Icehawks fall to Generals is shoot out

Published on March 29, 2008 under International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Port Huron Icehawks News Release


PORT HURON, Mich. - The tenth time was a charm for the Flint Generals on Saturday, as they defeated the Port Huron Icehawks 5-4 in a shootout at McMorran Arena. Prior to the game, the Generals were winless in nine previous shootout contests and the Icehawks were 5-2 in shootout action.

The Generals needed just two shootout rounds to secure the victory, as Greg Bullock

and Jordan Fox both beat Icehawks goalie Marty Magers as the team's first two shooters. Tab Lardner and Brent Hughes missed on their attempts for Port Huron.

The loss came a night after the Icehawks buried the Generals in an 8-2 blowout at McMorran Arena. Despite the defeat, the second place Icehawks picked up a point in the International Hockey League standings and continue to lead third place Flint by five points and lead Muskegon and Kalamazoo, who are tied for fourth, by eight points.

The Icehawks offense ignited early with a Jamie Carroll goal at 4:09 in the first period and a tally from Josh Aspenlind just over a minute later. In the final minute of the stanza, however, Flint answered back with two goals of their own, from Bullock and Martin Ondrej, to tie the game 2-2. Bullock, who returned to the ice tonight after missing the last several weeks due to injury, also assisted on the Ondrej goal.

In the second period, the Icehawks fired 17 shots at Flint goaltender Eric Marvin, but did not find the back of the net until 18:41 when Kris Vernarsky connected on assists from Aspenlind and Tab Lardner to put the Icehawks on top.

Port Huron entered the third period with a 3-2 lead, but Flint's Kris Mallette and Michel Beausoleil both scored in the first ten minutes of the final stanza to boost Flint to a 4-3 lead. As the game came to a close, Jeff Zehr notched his career high 31st goal of the season at 18:09 to send the game into the extra session.

A five minute overtime went scoreless, despite two Port Huron shots on goal and five Flint shots on goal, which sent the game into the shootout round.

Port Huron outshot Flint 42-38 in the loss and has now outshot their opponent in their last nine consecutive games. Flint goalie Eric Marvin stopped 38 of 42 shots for the win, while Magers made 33 saves in the loss.

Port Huron was 0-2 on the power play and Flint was 0-1 on the power play in an unusually quite game that saw just five penalties for a total of ten penalty minutes.

The Icehawks are off tomorrow then face four contests in five days next week, including home games with Bloomington and Muskegon on Wednesday and Friday, a trip to Kalamazoo on Saturday, and a clash with the regular season champion Fort Wayne Komets at home on Sunday.

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International Hockey League 2 Stories from March 29, 2008


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