garrett Milan sprung free on a breakaway and shelved a snapshot to make it 7-2. And then finally at 17:18 Joe Mack wristed a mark home from a low angle with all kinds of chaos by the crease to extend the lead to 8-2. Athens outshot Biloxi 20-12 in their 5-goal period, and led 44-16 in total on the evening.

Period 3 would be more of the same, with Athens dominating from cover to cover. They scored 3 unanswered goals in the opening 5:24 of the 3rd alone. At 1:40, Milan buried another breakaway this time on his backhand, a similar move to his last mark to make it 9-2. At 3:38, in his first game back after a scary hit over a month ago, Dustin Perillat made a beautiful move and shoveled home his own rebound to make it 10-2. Then at 5:24 Joe Mack buried a powerplay tally for his 2nd of the night to make it 11-2. The bright spot for Biloxi came at 10:01 with Darius Davidson sniping a bullet past McPhail for his 9th of the year to make it 11-3. Off the ensuing drop, just 24 seconds later Garrett Milan completed his hat-trick with a half-clapper to the upper 90 to conclude the scoring at 12-3. 12 goals marks a new franchise record in a single game for Athens, and ties the season high scored by a single team in the FPHL this year (Monroe).

The Breakers fall to 6-24-1, and will head back for a long week of practice before a 3 in 3 next weekend with Columbus and then Athens all on the road. Athens improves to 27-5-0, and will stay home to host a 3 in 3 next weekend first for 2 with PeeDee before concluding the season series with Biloxi on Sunday.

TOPEKA SCARECROWS at MONROE MOCCASINS

MOCCASINS EXTEND WIN STREAK TO 17 WITH 4-1 VICTORY OVER TOPEKA

By Joseph Furtado

Monroe, LA- The Monroe Moccasins continued their surge atop the Continental Division on Friday night, extending their winning streak to 17 games with a 4-1 victory over the Topeka Scarecrows at the Monroe Civic Center.

The win kept Monroe in first place in the Continental Division and improved the Moccasins to 24-4-2-2-0 on the season. Monroe also moved to 13-2-0-1-0 on home ice and improved to 3-0 against Topeka; the only Empire Division opponent the Moccasins will face during the regular season.

Monroe struck first early in the opening period when Austin Albrecht opened the scoring at 3:52, finishing a setup from Rasmus Asp and Carlos Fornaris. Topeka responded midway through the period as Trevor Grasby tied the game at 10:10, sending the teams into the intermission tied at 1-1.

The Moccasins took control in the second period; Albrecht netted his second of the night short-handed at 8:54 to give Monroe the lead, before Yianni Liarakos extended it to 3-1 on the power play at 19:26.

The short-handed goal proved especially costly for Topeka, which entered the night having allowed just one short-handed goal all season; the fewest in the FPHL. The Scarecrows surrendered two short-handed goals in the loss, as Andrew Bellant added an empty-net short-handed goal at the end of the third period. Monroe now has 10 short-handed goals on the season.

The Moccasins finished the night outshooting Topeka 45-29 and held the Scarecrows scoreless on the power play, shutting down the league's second-ranked unit.

With the loss, Topeka fell to 15-10-0-4-0. Saturday night's game between the two teams has been canceled due to a winter storm and will be rescheduled at a later date.

Monroe's latest win continued a stretch of dominant play as the Moccasins remain one of the hottest teams in the FPHL heading deeper into the second half of the season.

Moccasins Slither Out With Their 17th Win, 4-1

By Jon Kliment

Monroe, LA- The Scarecrows braved the trip to Monroe despite some bad weather coming. The Moccasins entered Friday night with a 16 game win streak they were desperate to keep going and Topeka was looking to beat the Moccasins after losing two at home right after the Christmas holiday.

Monroe came out firing right away on home ice and peppered Sammy Bernard with 15 first period shots. It was an odd shot from the point though taken by Rasmus Asp that was deflected into the net by Austin Albrecht for his 24th of the season that gave the Moccasins the first lead of the game. Topeka followed up a penalty to Alex Norwinski for a trip with some momentum that lead to Trevor Grasby moving down into the circle and Cory Checco beating the defenseman to the puck, passing it back to Grasby who put the puck right through the 5-hole to tie the game up at 1-1 at 10:10 of the first period.

Though Topeka came out with energy and a drive to the net it was once again Monroe finding the net in the second period. With Topeka on a power play Albrecht came down two on one with Carlos Fornaris and put the puck over the shoulder of Bernard for the 2-1 lead while shorthanded at 8:54 of the second period. In the final minute while on a power play of their own the Moccasins found the net once again as Yianni Liarakos snuck in from the top of the blue line and beat Bernard for a 3-1 lead at 19:26 of the second.

The third period saw quite the attack from Topeka, but they couldn't find the back of the net as it was Monroe finding the back of the empty net on an Andrew Bellant shot for the 4-1 win.

Bernard stopped 41 of 44 in the loss.

Topeka returns home Friday night at 7:05pm to take on the Indiana Sentinels.

TWIN CITY THUNDERBIRDS at BLUE RIDGE BOBCATS

Bobcats Surge In 3rd Period, Hold Off Thunderbirds with 4-2 Win

By Brett Wiseman

Wytheville, VA - In the third of four straight meetings between two of the FPHL's most heated rivals, the Blue Ridge Bobcats used a 3-goal third period surge to outlast the Twin City Thunderbirds by a final score of 4-2 before a crowd of 1,622 at Hitachi Energy Arena on Friday night.

Joe Kennedy, recently re-signed by the Thunderbirds, scored his first goal in nearly two seasons early in the first when he backhanded a deflected puck out of a net-mouth scramble behind Anthony Shrum to open the scoring just over five minutes into the opening frame.

Blue Ridge responded with another goal from the red-hot Dustin Jesseau, who sauced a backhand shot past Boris Babik just over three minutes later to tie the contest at 1.

Both teams battened down their respective hatches defensively, playing an extremely tight-checking contest that remained scoreless for the remainder of the first and entirety of the second.

Jesseau struck again, for his whopping 10th goal in 7 games since joining the Bobcats, sending a wrist shot from the far wing off a Thunderbirds defender and into the net with what served as the game winning goal for Blue Ridge just over five minutes into the final frame.

An absolutely gorgeous passing sequence on a two-man advantage for Blue Ridge doubled their lead less than two minutes later. After penalties on Kennedy and Jacob Schnapp for hooking and slashing respectively 40 seconds apart, the Bobcats has 1:20 of 5-on-3 power play time to work with, and took full advantage. Mike Mercurio made a terrific play to hold the offensive zone along the near side half wall, and sent a tape-to-tape pass from his knees to Nikita Kozyrev, who then fed Nick Stuckless all alone on the backdoor for a one-time blast past Babik.

Corey Cunningham gave Twin City life with a goal just past the halfway mark of the third, but Kozyrev, the game's third star, slammed the door shut by potting an empty netter in the final minute of regulation.

Carson Gallagher's trio of assists earned him second star, and Jesseau's second-consecutive mutli-goal game notched him first star honors on the night. Shrum stopped 25 of 27 shots and picked up the win in net, while Babik did everything he could stopping 36 of 40 in a losing effort.

Both teams complete their four-game two-weekend series tomorrow afternoon with a Saturday pre-snowstorm matinee at 2:30 PM in Winston-Salem before Blue Ridge returns home to host the Danbury Hat Tricks next weekend.

Thunderbirds Drop Road Game to Bobcats

By Kendall Grayson

Wytheville, VA - The Twin City Thunderbirds dropped a road game to the Blue Ridge Bobcats Friday night at Hitachi Energy Arena by a final score of 4-2. Joe Kennedy and Corey Cunningham each netted a goal for Twin City in the loss.

Joe Kennedy gave the Thunderbirds a one-goal lead just over five minutes into Friday's matchup. Jacob Schnapp and Dionne Demke each collected an assist on the scoring play. Dustin Jesseau netted a goal at 8:38 of the 1st period for Blue Ridge to bring the score to 1-1. Carson Gallagher notched an assist on the scoring play. Twin City was outshot by a 13-9 margin during Friday's opening period, and the 2nd period began in a 1-1 tie.

Each team was held off the scoreboard during Friday's middle period, and the 3rd period began with the game tied at 1-1. Blue Ridge outshot Twin City by a 12-8 margin during the 2nd period.

Dustin Jesseau netted his second goal of the game at 5:49 of Friday's 3rd period to give Blue Ridge a 2-1 lead in the matchup. Carson Gallagher and Danny Martin each recorded an assist on the scoring play. Nick Stuckless scored a five-on-three powerplay goal at 7:28 of the period to increase the Bobcats' lead to two goals. Nikita Kozyrev and Michael Mercurio notched an assist on the goal. Twin City answered back with a goal from Corey Cuningham at 11:51 of the 3rd period. Roman Kraemer and Zach White recorded an assist on the goal. Twin City elected to pull goaltender Boris Babik for an extra attacker in the final minutes of Friday's game, but were unable to net the game-tying goal. The final scoring play of the matchup was an empty net goal scored by Nikita Kozyrev with less than one minute to play. Carson Gallagher and Anthony Shrum each collected an assist on the scoring play. Twin City was outshot by a 15-10 margin during the 3rd period, and 40-27 overall in the matchup. The Thunderbirds fell to 12-17-1 in the 2025-2026 regular season in the road loss.

Boris Babik made 36 saves and dropped the game in net for Twin City. Anthony Shrum collected the win in goal for Blue Ridge in a 25-save-on-27-shot performance.

Tomorrow's game between the Thunderbirds and the Bobcats at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena will now begin at 2:30pm ET, instead of the previously advertised start time of 6:05pm ET, due to weather concerns. Doors to the event will open at 1:30pm ET. All tickets for the matchup remain valid for the new 2:30pm ET puck drop. Fans who are unable to attend may exchange their tickets for another home game through their original point of purchase. The promotional elements of NASCAR Night will not take place and will be moved to a later date.

BATON ROUGE ZYDECO at COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS

COLUMBUS WINS THIRD STRAIGHT GAME BY A FINAL SCORE OF 6-4

By Liam Gotimer

Columbus, GA - The Columbus River Dragons defeated the Baton Rouge Zydeco by a final score of 6-4 on Friday night at the Columbus Civic Center in Columbus, Georgia.

Tyler Roy, fresh off his first shutout as a River Dragon, started in net for Columbus, while Ed Coffey got the nod in goal for the Zydeco.

The first period finished scoreless despite three combined penalties between the two teams.

In the second period, the first goal of the game came off the stick of Alex Storjohann, skating in his 200th game as a River Dragon.

At 3:39, Columbus struck again, as captain Kirk Underwood deposited one into the cage.

The Zydeco responded just two minutes later, with Bailey Morissette and Dmitry Kuznetzov each finding the back of the net.

Before the period was out, the River Dragons scored three times. First, Matthew Horan recorded his first professional marker, followed by Storjohann and Underwood each notching their second goals of the evening.

In the third period, Steven Ford brought the Zydeco within two, beating Roy with a seeing-eye shot from the top of the zone.

Josh Colten restored the three-goal advantage with an empty-net tally, putting Columbus ahead 6-3.

Curtis Hansen made it a 6-4 game shortly after Colten's empty-net goal.

Tyler Roy stopped 27 of 31 shots in the win for Columbus, while Ed Coffey suffered the loss for Baton Rouge.

Columbus will be back in action tomorrow, taking on Baton Rouge once again at 7:35 p.m.

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Federal Prospects Hockey League Stories from January 23, 2026


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