Skvortsov Lead Wildcats Past Bulls
Published on October 7, 2016 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Wichita Falls Wildcats News Release
The Wildcats extracted their pound of flesh from the Amarillo Bulls on Friday night, skating to a 3-2 victory and avenging their defeat to the Bulls in the home opener.
A fairly lopsided start to the game saw the Bulls shoot out to a quick 7-1 edge in shots on goal. Evan Moyse was able to deal with the early onslaught from Amarillo, and eventually the Wildcats struck. After a long shift in the offensive zone against a winded Amarillo squad, Ricky Carballo smashed the puck into the net off a big rebound conceded by Bulls' goaltender Nikita Babintsev. Carballo's line mates Ilya Skvortsov and Steven Tillie were each given assists for keeping the play alive and generating the chance.
Nine seconds after the Wildcats opened the scoring, Steven Ipri scored his second goal in as many games at Kay Yeager this season by firing a wrist shot past Moyse and into the net to tie the game 1-1. The Cats and the Bulls hashed things out in an evenly played remainder of the period. Wichita Falls killed off a penalty in the late stages of the first frame, entering the locker room tied up after the first 20 minutes.
Defenseman Roman Kinal would score his first goal as a Wildcat by blasting a laser into the top right corner of the net and past Babintsev's glove. Amarillo's Captain Matt Nehls would retaliate at the 37:15 mark of the game by sniping Moyse from the deep slot with a seeing-eye shot to re-tie the game up at 2.
Skvortsov put on an offensive clinic all night, tallying three primary assists in the game. On the third, he set up Aleksi Poikola at the end of the second period. Poikola had been robbed twice earlier in the game, but the third time was the charm as he tucked home a quick shot past Babintsev.
The Cats buckled things down in the third period, increasing their forecheck and preventing Amarillo from generating consistent offense. They held the Bulls to just six third period shots. Moyse kept them off the score sheet, and the Wildcats skated away with a 3-2 victory.
Moyse earned his 5th victory of the season, stopping 29 of 31 shots. Babintsev denied 27 of 30 and was charged with his second defeat. The Wildcats will be playing the Shreveport Mudbugs for the first time next Saturday night, October 15th on Back the Blue Jersey Night.
The Wildcats' 24-game point streak at Kay Yeager Coliseum Sunday night, as the Odessa Jackalopes cruised past them for a 7-2 victory.
Despite having Head Coach Tony Curtale and veteran defenseman Domantas Cypas back, the Cats got off to a very slow start. Odessa killed off an early Wichita Falls power play convincingly, just before Nick Klishko and Jake Levin were sprung on a 2-on-1 break. Klishko fed a diagonal pass to Levin, who tucked home the shot for his third goal of the season to give the Jackalopes an early lead. Two minutes later, Brandon Krumpschmid stuffed home a point-blank shot to give Odessa a 2-0 edge.
It was a difficult game for Wildcats goaltender Austin Smith to be making his debut with the team, as he faced numerous odd-man rushes and quality scoring chances to start the game. However, at the 10:02 mark of the first period, Ilya Skvortsov got the crowd roaring with a powerful snap shot from the right circle to cut the Jacks' lead to one. However, the Jacks would answer on their first power play of the game after Christian Hausinger swatted home a rebound past Smith to reinstate a two-goal Odessa lead.
The second period can only be described as a frenzy. After Chase Thudium potted a fourth Jackalopes goal, Seamus Donohue and Riley Bechard dropped the gloves and exchanged punches for a few short seconds before the Wildcats Captain threw Bechard to the ice.
The scrap did not slow the tensions of the game one bit. Wichita Falls' Ethan Daniels and Ricky Carballo got tangled up with Connor Wood and Jake Levin, respectively. All four players were given ten-minute misconduct penalties by the referee in an attempt to get the game under control. He succeeded, as the rest of the second period went without another penalty. Steven Tillie would bring the Cats to within two on a wraparound for his second goal of the season.
Curtale's squad did not have enough juice to continue chipping away at the Jackalopes' lead. Three unanswered goals scored by Chris Donaldson, Hausinger, and Thudium would put the Wildcats away in the final 20 minutes. Odessa's victory was its first at Kay Yeager Coliseum in over two years.
Smith stopped 7 of 10 shots in his Wildcats debut, while Moyse came in relief to deny 11 of 15. Odessa's Jon Flakne made 28 saves on 30 shots, earning his second win of the season. The Wildcats will be back at the KYC on Friday, October 7th to host the Amarillo Bulls. The first 1500 fans through the doors will receive a free team poster sponsored by Parkway Grill.
North American Hockey League Stories from October 7, 2016
- Skvortsov Lead Wildcats Past Bulls - Wichita Falls Wildcats
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