FPHL Ice Chips - Game Recaps
FPHL Federal Prospects Hockey League

FPHL Ice Chips - Game Recaps

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


BINGHAMTON BLACK BEARS at DANBURY HAT TRICKS

DANBURY SHUT OUT ON HOME ICE

By Zak McGinniss

Danbury, CT - For the second consecutive meeting against the Binghamton Black Bears on home ice, the Danbury Hat Tricks failed to find the back of the net, falling to the FPHL's top team by a score of 5-0 on Saturday night at the Danbury Ice Arena.

Coming back home after last night's 4-2 victory over the Watertown Wolves, the Hat Tricks looked to keep the momentum rolling and continue to move up in the standings as they pursue their fifth straight playoff berth. Recording the first two shots on goal of the game, Danbury was dictating play until finding themselves on the penalty kill seven minutes into the game. Kyle Penton made his tenth straight start in goal for Danbury and kept his net empty down a man, but Binghamton had grabbed control of the game and did not relinquish it. Penton was finally beat with 12.7 seconds to go in the period, when Ivan Bondarenko was left alone in front to score his 15th goal of the season, giving Binghamton the 1-0 lead through 20 minutes of play.

The two-time defending champions kept things going in the second period, scoring a pair of goals, including a power play marker, 1:50 apart before the Hat Tricks recorded their second shot on goal of the period over eight minutes in. The Black Bears found the back of the net for a third time in the frame with under two minutes to play to take a 4-0 lead into the second intermission.

Surrendering 4 goals on 21 shots, Penton found himself on the bench to begin the third period, replaced by Ayden Pierce making his professional debut. Pierce, who began the season with Misericordia in the NCAA, stopped the first 13 shots he faced to the cheers of a near capacity crowd at the Danbury Ice Arena. However, Binghamton added an exclamation mark on their 41st victory of the year with another power play goal at the 15:30 mark of the third period and securing their 11th victory in 12 games against Danbury this season 5-0.

With the loss, the Hat Tricks see their playoff hopes continue to dim. With only 8 games remaining in the season, the Hat Tricks currently sit outside the last playoff spot in the Empire Division by 12 points. They will look to turn things around next weekend in an away and "home" series against the Watertown Wolves, with Saturday's game scheduled for a 7:00pm face-off on neutral ice at the Mennen Arena in Morristown, New Jersey.

Zero Goals Allowed this Weekend

By Brooks Hill

Danbury, CT - The Binghamton Black Bears defeated the Danbury Hat Tricks 5-0 on Saturday night. Rookie Brandon Shantz shut out the Hat Tricks in his professional debut, stopping all 26 shots he faced. Binghamton did not allow a goal in the weekend set for the second time this season.

Binghamton was able to score the opening goal in the dying seconds of the opening period. Ivan Bondarenko scored with 12.5 seconds remaining to give the Black Bears a 1-0 lead.

The scoring ramped up in the second period with Binghamton tallying three goals. Bondarenko got his second, and two minutes later Zac Sirota made it 3-0. It was all Black Bears in the middle period that was capped off by one final goal by Gehrett Sargis. After two periods, Binghamton led 4-0.

The Hat Tricks made a change in net to start the third, but the forwards were not able to find any spark from that decision. Binghamton found another power play goal from Mac Jansen but the exclamation point came at the final hour. Brandon Shantz in his professional debut turned away all 26 shots he saw in net, earning him the shutout. Shantz milestone is paired with Tmej's shutout on Friday marking back-to-back shutouts and 0 goals allowed this weekend for Binghamton.

BILOXI BREAKERS at BLUE RIDGE BOBCATS

Hussey Shines in 100th Pro Start, Bobcats Sweep Breakers With 7-2 Win

By Brett Wiseman

Wytheville, VA - Before a crowd of 2,168 at Hitachi Energy Arena, Greg Hussey celebrated his birthday and 100th pro start by making 38 saves and squaring off at center ice with Rahul Sharma late in the third period for the first goalie fight in Bobcats history. The Medford, MA netminder earned first star and did everything and more to carry the Bobcats to a 7-2 win over the visiting Biloxi Breakers and earn a weekend sweep.

Chiwetin Blacksmith opened the scoring for the Breakers just under five minutes in, giving Biloxi their first and only lead of the entire weekend with help from Brendan Spinale. The Bobcats answered with a pair of goals in a 6+ minute span. Robin Eriksson ripped a slap shot off the back boards that caromed in off Sharma's pad to tie the game at 1 at the 7:32 mark of the first. Nikita Kozyrev and Mike Mercurio combined to put the puck on a tee for Demid Podrezov who tapped it in on the backdoor for what would serve as the game winning goal at 13:06 of the opening frame.

Nick Stuckless struck with a wicked wrister at 13:33 of the second to double the lead, followed just 14 seconds later by Podrezov's second goal of the contest. The Bobcats took a 3 goal lead into the third, and despite a second tally for Biloxi from Blacksmith, Blue Ridge never looked back. Justin Daly and Carson Andreoli each netted markers in the final frame, and Damon Furuseth put an exclamation point on the evening with a goal at the 19:36 mark to cap off the 7-2 win.

Kozyrev earned third star for his three assists, giving him 8 total points on the weekend after a 5-point performance on Friday. Andreoli garnered second star for his goal and two helpers on the night.

The Bobcats continue a season-long six game homestand next weekend when they host the Baton Rouge Zydeco for Hockey Tonk Night and Island Night at Hitachi Energy Arena, with both contests slated for 7:30 PM starts.

Birthday Boy Hussey Drops Biloxi

By Devin Dobek

Wytheville, VA - After getting going a little tardy last night, Biloxi was excited to wipe the sheet clean and compete on Saturday night in Wytheville. In a physical battle, 36 year old birthday boy Greg Hussey stopped 38/39 and recorded a fight as Blue Ridge completed a weekend sweep of Biloxi by a final of 7-2.

The Breakers got out to an optimal start to begin period 1, getting early pressure on Bobcats netminder Greg Hussey, celebrating his 36th birthday. At 4:19, Chiwetin Blacksmith opened the scoring at 1-0 with a wrister under the arm of Hussey after forcing a turnover at the blue line. Needing an answer, Blue Ridge began to tilt the ice and generate a large volume of shots on Breakers goaltender Rahul Sharma. At 7:32, a heavy shot from Robin Eriksson went well wide. However, a fortuitous bounce off the end boards ricocheted off the back of the pad of Sharma and in to tie the contest at 1. After the equalizer, Eriksson dropped the gloves on the ensuing draw with Brendan Spinale for a heavyweight tilt, with Spinale coming out on top after an equal exchange of punches. Across the midway point, at 13:06 Michael Mercurio made a slick backhand feed to the slot that was directed into the twine by Demid Podrezov to give the Bobcats a 2-1 advantage. Blue Ridge outshot Biloxi 22-18 in the opening frame.

The second period was a sloppy one for both sides, with 6 total minor penalties and no one cashing in on the powerplay. The next bit of offense would come at 13:33 with Nick Stuckless banging home a mark from the bumper position to extend the 'Cats lead to 2. 14 seconds later, an immediate rush into the zone by Michael Mercurio paved the way for a chaotic feed to the middle that was shoveled home by Demid Podrezov for his 2nd of the night to make it 4-1. On the kill for 8 total minutes in the frame, Biloxi could only muster 7 shots as they headed to the room trailing by 3 and being outshot 37-25.

The third period was entertaining to say the least. It had a slow start until the 6:53 mark, when Justin Daly beat Rahul Sharma over the shoulder with a shot to make it 5-1. Things remained rather docile until 14:56 when Carson Andreoli finished a 2-on-1 break to extend the lead to 5. Moments later after a post-whistle cross check by Danny Martin, Trey Fischer dropped the gloves with the Bobcat captain that brought the tension in the arena to a boil. Things got very chippy after that, with both teams taking advantage of the leeway after the whistle. After Hussey forced a stoppage, and threw a shot at Al Rotiroti, Rahul Sharma summoned him to center for a goalie fight. While Hussey landed more punches, Sharma came out on top. The energy boost led to one last tuck for Chiwetin Blacksmith, his 5th in 5 games as a Breaker to make it 6-2. Biloxi went to one last powerplay moments later, but Damon Furuseth spoiled all the fun with the 3rd shorthanded goal of the weekend to restore the 'Cats lead to 5 again. The scoring stopped at 7-2 Blue Ridge, outshooting Biloxi 48-43 in full time.

The Bobcats improve to 25-20-3 as the Breakers fall to 7-38-1. Blue Ridge will remain home to host the Baton Rouge Zydeco for a pair next weekend as Biloxi finishes their 5 game road trip with a 3 games in 3 days stretch with the Twin City Thunderbirds.

TWIN CITY THUNDERBIRDS at ATHENS ROCK LOBSTERS

Lobsters Answer the Call in 5-3 Win Over Thunderbirds in Front of Record Crowd

By Matteen Zibanejadrad

Athens, GA - The Athens Rock Lobsters defeated the Twin City Thunderbirds 5-3 on First Responders Night in front of a record crowd of 5,920 in attendance at Akins Ford Arena.

The Thunderbirds started the game with more bite than they displayed on Friday night, taking a 2-0 lead in the first with goals from Jan Salak and Roman Kraemer that were separated by just 43 seconds.

In the second period, Athens began to find its venom as well. Carter Shinkaruk banked one in off the back of Boris Babik with a clattering shot off the end boards and back into the crease.

A Joe Mack shot came off the Twin City goaltender and onto the body of Filip Virgili, who scored on the rebound at 15:51 of the middle frame.

In his third game as a Rock Lobster, Gus Ford scored his fifth goal in Athens colors with a tic-tac-toe tally assisted by linemates Garrett Milan and Jesse Lowell.

Twin City struck back at the start of the third with a goal from Zach White just 35 seconds into the final 20 to knot the scoreline back up at 3-3.

Ford restored the lead into an open net after Babik overcommitted on an impressive save; the former Thunderbird continues to haunt his former team with the game-winner for his sixth goal in just three games for Athens.

The insurance goal came from Lowell with an empty-netter from the neutral ice with 19 seconds left in regulation.

Carter McPhail stopped the most shots of his season so far with 45 saves in the 5-3 win.

The Rock Lobsters (30-8-7-0, 104 pts) return to Akins Ford Arena tomorrow afternoon at 4:05 p.m. for the three-in-three finale against the Twin City Thunderbirds.

Thunderbirds Fall to Rock Lobsters 5-3

By Kendall Grayson

Athens, GA - The Twin City Thunderbirds fell to the Athens Rock Lobsters by a final score of 5-3 Saturday night at Akins Ford Arena. Jan Salak, Roman Kraemer, and Zach White each netted a goal for Twin City in the road loss. The Thunderbirds return to action tomorrow afternoon for one final game of the weekend. Puck drop for tomorrow's road game is scheduled for 4:05pm ET.

Jan Salak netted his seventeenth goal of the season at 12:45 of the 1st 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. Roman Kraemer scored his twentieth goal of the year less than one minute later to put Twin City ahead by two goals. Kraemer's goal was netted at 13:28 of the opening period, and was assisted by Zach White and Kayson Gallant. Twin City outshot Athens by a 15-12 margin during the 1st period, and the 2nd period began with the Thunderbirds leading by a score of 2-0.

Carter Shinkaruk netted an even-strength goal at 11:06 of the 2nd period to put Athens on the scoreboard for the first time during Saturday night's contest. Devyn Mayea and Joe Mack each collected an assist on the scoring play. Filip Virgili tied the game with a scoring play at 15:51 of the 2nd period. Joe Mack and Luke Croucher each recorded an assist on the goal. The final goal of Saturday's 2nd period was netted by Gus Ford at 17:47. Ford's goal was assisted by Garrett Milan and Jesse Lowell. Each team recorded 17 shots on goal during the middle period, and the Thunderbirds trailed 3-2 entering the 3rd period.

Zach White netted a goal thirty-five seconds into Saturday's final period to bring the score to 3-3. White's game-tying goal was assisted by Roman Kraemer and Kayson Gallant. Gus Ford scored his second goal of the game with under six minutes to play to give Athens a 4-3 lead. Ford's goal was the game-winning goal, and was assisted by Devyn Mayea and Carter Shinkaruk. The final goal of Saturday's battle was scored into an empty net by Jesse Lowell. The goal was scored with less than twenty seconds remaining in the 3rd period, and was assisted by Garrett Milan and John Kaljian. Twin City outshot Athens by a 16-7 margin during the final period, and overall margin of 48-36 during the matchup.

Boris Babik dropped the game in net for the Thunderbirds in a 31-save-on-35-shot performance. Carter McPhail won the game for the Rock Lobsters by making 45 saves on 48 shots. Twin City fell to 20-25-1 on the 2025-2026 season in the two-goal road loss.

PORT HURON PROWLERS at WATERTOWN WOLVES

Wolves Lose a Heartbreaker

By Jeff Barrett

Watertown, NY -The first game of a two game set between the Wolves and Prowlers took place on this Saturday evening with the Watertown Municipal Arena being the site of the night's battle. With the teams meeting four times previously this season, the Wolves would look to close the gap in a 3-1 edge that the Prowlers hold.

Just 2:17 into the first, Port Huron would strike first on a Luke James goal assisted by Vincent Dekumbis, putting the Prowlers up 1-0.

Marquis Grant-Mentis would strike back for the Wolves at the 11:33 mark tying the game at 1-1 with the assist going to Matthew Gilbert.

Port Huron outshot Watertown 11-8 in the first period.

The Prowlers jumped back to the lead at the 9:24 mark of period two when Austin Fetterly sliced a shot to the back of the goal, assisted by Bobby Price, making it 2-1.

Brett Lockhart extended the Port Huron lead at 13:13 of the frame with the assist belonging to Matt Graham. Putting the Prowler up 3-1.

The Prowler weren't done yet as Blake Anderson added his name to the score sheet at 17:31 assisted by Timothy Organ making the score 4-1.

At the 19:44 mark Yefim Mishkin gave the home town fans something to cheer about when he cut the lead in half off a feed from Egor Filippov, sending the teams to the locker room with Port Huron holding the 4-2 edge, while outshooting Watertown 14-7 in the frame.

At 14:45 of the third, Egor Filippov pulled the Wolves to within one of the Prowlers at 4-3 with the helper going to Gleb Varava.

At 19:24 Filippov got the equalizer and tied the game at 4-4 with the assists going to Darion Benchich and Trevor Neumann.

With the score tied, the game would head to an overtime period where twice the Wolves had to kill off power plays from the Prowlers, before the extra frame ended still tied at 4 each.

In the shootout, Port Huron was able to score on all three of its shooters with goals coming from Brett Lockhart, Luke James, and Austin Fetterly, while only Egor Filipov was able to net for Watertown, and the Prowlers scored the 5-4 win.

The two will battle one more time this season in Watertown on Sunday afternoon with the game slated for 4:30. Doors will open at 3:00, and as always, if you can't get to the arena, you can catch all the action on rumble.com, the exclusive broadcast home of Watertown Wolves Hockey.

Prowlers Clinch Playoffs with Shootout Win

By Will Wiegelman

Watertown, NY -The Port Huron Prowlers officially punched their ticket to the 2026 Commissioner's Cup Playoffs with a 5-4 shootout win over the Watertown Wolves in Watertown on March 14. The win coupled with the Danbury Hat Tricks' loss against Binghamton gave Port Huron the points it needed to clinch.

After killing a penalty for the first two minutes, the Prowlers got to work. 17 seconds after it expired, Luke James took a drop pass and ripped the puck low to open the scoring. The Wolves responded when Marquis Grant-Mentis fired a shot right off a faceoff.

Port Huron built a big lead in the second on goals by Austin Fetterly, Brett Lockhart and Blake Anderson. A late one from Yefim Mishkin gave Watertown life heading into the third.

"I hated the way we played in the second period," said Prowlers associate head coach Chris Paulin. "The second period was as bad of a period as I've seen us play. We talked about it after, I didn't care that we won the period, that makes no difference to me. A couple good finishes doesn't take away all the looping and undisciplined behavior."

With just over five to play, Egor Flippov pulled his team within one and then he tied it with 46 seconds to go.

The Prowlers had two power plays in the extra session and couldn't convert despite five shots so the game went to a shootout. Lockhart and Filippov both scored in round one. James converted in the second and Fetterly sealed it in the third to officially send his team to the playoffs.

"I've been doing similar things in practice," James said. "I actually missed, not going to say where I missed, but it all worked out."

James got credit for the shootout winner as Port Huron won the skills competition 3-1. Bailey Huber made 25 saves and went 1-2 in the shootout.

"It was a no-brainer to put Lockhart and James out there and then Fetterly, eh, I don't know," Paulin joked. "Obviously I'm joking, Fetts was a lock. [Assistant coach] Alex Johnson was very adamant about Lockhart going, he saw something he liked. I really liked James for this particular matchup with the goalie and then Fetts is as automatic as it gets in the shootout."

Filippov and Mishkin each added an assist to their goals. Hlib Varava picked up a pair of assists. Grant Linville got the start and gave up four goals on 20 shots in 37:31 before he was replaced by Ricardo Gonzalez who was a perfect 17 for 17 until the shootout where he went 0-3.

The Prowlers and Wolves wrap up their three-game weekends with a late Sunday afternoon matchup in Watertown. Puck drop is scheduled for 4:30 P.M. and the game can be seen live on the PHP Network YouTube channel.

TOPEKA SCARECROWS at INDIANA SENTINELS

Topeka Falls 5-2, Drops to Fourth Place in Empire

By Jon Kliment

Columbus, IN - Topeka and Indiana reignited their rivalry Saturday night in Columbus as both sides sought out chances for victory. For the Scarecrows the playoffs are within sight coming down to the last four weeks of the season, but they need to find ways to win to give themselves the best shot at success in the postseason. For the Sentinels it's a chance to play spoiler with 7 of their final 11 games coming against Topeka.

Indiana came in having taken notes from their Friday night performance and scored their first goal on an almost replay of a play from the previous night. On a faceoff Filip Tomiczek came across the top of the slot and beat Matt Lenz for the 1-0 lead at 9:11 of the first period. Topeka found a way to come back late with Indiana's Captain in the penalty box on a high sticking minor, Cameron Clark took a pass from Jacob Gagnon and one timed it past John Werber at 19:46 of the frame to tie things up at 1-1.

The Sentinels stormed out in the third period as Cole Oullette scored on a shot taken from the top of the circle just 35 seconds into the period for the 2-1 lead. 1:29 later Dalton Anderson found the net behind Lenz to increase the lead to 3-1. Anderson continued to pour it on at 5:55 of the period scoring a fourth goal for the Sentinels to go up 4-1. Clark found the back of the net on the power play one more time at 14:08 to bring Topeka back to within a pair at 4-2, but 3:24 later Maximus Marek-Tortorella found the back of the cage to give Indiana the 5-2 win.

Lenz stopped 29 of 34 in the loss.

Topeka returns to action tomorrow morning at 11:30pm CT against the Sentinels one final time in this building for the season. Tune in on Youtube and Sporfie.

COLUMBUS RIVER DRAGONS at PEE DEE ICECATS

DEFENSE PROVIDES OFFENSE AS CATS MAKE IT TWO IN A ROW

By Tom Callahan

Florence, SC - Two of the Pee Dee IceCats' four goals came from defensemen in a 4-3 win over the Columbus River Dragons on Saturday night at Florence Center.

Jake Hamilton opened the scoring just under three minutes into the game, and Domenic Della Civita scored at 7:22 of the third period to provide the game winner in a tightly-contested matchup between the division rivals.

Vadim Frolov and Patriks Marcinkevics also scored in the game for Pee Dee, which now pulls 11 points clear of the Twin City Thunderbirds for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Continental Division with the win.

Tyler Barrow, Alex Storjohann and Alexander Jmaeff scored for the River Dragons.

Notes:

Barrow and Marcinkevics both notched their 37th goals of the season, once again tying for the league lead in the category.

Parker Rutherford earned first star honors with 32 saves for his seventh win of the season.

Pee Dee killed off a five minute major power play in the third period to stay ahead 4-3 with 10 minutes remaining in the game.

Hamilton's goal was his first in an IceCats uniform.

The two teams complete their three-game weekend series tomorrow at 3:15 pm at Florence Center.

COLUMBUS DROPS TIGHT 4-3 CONTEST IN FLORENCE

By Liam Gotimer

Florence, SC - The Columbus River Dragons fell to the Pee Dee IceCats, 4-3, on Saturday night at the Florence Center in Florence, South Carolina.

Tyler Roy started in goal for the River Dragons, while Parker Rutherford received the nod for the home side.

The IceCats opened the scoring when Jacob Hamilton beat Roy with a shot from the blue line, giving Pee Dee an early 1-0 lead.

At 8:43 of the opening period, Vadim Frolov doubled the IceCats' advantage, firing a powerful wrist shot past Roy to make it 2-0.

Tyler Barrow, who scored the first goal for the River Dragons in the previous game, did the same again on Saturday night. He finished off a crisp passing sequence with Cody Wickline and Alex Storjohann to put Columbus on the board.

With just 23 seconds remaining in the first period and while shorthanded, Alexander Jmaeff blistered a shot past Rutherford's blocker side to tie the game at 2-2 heading into the intermission.

The teams traded goals during the second period. Patriks Marcinkevics restored the IceCats' lead with an even strength tally, but Storjohann responded for Columbus on the power play to even the score once again.

In the third period, with the game tied, Domenic Della Civita found the back of the net to give the IceCats a 4-3 lead.

Despite receiving a five minute major power play midway through the period and later pulling Roy for the extra attacker, Columbus was unable to find the tying goal.

Roy finished the night with 40 saves in the loss for the River Dragons, while Rutherford earned the win for the IceCats after stopping 33 shots.

Columbus will be back in action tomorrow afternoon at 3:15PM, for another game with Pee Dee. Coverage of the contest begins 30 minutes prior to puck drop on the club's YouTube!

MONROE MOCCASIONS at BATON ROUGE ZYDECO

Zydeco Fall to Moccasins 4-2 in Physical Saturday Night Battle

By Bryan Flores

Baton Rouge, LA - The Baton Rouge Zydeco pushed back late but ultimately fell 4-2 to the Monroe Moccasins on Saturday night at the Raising Cane's River Center.

Monroe struck first midway through the opening period when Andrew Bellant finished a play from Casey Gerstein and Kyler Matthews to give the Moccasins a 1-0 lead. Baton Rouge responded in the second period as Don Carter Jr. buried a chance at 17:24, finishing a setup from Austin Weber and Blake Keller to even the score at 1-1.

The Moccasins answered quickly before the end of the period, as Kyler Matthews restored Monroe's lead with under a minute remaining in the frame, sending the teams into the second intermission with Monroe ahead 2-1.

Early in the third period, Monroe extended its lead when Austin Pick found the back of the net to make it 3-1. Baton Rouge refused to go quietly, pulling within one at 3-2 after Scott Shorrock scored at 3:05 of the third period, assisted by Jake Cox and Tyler Larwood.

The Zydeco pressed for the equalizer late, pulling goaltender Edward Coffey for the extra attacker. However, Monroe sealed the victory with an empty-net goal from Tucker Scantlebury in the final minute.

Coffey made 34 saves on 38 shots in the effort, while Monroe goaltender Tyler Masternak stopped 32 of 34 shots to earn the win. Both teams were unable to convert on the power play, with Baton Rouge going 0-for-5 and Monroe finishing 0-for-3.

With the loss, the Zydeco will close out the weekend series with Monroe tomorrow afternoon at 3:05 and will turn their attention to an upcoming road trip beginning next week in Blue Ridge.

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Federal Prospects Hockey League Stories from March 14, 2026


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