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SPHL Macon Mayhem

Preview: Mayhem at Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs (Game 27)

January 5, 2019 - SPHL (SPHL)
Macon Mayhem News Release


Offensive Struggles Continue

With all the experience and firepower the Mayhem had going into this season, particularly up front, they were expected to be one of the highest-scoring teams in the SPHL. While they certainly lived up to their offensive potential early on, their defensive prowess is what truly propelled them to a record-setting start to their campaign. On occasion, their goaltending and defensive play won them games. They still have allowed the fewest goals-per-game in the league by a long shot.

Lately, however, keeping the puck out of the net has not been carrying Macon to wins. Over the course of their four-game winless drought, the Mayhem have allowed just eight regulation goals, which equates to being even better than their season average. The issue has been scoring, which the Mayhem have done just five times over this span.

Last night on home ice, in their first game of 2019, the Mayhem outshot Roanoke 35-17 and dominated play in the early stages. They did run into a hot goaltender in Tanner Creel, but missed opportunities were simply rampant yesterday.

The Matchup

In back-to-back games now, the Mayhem have heavily outshot the Rail Yard Dawgs and still ended up on the losing side. Last Saturday night in Roanoke, the Mayhem allowed just 16 shots on goal, which is the fewest the team has allowed in a single game in franchise history. Even then, they could not muster a point in the standings.

This season, the Mayhem have not been a particularly high-shooting team, but they have been great at converting their opportunities to goals up until quite recently. Against a Roanoke squad which has now edged them three games in a row, Macon can turn around their misfortune and snap their longest winless skid in franchise history. Should the Rail Yard Dawgs prevail tonight, the season series will be even at four games apiece. This will be their last matchup of the regular season.

Missing Pieces

While the Mayhem have had their frustrations recently and are not making excuses for themselves, one can't help but to look at their roster from opening night and cringe at the amount of talent they've lost in the past two months. They lost their highest-scoring defenseman Brandon Fehd, fellow defensemen Zach Urban and Jake Faiella to the ECHL. They lost three goaltenders, as well. More recently, they've been losing their forwards. Dakota Klecha went down with a wrist injury in early December. Sam Wilbur was called up by the Tulsa Oilers. And, of course, Jake Trask was unavailable last night due to a personal matter. Three of the Mayhem's top five scorers were not in the lineup yesterday, and likely won't be for some time. Without some of these key offensive players who led Macon's attack for the start of the campaign, the Mayhem will have to band together and find contributions from throughout their lineup.

Arcade Night / 90s Night

Next Friday, the Mayhem will host the Birmingham Bulls on Video Game/Arcade Night, presented by The Creek FM. Fans can enjoy an arcade atmosphere with video games from Reboot in the lobby of the Centreplex. Everyone's favorite classic video games will be there.

On Saturday, January 12th, the Mayhem will be sporting specialty jerseys on 90s Night. The jerseys will be Simpsons-themed and will be sold off at a live auction in the Macon Centreplex lobby immediately after the game. Saturday is also a Family 4-Pack Night, presented by Amici.

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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.

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