Mayhem Week in Review (February 18-24)
February 24, 2021 - SPHL (SPHL)
Macon Mayhem News Release
MACON, Ga. - The Macon Mayhem of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) extended their winning streak to five games and claimed sole possession of first place in the league standings with three wins last weekend. In each of the wins, the Mayhem scored only two goals while their defense and goaltending shut the opposition down in the winning effort. Macon shut out Pensacola for the second time in as many Fridays on the road in Florida before returning home and defeating Knoxville in a pair of 2-1 decisions, Saturday in overtime and Sunday in regulation. This week, the Mayhem face the Huntsville Havoc for the first time on home ice and the first time since Macon's season opener back on December 28 on Thursday, with the back end of the home-and-home series at the Von Braun Center on Friday.
CURRENT RECORDS AND STATS
Record: 10-2-2, 22 pts (1st, SPHL)
37 GF, 22 GA - 3 SHGF, 2 SHGA
10.8% PP (5th, SPHL); 95.2% PK (1st, SPHL)
223 PIM (2nd, SPHL); 15.9 PIM/G (1st, SPHL)
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
2/20 - F Mike Gornall signed contract
2/21 - D Joe Colatarci signed tryout contract
2/22 - F Stathis Soumelidis placed on 21-day injured reserve
2/22 - D Casey Johnson loaned to South Carolina (ECHL)
UPCOMING GAMES AND PROMOTIONS
Thursday, February 25 - Huntsville at Macon, 7:30 PM EST (Season Series vs. HSV: 1-0-0)
PROMOTIONS: Thursday is College Night, with "Thirsty Thursday" drink specials all night at concessions!
For the first time all season, the Mayhem will not play either Birmingham or Knoxville at home as they welcome the Huntsville Havoc to the Macon Coliseum on Thursday night. The two teams have only faced each other once all season in Macon's season opener back on December 28, a 2-1 Mayhem win in Huntsville. The Havoc enter this week's games in the middle of the pack in the SPHL standings, one point behind Pensacola for second and four points behind Macon for first; however, the Mayhem still have three games in hand on Huntsville.
Friday, February 26 - Macon at Huntsville, 8:00 PM EST
The Mayhem travel to Huntsville on Friday night for the back end of the home-and-home weekend with the Havoc. Macon returns home for three games to open the month of March before playing three straight on the road in Knoxville and Birmingham the following week.
MAYHEM WEEK IN REVIEW
Friday, February 19 - Macon 2 at Pensacola 0 (Attendance: 1,771)
Goaltender Jake Theut picked up his league-leading second shutout of the season in a 2-0 victory over the first place Pensacola Ice Flyers last night. It was Theut's second goose egg in as many Fridays as he also shut Pensacola out on February 12 in a 5-0 Macon win. It was a couple of the OG Mayhem players who stepped up last night as Stephen Pierog and Jimmy Soper scored to provide all the offense needed for the victory. Theut stopped all 27 shots on goal he faced, while rookie Jack Berry also faced 27 shots on goal in net for Pensacola, stopping 26 of them; Soper's goal was of the empty net variety late in the third period. Both teams were scoreless on the power play as Macon was 0 for 4 and Pensacola was 0 for 6 with the man advantage.
Saturday, February 20 - Knoxville 1 at Macon 2 (OT) (Attendance: 1,749)
For the second straight home game, the Mayhem would end up 2-1 winners in overtime. This time, it was Mason Baptista who rifled home the game-winner past Knoxville goaltender Peter Di Salvo in the extra session to send the season-high crowd of 1,749 home happy. Ray Brice scored the regulation goal shorthanded for the Mayhem, who took sole possession of first place in the SPHL standings with the victory. Jake Theut had his shutout streak of 110 minutes and 14 seconds snapped with a third period Knoxville goal but still picked up his league-best eighth win of the season, stopping 23 of 24 shots. Di Salvo made 40 saves on 42 shots in the regulation tie and overtime loss for the Ice Bears. Macon was 0 for 3 on the power play while Knoxville failed to convert on its only chance with the man advantage.
Sunday, February 21 - Knoxville 1 at Macon 2 (Attendance: 809)
Another home game, another 2-1 win for the Mayhem. This time, however, Macon was able to get it done in regulation for their fifth straight win, fourth straight home victory, and the first SPHL team to hit the double-digit mark in wins this season. Andrew Romano started the scoring in the first period before the Ice Bears tied the game in the second. Ray Brice's second shorthanded goal in as many games turned out to be the game-winner. Ryan Ruck picked up his second win of the season between the pipes for Macon, stopping 36 of 37 shots on goal; Peter Di Salvo made 31 saves on 33 shots in goal for Knoxville. The Ice Bears were 0 for 3 on the power play while the Mayhem finished 0 for 2 with the man advantage.
THREE STARS OF THE WEEK
F Ray Brice - Brice assisted on the game-winning goal Friday night in Pensacola, scored Macon's only regulation goal shorthanded on Saturday, and scored the game-winner, again of the shorthanded variety, on Sunday.
G Jake Theut - Theut picked up his second straight shutout in as many Friday nights with the victory in Pensacola and stopped all but one in Saturday's home win over Knoxville.
F Mason Baptista - Baptista scored the OT game-winner on Saturday and assisted on the game-winner in regulation on Sunday.
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- Mayhem Week in Review (February 18-24) - Macon Mayhem
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