Fury Slips Past Flags, 3-2
February 9, 2007 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Port Huron Flags News Release
(PORT HURON, MICH.) - The Port Huron Flags fell to the league's best team on Friday night, when left wing Mike Watt, of the visiting Muskegon Fury, scored twice in the third to claim the game.
In the teams' two most recent meetings, the Flags have been victorious, taking a shootout at McMorran on Jan. 6 and earning their first road win against the Fury, a week ago on Feb. 2. During the same game, Port Huron heavyweight Rob Snowball was pushed into two fights with Adam Smyth, sparking a rivalry that reared its head again on Friday.
The Flags fell behind early, when Dave Noel-Bernier snuck in a shot behind Noah Ruden, just 3:05 into the game. Justin Kinnunen and Philippe Plante grabbed the assisting honors, as the visitors took the only goal of the frame. Fury skaters outshot the Flags in the first period by a margin of 14 to 6.
Just past two minutes into the second, Snowball and Smyth got tangled up at the boards, and within seconds the first fight of the night broke out. Snowball was assessed with instigating and misconduct penalties, in addition to his five minutes for fighting. Before Smyth and Snowball were done serving their penalties, Chris Bogas forced a turnover near the Flags blue line, and Colt King took advantage of a 2-on-1 offensive strike. He unselfishly set up a brilliant pass to Steve Hildenbrand, who went top shelf over Ryan Cyr's glove, tying the score at 6:07. An interference penalty to Dave Van Drunen gave the Flags a 4-on-3 advantage, and Kris Vernarsky capitalized at 16:40, giving the home team the lead for the first time of the night. Vernarsky was left open behind the net and snatched up a pass from Greg Bullock, split the Fury defenders at the post and potted the goal in the right corner of the net, going over Cyr's glove. Bobby McKillop took the second assist on the go-ahead tally.
Third period action started off on a rough patch for the flags, when Hildenbrand and Bullock were sent to the box five seconds apart, for hooking and high sticking, respectively. During their 5-on-3 advantage, Todd Robinson took a shot that left Ruden sprawling to make the save, and Mike Watt chipped the puck home at 4:40, with Plante receiving the second assist. A scrap in the corners at 6:56 earned the Fury two penalties to Port Huron's one, but it was Watt who would make the most of the situation. He stole the puck at his own blue line, outskated the Flags defenders and one-timed it past Ruden at 8:07 for the shorthanded, unassisted marker. Time proved to be the real enemy, as a Muskegon power play with less than 2 minutes on the clock kept the home team from pulling out a tying goal. Cyr made 19 saves on 21 shots for the win, while Ruden stopped 28 of the Fury's 41 attempts in the loss.
AT&T's first, second and third Stars of the Game were awarded to Watt, Chris Bogas and Plante, respectively. After a road stand at Kalamazoo tomorrow, the Flags return home on Sunday to host the Chicago Hounds for the first contest of the season.
The Port Huron Flags are a community owned, nonprofit member club of the United Hockey League. For more information on the 2006-07 season, contact the front office at (810) 982-3524 or visit the website at www.porthuronflags.net.
International Hockey League 2 Stories from February 9, 2007
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- Woollard carries Quad City to victory over PrairieThunder - Bloomington PrairieThunder
- Jackals Win First Game Under New Coach Gillis - Elmira Jackals
- Fury Slips Past Flags, 3-2 - Port Huron Flags
- UHL loses former owner - IHL 2
- Countdown to Face-Off - Kalamazoo Wings
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