FPHL Ice Chips - Game Recaps
FPHL Federal Prospects Hockey League

FPHL Ice Chips - Game Recaps

Published on February 14, 2026 under Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL) News Release


BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS at PORT HURON PROWLER

Prowlers Drop First Shootout of the Season

By Will Wiegelman

Port Huron, MI -In their 36th game of the season, they went to a shootout for the first time, but the Port Huron Prowlers fell 6-5 to the Binghamton Black Bears. The Bears won the skills competition 2-1.

For the second straight night, the scoring started in the second period. Matt Graham sent a slap shot on net from the high slot and Lukas Lacny cleaned up the rebound. Less than two minutes later, Ben Brockway sent home his first goal of the season through traffic.

Austin D'Orazio got the Bears on the board with a one-timer that just snuck through later in the period and Jacob Shankar tied it on a two-on-one rush. The Prowlers got the lead back before the break after a long-range power-play goal from Reggie Millette.

"We responded way better today," Millette said. "Our bench is a big factor. When we get scored on, sometimes the bench gets down and it shows on the ice. Today, we were cheering each other on."

Tyson Kirkby flipped the game with two power-play goals 45 seconds apart in the early minutes of the third. The Prowlers tied it again on a rebound goal by Arttu Heikkilä.

"The mentality was significantly better today," Prowlers associate head coach Chris Paulin said. "I think yesterday was a little bit uncharacteristic of our group. Today was much more common for how we handle things here."

With under four minutes to go, Millette picked the top corner over Dominik Tmej's blocker to give Port Huron the lead. But, with 13 seconds left, Binghamton won a faceoff and got the puck to the net where Gehrett Sargis tossed home the rebound.

After an entertaining overtime that featured 10 combined shots, the teams headed to a shootout. Nick Swain and Mac Jansen scored in the first two rounds and Tmej stopped Bobby Price in round three to seal it.

Millette and Lacny finished with three points apiece while Price had two helpers. Reid Cooper made 37 saves.

Jansen, D'Orazio and Kirkby all had four-point nights while Tmej stopped 38 shots.

"I think the execution was a step in the right direction," Paulin said. "We have a long way to go but the guys are building."

The Prowlers hit the road next week for a hugely important series in Topeka against the Scarecrows. All three games can be seen on the PHP Network YouTube channel.

WATERTOWN WOLVES at BLUE RIDGE BOBCATS

Bobcats Cruise To 7-3 Win Over Wolves, Take Regular Season Series

By Brett Wiseman

Wytheville, VA - In the fifth and final meeting between the two empire division foes before a massive Valentine's Night crowd of 2,269 at Hitachi Energy Arena, the Blue Ridge Bobcats rattled off a string of six straight goals en route to a 7-3 win over the Watertown Wolves. The victory gave the Bobcats the overall final edge in the season series, three games to two.

Watertown struck first for the second consecutive night thanks to a power play goal from Steven Klinck. Dustin Jesseau answered to tie the game at the 13:30 mark of the first and things were tied 1-1 after one for the second night in a row.

A five-goal Blue Ridge barrage followed and helped the Bobcats pull away. Nick McHugh started things with his first goal back in a Bobcats uniform at the 4:25 mark of the second. Jesseau followed less than five minutes later with his second of the night, stuffing his own rebound between the pads of Watertown goaltender Matt Lenz to double the lead at 3-1. Martin capped off the middle frame with a power play goal at 18:59 to give the Bobcats a three goal lead heading to the third for the second straight night.

Three more goals followed in the third for Blue Ridge to put an exclamation point on the game and the weekend that saw Blue Ridge outscore Watertown by a whopping total of 19-7. Carson Gallagher tapped home a goal off a great feed from Martin at 5:07. Just 1:27 later, #27 Nick Stuckless struck for his fourth goal of the weekend to push the lead to 6-1. Mike Mercurio converted on a shorthanded breakaway as the icing on the cake at 14:14 of the third to make it 7-1 and ensure victory despite late Wolves man advantage markers from Darion Benchich and Chris Corgan.

The line of Gallagher, Jesseau and Martin combined to earn third, second and first star respectively. Greg Hussey made 26 saves in net for Blue Ridge. Lenz did everything he could and more in between the pipes for Watertown, stopping 57 of 64 Bobcats shots.

Blue Ridge now heads south for a cross-division clash on the shores of the Gulf Coast with the Biloxi Breakers. Puck drop for both games is set for 8:05 EST (7:05 CT) from the Mississippi Coast Coliseum, and fans can tune in along the Blue Ridge Hockey Network on Sporfie, YouTube, Facebook Live, and WCGX.

INDIANA SENTINELS at DANBURY HAT TRICKS

Hat Tricks Rout Sentinels 7-0

By Tyler Platz

Danbury, CT - The Hat Tricks picked up a Valentine's Day win, defeating the Indiana Sentinels 7-0 in a physical matchup where little love was lost between the two teams. Goaltender Kyle Penton recorded his first professional shutout, and forwards Eli Rivers, Kaiden Kandereka, and Anton Rubtsov each recorded three points in the dominant Game 2 victory.

The first period was physical, featuring big hits from Danbury forwards Jordon Kromm and Joshua Tomasi, injuries to multiple Indiana players and a brief scuffle by Hat Tricks defenseman Austin Pickford and Sentinels forward Ethan Esposito.

Just like Game 1, Danbury scored first, when an illegal procedure penalty on the Sentinels' bench at 6:08 sent the Hat Tricks to their second power play of the game. Five seconds into the man advantage, Kandereka found Rivers backdoor for a 1-0 lead. The goal was Rivers' second of the weekend series and extended his point streak to seven games.

In the second period, Danbury's power play unit stayed hot with two more power play goals. Following a hooking call on Bohdan Zinchenko, Rivers found Anton Rubtsov, who slammed a one-timer past Sentinels goaltender John Werber at 15:01 to extend the Hat Tricks' lead to 2-0.

Danbury netted its third power play goal of the night at 6:54, when Kandereka found a loose puck in front of Indiana's net and wristed it past Werber for the 3-0 lead.

Thirty seconds into the third period, the Hat Tricks added another special teams goal - this time shorthanded. After Kandereka turned a loose puck in the defensive zone into a breakaway, Josh Newberg scored on the rebound to extend the lead to 4-0.

Up 4-0, Danbury wasn't finished. At 13:07, just after the Hat Tricks' sixth power play ended, Maxim Maziarchuk found Austan Bellefeuille's point shot rebound backdoor and put it past Werber for the Hat Tricks first even-strength goal of the game to make it 5-0.

Danbury put the Sentinels away with two goals in the final five minutes. With 3:18 remaining, defenseman Greg Susinski scored on a point shot that Werber never saw to make it 6-0. 18 seconds later at 3:00, Bellefeuille scored on a two-on-one rush to make it 7-0, which would stand as the final.

The Hat Tricks travel to Indiana on Friday, Feb. 20 for the second half of their four-game stretch against the Sentinels. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Hat Tricks Shut Out Sentinels 7-0

By Andy Poetzinger

Danbury, CT - The Sentinels were hoping to build on an exciting 3-2 shootout victory on Friday night against the Danbury Hat Tricks, but that would not be the case as Danbury routs Indiana 7-0.

The first period played out very similarly to last night's game where neither team was able to get an edge on one another. It was not until the 13:57 mark when Eli Rivers was left all alone backdoor for a tap in power-play tally to make it 1-0.

Danbury would score two more power-play goals in the second period. The first coming from Anton Rubtsov as he found the puck on his stick in the middle of the ice and ripped a wrist shot over John Werber for his 15th of the season. A little over nine minutes later, Kaiden Kandereka was left alone in the slot and picked the same corner as Rubtsov to make it 3-0 through two periods of play.

The game completely got away from Indiana in the third period as they were unable to muster much offense, and the defensive zone was all out of sorts. Danbury would tally four times with goals from Josh Newberg, Maxim Maziarchuk, Greg Susinski and Austin Bellefeuille to give Danbury the 7-0 victory.

Indiana would go 0-for-6 on the power-play and 5-for-8 on the penalty kill on the evening. John Werber was left out to dry far too often and made 32 saves in the game.

Indiana finally gets to head home and will prepare to take on the same Danbury Hat Tricks next Friday at the Hamilton Community Ice Arena. The puck drops at 7:30pm ET, and the Body Armor Pre-Game Show starts at 7:15 pm with Jim Mirabello and Andy Poetzinger. Catch all the action on the Indiana Sentinels YouTube channel!

BATON ROUGE ZYDECO at COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS

RIVER DRAGONS WIN 10TH STRAIGHT GAME

By Liam Gotimer

Columbus, GA - The Columbus River Dragons defeated the Baton Rouge Zydeco by a final score of 6-1 on Saturday night at the Columbus Civic Center in Columbus, Georgia.

Scoring began at 5:51 of the second period when Matthew Bazarin found the back of the net from the low slot, pouncing on his own rebound to give Baton Rouge a 1-0 lead.

Columbus responded in a big way. The River Dragons tied the game at 7:23 of the second period on a goal by Alex Storjohann, assisted by Tyler Barrow and Kirk Underwood. They then took the lead at 10:36 with a Ryan Hunter power-play goal, and continued to build momentum throughout the period.

At 15:44 of the second, Justin Somero added another goal for Columbus, extending the lead to 3-1 before the end of regulation.

Alexander Jmaeff, Tyler Barrow, and Scott Docherty also lit the lamp for the River Dragons before regulation time expired, helping to secure the dominant 6-1 victory on home ice.

Trevor Babin was stellar in net for the River Dragons, stopping 30 of 31 shots. On the other side, Baton Rouge goaltender Atte Koffey made 37 saves on 43 shots in the loss.

TWIN CITY THUNDERBIRDS at PEE DEE ICECATS

ICECATS DOUBLE UP THUNDERBIRDS 6-3

By Tom Callahan

Florence, SC - Patriks Marcinkevics scored twice and added an assist while brother Dominiks recorded three assists in a 6-3 win over the Twin City Thunderbirds on Saturday night.

With Pee Dee leading 2-1 in the second, Patriks scored twice to open a 4-1 gap and put the Thunderbirds on their heels. Nick Magill-Diaz followed with a power play goal to make it 5-1 and establish a lead Twin City could not overcome.

Vadim Frolov, Houston Wilson, and Alex Legkov also scored in the win as Pee Dee won for the second time in as many days against Twin City.

Notes:

Magill-Diaz recorded his second straight game with a power play goal.

Patriks (2-1-3), Dominiks (0-3-3) and Legkov (1-2-3) all recorded three point nights.

Parker Rutherford won his fifth game of the season with 24 saves.

The two teams wrap the three-in-three Sunday on Faith and Family Day starting at 3:15 pm.

Twin City Drops Road Game to Pee Dee

By Kendall Grayson

Florence, SC - The Twin City Thunderbirds dropped a road game to the Pee Dee IceCats Saturday night at the Florence Center by a final score of 6-3. Jan Salak, Corey Cunningham, and Gus Ford each netted a goal for the Thunderbirds in the loss. Twin City will play another road game against Pee Dee tomorrow afternoon for the final game of the three-game weekend. Puck drop for tomorrow's battle is scheduled for 3:15pm ET.

Vadim Frolov netted an even-strength goal at 8:32 of Saturday's 1st period to give the IceCats a one-goal lead in the showdown. Alexander Legkov and Nick Magill-Diaz notched an assist on the scoring play. Jan Salak scored a game-tying goal for the Thunderbirds with less than five minutes to play in the period. Salak's goal was assisted by Jiri Pestuka and James Farmer. Houston Wilson scored a goal for Pee Dee with less than thirty seconds to play in Saturday's opening period to give the IceCats another one-goal advantage in the matchup. Wilson's goal was netted at 19:31 of the period, and was assisted by Dominiks Marcinkevics and Patriks Marcinkevics. Twin City was outshot by a 13-9 margin in the 1st period, and trailed by a 2-1 score entering the middle period of Saturday's contest.

Patriks Marcinkevics netted a goal at 4:39 of the 2nd period to give Pee Dee a 3-1 lead in the game. Marcinkevics' goal was assisted by Dominiks Marcinkevics and Houston Wilson. Patriks Marcinkevics scored again at 10:44 of the period to put the IceCats ahead by three goals. The Thunderbirds elected to challenge the goal for goalie interference, but the challenge was unsuccessful. Twin City was penalized for delay of game due to the unsuccessful challenge. Nick Magill-Diaz scored a goal on the ensuing powerplay, and the Thunderbirds fell behind by four goals. Alexander Levkov and Dzianis Zaichyk each collected an assist on the scoring play. Chad Purdy entered the game in net for Twin City following the goal. Purdy replaced Boris Babik, who exited the game after Pee Dee's fifth scoring play of the contest. Corey Cunningham scored a powerplay goal at 13:06 of the 2nd period to bring Twin City within three goals of Pee Dee's lead. Josh Labelle and Gus Ford each recorded an assist on the goal. The final goal of Saturday's high-scoring 2nd period was netted by Alexander Legkov. The scoring play was assisted by Domenic Dell Civita and goaltender Parker Rutherford. The Thunderbirds were outshot by a 20-9 margin during the 2nd period, and trailed by a score of 6-2 entering the final period of Saturday night's rivalry matchup.

Gus Ford scored his team-leading twenty-second goal of the season just over one minute into Saturday's 3rd period. The goal was assisted by Jon Buttitta. Twin City was outshot 18-9 in the 3rd period, and 51-27 overall during the matchup.

Boris Babik recorded the loss in net for Twin City, and Parker Rutherford collected the win in goal for Pee Dee. Twin City dropped to 15-19-1 on the 2025-2026 season in the loss.

The Thunderbirds will return to action tomorrow afternoon for the final game of a three-game weekend against the IceCats. Tomorrow afternoon's contest is scheduled to begin at 3:15pm ET. Twin City's next home games will be played back-to-back against the Watertown Wolves on Friday, February 27th and Saturday, February 28th. Puck drop for Friday's game is set for 7:05pm ET, and Saturday's matchup will begin at 6:05pm ET.

ATHENS ROCK LOBSTERS at MONROE MOCCASINS

ROCK LOBSTERS OUTLAST MOCCASINS 6-5 IN SHOOTOUT

By Joseph Furtado

Monroe, LA - The Athens Rock Lobsters rallied multiple times to defeat the Monroe Moccasins 6-5 in a shootout Saturday night at the Civic Center, completing a weekend sweep and moving into first place in the Continental Division standings.

Athens improved to 24-6-0-3-3 on the season and now sits atop the division with 84 points. Monroe fell to 25-6-3-2-0 but earned a point with the overtime loss, giving the Moccasins 82, keeping them in second place. The loss marked Monroe's first three-game losing streak of the season.

The Moccasins started fast in the opening period, taking a 1-0 lead at 11:09 when Jared Christy scored his second of the weekend. Yianni Liarakos doubled the lead on the power play at 13:35, but Athens answered with goals from Daniil Glukharev and Garrett Milan to tie the game at 2-2. Liarakos struck late in the period with eight second left to restore Monroe's lead into the intermission 3-2.

After a scoreless second period, the back-and-forth battle intensified in the third. Devyn Mayea tied the game at 4:32 with a power-play goal before Austin Albrecht put Monroe back in front 4-3. Eric Neiley responded just over a minute later to even the score again; then Dean Balsamo gave the Moccasins a 5-4 lead at 12:56.

Athens answered once more as Milan scored his second goal of the night at 14:44, tying the game 5-5 and forcing overtime. Neither team found a winner in overtime, sending the contest to a shootout. Filip Virgili and Gleb Bandurkin converted for Athens, while Yianni Liarakos scored Monroe's lone shootout goal, securing the 6-5 victory for the Rock Lobsters.

Monroe dropped to 15-4-1-1-0 at home this season and is now 1-4-3 against Athens, which improved to 4-0 at the Civic Center this year following the weekend sweep. The Continental Division race remains tight as both teams continue their push toward the postseason.

Athens Stands Tall in Shootout Against Snakes

By Matteen Zibanejadrad

Monroe, LA -The Athens Rock Lobsters defeated the Monroe Moccasins 6-5 in the shootout Saturday night in the Monroe Civic Center.

The visitors fell behind 2-0 after a breakaway goal from Jared Christy at 11:09 in the first period and then a Yianni Liarakos power-play snipe two minutes later.

Athens struck back with a Daniil Glukharyov backhand lifter into the top shelf past Tyler Masternak. Garrett Milan would tie the game up at two with a forehand-backhand move later on.

With seconds left to go in the first, Liarakos sprung from the penalty box and converted on a solo breakaway to retake the lead right before the first intermission.

A scoreless second period set the game up for an exciting five-goal final frame.

Scoring his second of the season, Devyn Mayea's pop on the power play tied it back up at 3-3.

Veterans Austin Albrecht and Eric Neiley exchanged goals to make it 4-4 with half the period to go.

Dean Balsamo prompted the Snake Pit to believe they struck late enough to secure a regulation win and a path back to the top of the Continental Division, until Milan pulled out some more magic with a right-circle effort.

Overtime would come with a 5-5 scoreline, and the three-on-three was a back-and-forth affair.

Ultimately, the shootout was needed. Carter McPhail saved three out of four shots as Yianni Liarakos scored the lone shootout goal against Athens this year.

Gleb Bandurkin and Filip Virgili scored in sudden death to secure two points and keep Athens on top of the division.

Athens (25-6-5-0, 84 pts) return to Akins Ford Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 10:35 a.m., as the Columbus River Dragons come back into town.

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Federal Prospects Hockey League Stories from February 14, 2026


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