FPHL Ice Chips - Game Recaps
FPHL Federal Prospects Hockey League

FPHL Ice Chips - Game Recaps

Published on March 1, 2026 under Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL) News Release


Game Recaps for the Federal Prospects Hockey League for Sunday, March1, 2026.

View photos, box scores and much more at federalhockey.com

TWIN CITY THUNDERBIRDS at ATHENS ROCK LOBSTERS

Bandurkin's Third-Period Heroics Earns Athens Three Points

By Matteen Zibanejadrad

Athens, GA - The Athens Rock Lobsters defeated the Twin City Thunderbirds 4-2 on Hops n' Hockey Night Sunday afternoon at Akins Ford Arena.

Jan Salak gave the visitors an early advantage at 10:15 of the first period, getting to the net front and batting in a loose puck for his 16th goal of the year.

More than 20 minutes later in the second period, Zach White doubled the lead on a converted breakaway after a whiffed-on shot from the Lobsters.

The Crustaceans would cause chaos in the crease and get one back as Filip Virgili pirouetted a loose puck toward Boris Babik that clattered off of Chris Mott and in.

Jack Johansen ended the wait for his first professional goal in his 43rd game, wristing a rebound into the net with less a minute to go in the middle frame.

Proving to be the third-period hero, Gleb Bandurkin notched two goals in the final 20 minutes to cement all three points for the hosts. His first came at 4:02 as a skipping-stone shot found a way over the goal line and his second at 10:57 with a finish on a backdoor feed from Devyn Mayea.

With a win over the fifth-place team in the Continental Division, Athens' magic number to guarantee a playoff spot now stands at eight points.

The Rock Lobsters (26-8-6-0, 90 pts) travel to Florence, S.C. to reignite their rivalry with the Pee Dee IceCats. Game one drops the puck at 7:15 p.m.

Thunderbirds Drop Road Game to Rock Lobsters

By Kendall Grayson

Athens, GA - The Twin City Thunderbirds dropped a road game to the Athens Rock Lobsters by a final score of 4-2 Sunday evening at Akins Ford Arena. Jan Salak and Zach White each scored a goal during the matchup for Twin City. The Thunderbirds will return to action next weekend with three consecutive road games against the Baton Rouge Zydeco.

Jan Salak netted his sixteenth goal of the season at 10:15 of Sunday's opening period to give the Thunderbirds a one-goal lead in the matchup. The goal was scored even-strength, and was assisted by Nate Keeley and Jon Buttitta. Twin City was outshot by a 12-10 margin during the 1st period, and carried a 1-0 lead into Sunday's 2nd period.

Zach White scored Twin City's third shorthanded goal of the 2025-2026 season at 13:31 of Sunday's middle period to give the Thunderbirds a 2-0 lead in the battle. White's goal was his twenty-first of the season. Athens netted two goals in the final five minutes of Sunday's 2nd period to tie the game at 2-2. Filip Virgili scored an even-strength goal at 15:38 of the 2nd period to cut Twin City's lead in half. Virgili's scoring play was assisted by Kayson Gallant and Carter Shinkaruk. Jack Johansen scored the game-tying goal with less than one minute to play in the 2nd period. The Thunderbirds were outshot by an 18-5 margin in the 2nd period, and Sunday's 3rd period began in a 2-2 tie.

Gleb Bandurkin netted two goals in the 3rd period to give Athens a two-goal victory. Bandurkin's first goal was scored at 4:02 of the final period. Devyn Mayea and Daniil Glukharev each collected an assist on the scoring play. Bandurkin's second goal of the 3rd period was scored at 10:57. Luke Croucher and Devyn Mayea each notched an assist on the goal. Twin City was outshot by a 16-11 margin in the 3rd period, and 46-26 overall during Sunday's contest.

Boris Babik dropped the game in net for the Thunderbirds in a 42-save-on-46-shot effort. Carter McPhail won the game in goal for the Rock Lobsters in a 24-save-on-26-shot performance. Twin City dropped to 18-22-1 on the 2025-2026 season in the road loss.

PORT HURON PROWLERS at INDIANA SENTINELS

Sentinels Defeat Prowlers 3-2 In A High-Octane Game

By Andy Poetzinger

Columbus, IN - There were fireworks early in the first period as Blake Peavey and Connor Bizal dropped the gloves just four seconds into the period. Albeit a short fight, both players got in a shot or two before they lost their balance and the linesmen came in to separate the two.

That fight ignited a flame for the Sentinels bench as they outworked the Prowlers for a majority of the first period. That hard work garnered a powerplay opportunity for the Sentinels who had not scored a goal on the power play in their last forty-eight attempts. Finally, they were able to break the streak with Brendan Bauer picking up his very first FPHL goal. He was set up beautifully by an Ivan Ponivanov pass, and all Bauer had to do was keep his stick along the ice and redirect it into an open cage.

While the Sentinels controlled the pace of play in the first, the Prowlers had their opportunities but were unable to beat John Werber who got his first start since getting pulled last Saturday against Danbury. In that game he gave up three goals on five shots before he was pulled. This afternoon, Werber was calm and poised and held the Prowlers scoreless in the first, making nine saves in the period.

Those moves proved to be a shot in the arm for the Indiana Sentinels as they came out with a fiery first period where they generated plenty of chances and two power play opportunities. However, they were unable to dent the back of the net first as Nick Favaro picked up his first goal in his last twelve games to give the Prowlers a 1-0 lead with 1:47 remaining in the period.

Play opened in the second period with both teams generating chances. The Sentinels had two breakaway opportunities from Filip Tomiczek and Dalton Anderson, both stopped by Bailey Huber. Port Huron had plenty of opportunities, but John Werber was brilliant in the second period, making seventeen saves in the period.

Port Huron would open the scoring in the second period with Blake Anderson's 11th of the season as he cut through the neutral zone and ripped a shot through Maximus Marek-Tortorella's legs and just underneath Werber's arm to tie the game at one. Reggie Millette would give Port Huron their first lead of the afternoon four minutes later. After an incredible stop from Werber lunging with the blocker to his right, Millette found the rebound at the top of the crease and was able to tuck it home for his 12th of the season.

Indiana would answer before the period would close on a hard-working shift from the Sentinels. The puck found Romeo Torain on the far wall where he tossed a shot on net that hit Filip Tomiczek and rolled over the line to tie the game at two for his first goal in the FPHL.

When it looked like the period would be over, the volcano erupted. 64 combined penalty minutes were assessed in the final 28 seconds of the period all due to a fight between Bo Zinchenko and Bryan Parsons, Romeo Torain and Ben Brockway getting ten-minute misconducts, a fight from Ethan Esposito and Matt Graham, two roughing minors and ten-minute misconducts to Jakub Volf and Brett Lockhart.

Tempers subsided in the third period with both teams staying out of the penalty box for the entirety of the period. Indiana struck early in the period with Noah Bradburn recording his first career FPHL goal. Ivan Ponivanov let a shot go from the near wall and Bradburn picked up the puck at the top of the crease and slid it through the five hole of Prowlers goaltender Bailey Huber.

For the remainder of the period, both teams were unable to find ways to generate sustained pressure until the final few minutes where Port Huron turned up the heat being down a goal. Unfortunately for Port Huron, John Werber was in top form this afternoon. Werber would finish the night with 42 saves on 44 shots and picked up his 6th victory of the year, his 3rd against the Prowlers.

Final shots on the evening were 44 to 27 25 in favor of Port Huron. The Sentinels broke their power play drought and finished the game 1-for-6 on the power play while the Prowlers could not convert on their eight power play chances.

Prowlers Perfect Road Trip Bid Spoiled by Sentinels

By Will Wiegelman

Columbus, IN - The Port Huron Prowlers fell one win short of a perfect road trip as they fell to the Indiana Sentinels 3-2 on Sunday afternoon in Columbus, Indiana. Port Huron lost its five-game win streak while Indiana ended its five-game losing streak.

"I give that organization credit," said Prowlers associate head coach Chris Paulin. "They had a good game plan, they stuck to it. They were as disciplined as they could be. They gave themselves a chance, getting grossly out shot, to win a hockey game and they did that."

The Sentinels struck first with a power play goal less than five minutes in. Ivan Ponivanov found Brendan Bauer in front of the net and the rookie tipped home his first pro goal.

The Prowlers answered midway through the second as Blake Anderson stepped over the blue line and ripped a wrist shot past John Werber. Less than four minutes later, a Lukas Lacny shot hit the crossbar and popped high in the air. It dropped in the crease for Reggie Millette to tap home.

Indiana evened it back up in the period's final minute. Romeo Torain's shot hit Filip Tomiczek battling in front. Between that goal and the end of the period, there were two fights and 64 total penalty minutes handed out. Coaches Chris Paulin and Everett Thompson also had a heated exchange.

"I don't know if [Thompson] is in playing shape, but if he wants to play, he can put his gear on and play," Paulin said. "If not, he should zip his lip and coach his team, that's what I think."

With four players in each sin bin entering the third, the Sentinels took the lead again. Noah Bradburn tucked home a rebound for his first pro goal and that rounded out the scoring. Werber stopped all 14 shots he faced in the final period.

Bailey Huber saw his five-start win streak end after making 24 saves.

Tomiczek added an assist to his goal while Ponivanov had two helpers. Werber stopped 41 Prowler shots.

The teams switch venues next weekend for a two game set in Port Huron on March 6 and 7. Puck drop both nights is scheduled for 7:05 P.M. and tickets are available at phprowlers.com/tickets.

"We don't like those guys one bit, and they know that," Anderson said. "They better be ready for Friday because we're coming with a lot more intensity."

PEE DEE ICECATS at BLUE RIDGE BOBCATS

Ice Cats Sweep Weekend, Take Seventh Straight Over Bobcats 4-2

By Brett Wiseman

Wytheville, VA - The Pee Dee Ice Cats swept the weekend against the Blue Ridge Bobcats and won their 7th of the 9 total meetings between the two before a crowd of 2,161 at Hitachi Energy Arena Sunday afternoon.

Blue Ridge started the game on the power play for the second consecutive night and found a way to convert this time, as captain Danny Martin redirected a shot from Stephen Alvo past Breandan Colgan for his 20th tally of the season and put the home side ahead 1-0.

Special teams again ended up being the difference, as 2 Pee Dee power play goals pushed them to a 2 goal win. Patriks Marcinkevics tied the game on the man advantage at 8:23 of the first.

The only two goals of the second period came from the Ice Cats from Dominiks Marcinekvics who potted the eventual game winning goal at 12:43. His marker was followed on the power play by Denis Zaichyk less than three minutes later on the power play at 15:43.

Nick McHugh stuffed home a rebound with Anthony Shrum pulled for the extra attacker to cut Pee Dee's lead to 3-2 with 2:02 remaining in regulation but it was too little too late as Alexander Legkov sealed the deal with an empty netter 61 seconds later.

The Bobcats now travel to Danbury for a divisional battle with the Hat Tricks before returning home to host the Biloxi Breakers.

Check out the Federal Prospects Hockey League Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Federal Prospects Hockey League Stories from March 1, 2026


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central