Saturday Scores: High scoring affairs all around

Danbury 10 @ New Hampshire 5 - Danbury and New Hampshire exploded for 15 total goals in a 10-5 Hat Trick win. The scoring did not open until 9:03 into the first period as Danbury’s Chance Uzzell potted his second of the year. The Mountain Kings swiftly returned fire with a pair of goals. Cole Roenick evened the game at one before Jack MacDonald gave New Hampshire the lead on the power play with his 11 th goal of the season. Danbury then tied the score back up with an Andrew Gibbons goal. It was Gibbons’ 11 th goal. Ryan Lukko capped off the five-goal opening frame with his fourth of the year to give the Hat Tricks a 3-2 lead. Danbury began the second period with a pair of quick goals. Uzzell and Gibbons each tallied their second of the game to push Danbury’s lead to 5-2. New Hampshire would not go away, though. William-Francisco Parent grabbed his sixth of the season before Oli Genest scored his team-high 26 th goal. Mountain Kings were back within one after 40 minutes. The game did not stay close for long as Danbury rattled off five consecutive goals in just 5:56 to blow the game open in the final frame. Uzzell scored first in the frame to finish off his hat trick before Niko Tournas extended his team-lead in goals to 15. Ben Dempster, Alexis Billequey and Luke Golisano also added goals for the Hat Tricks. Jaden Davis’ fifth of the year for New Hampshire finished the scoring and pushed the score to its 10-5 final. Tyler Spokane stopped 24 of 29 shots he faced for Danbury in the win while Sebastian Bodnar made 35 saves for New Hampshire. The Hat Tricks increase their point total to 20 but still sit in the basement of the East Division. The Mountain Kings sit in fifth place in the East with 29 points, one ahead of sixth place Johnstown and two behind both New Jersey and Maine.

New Mexico 2 @ Colorado 3 - Colorado rode a two-goal performance from George Poirier to a win over New Mexico. Poirier began his solid game almost immediately as he scored just 81 seconds into the game. However, the Ice Wolves answered back fast. Johnny Johannson netted his fourth of the season a mere 28 seconds later to bring the game back level. The game remained scoreless for the next 37:12 before Poirier struck again. The goal put him into the solo team lead in scoring. Colorado added a third goal early in the third period as Lucas Mann tallied his first of the season. The Ice Wolves pulled back within one with an Andrew Earl goal but only 11 seconds remained in the game. The Grit escaped New Mexico with a one-goal victory. Jack Erickson stopped 43 of 45 shots he faced for Colorado while Gavin Schahn made 21 saves for the Ice Wolves. The win lifted the Grit over the Ice Wolves in the standings for the moment. Sixth place Colorado has 24 points in 26 games played while New Mexico has tallied 23 points in 25 games.

Rochester 5 @ Johnstown 4 - Rochester outlasted Johnstown in a high-scoring, 5-4 thriller. The Jr Americans opened the scoring early in the first period on the power play. Calle Karlsson netted his team-leading 14 th goal of the year just over two minutes into the game. Rochester then struck again later in the frame thanks to Landon Brownlee’s eighth of the season. However, the Tomahawks pulled one back just 17 seconds later. Charlie Zetterkvist’s goal cut the deficit to 2-1 after one. Rochester’s Gabriel Cull opened the second period extending their lead back to two. Johnstown then punched back again, scoring the next two goals. Adam Ondris potted his team-high 13 th goal of the season before Lukas Klemm tied the game. The Jr Americans took the lead back with under a minute to go in the middle frame with Alex Zakrzewski’s second goal. Rochester opened the third with yet another quick goal. Owen King’s 11 th would be the winning goal and temporarily put his side up two. Ryan Flaherty’s 12 th pulled Johnstown back within one shortly after, but the Jr Americans held for the rest of the game. Danick Leroux only needed to stop 12 shots in the victory while Zack Ferris made 22 saves. Rochester remained atop the East Division with 37 points as Johnstown drops to sixth. The Jr. Americans are two points clear of Maryland at the top. The Tomahawks sit one point behind New Hampshire and two points ahead of Elmira.

Kenai River 5 @ Springfield 4 - Kenai River rode a big second period to victory in Springfield. The Brown Bears opened the scoring as Greye Rampton scored on the power play 13:18 into the period. The goal was his ninth and tied him for the team lead. The offense broke the game open midway through the middle frame. Owen Lowe scored for Springfield to tie the game at 7:44. Kenai River then rattled off four consecutive goals. Luke Hause, Dario Lass and Jack Clarke scored three times in 1:08 to suddenly give the Brown Bears a 4-1 lead. Carter McCormick added the final Kenai River tally on the power play six minutes later. Gaige Giblin would salvage a goal with 1:02 remaining in the second but his team still trailed 5-2. Springfield continued to fight in the final period. Jack Klevby found the back of the net before Jagur McClelland netted his team-leading 12 th tally. The third-period push would not be enough as the Brown Bears held on for the one-goal win. Mitchell McCusker made 18 saves in the win for the Brown Bears while the Jr. Blues had a pair of goaltenders combined for 26 saves. Frank Murphy stopped 16 of 17 shots in relief of Matt Schoephoerster in the loss. Kenai River climbed closer to a playoff spot with the win. The Brown Bears currently sit in seventh place in the Midwest Division, tied with Chippewa with 25 points while sitting one point behind fifth-place Springfield and two points behind fourth-place Minnesota.

Austin 2 @ St. Cloud 1 (SO) -  Austin grabbed the extra point, defeating St. Cloud in a shootout. The goaltenders showed out in the game combining for 55 saves in open play. EJ Paddington opened the scoring for the Bruins just 58 seconds into the game. It was Paddington’s 14 th goal of the season. The score stayed at 1-0 until early in the third period. Tyler Wishart tied the game on the power play 2:44 into the final frame with his fourth of the year. The teams moved to a shootout tied at one apiece. Auston took the shootout 2-1 in seven rounds with Zander Lipsett tallying the winning goal. Carl Axelsson stopped 27/28 shots in the Bruin win while Beck Liden made 28 saves in 29 opportunities for the Norsemen. Austin remains in second place with 39 points following the win. The Bruins are six points behind first place Bismark and four points ahead of third place Minot. St. Cloud sits comfortably in fifth in the Central Division. The Norsemen’s 28 points put them seven ahead of North Iowa and five behind Aberdeen.

Northeast 4 @ Maryland 7 - Maryland rode four power play goals to victory over Northeast. However, the Generals opened the scoring only 1:26 into the game. It was Grady Logue’s seventh of the season. The Black Bears tied the game at one thanks to Trey Hinton’s fourth of the year. Northeast punched back on the power play just 2 minutes later. Vinny Ipri scored the goal. Hinton ended the first with his second goal of the period, this time with a two-man advantage. The Black Bears remained on the power play to begin the second and again capitalized. David Van Iterson was credited with his first goal of 2024. Maryland continued to surge, finding two more goals in the middle frame. Dylan Gordon’s third and Victor Mannebratt’s fourth tallies on the season pushed their team’s lead to 5-2 after 40 minutes. Hinton then struck again 9:33 into the third period, completing his hat trick. Northeast finally fought back in the middle part of the final 20 minutes. Rich Rucierto scored his team-leading 12 th goal before Kai Dunits notched his second. Kareen El Bashir finished the scoring with his ninth just 29 seconds after Dunits to set the score to its 7-4 final. Ryan Denes stopped 34 of 38 shots he saw in the win while Ryan Nolan and Nathan McFall saved a combined 23 shots. Maryland keeps pace with Rochester in the East Division. The second-place Black Bears have 35 points and sit two behind Rochester. Northeast drops to ninth place with 24 points, now one point behind Philadelphia and two behind Elmira.

Maine 1 @ Philadelphia 2 - Owen Crudale’s 48 saves propelled Philadelphia over Maine. Crudale’s only mistake came in the first period as Usko Lassksonen scored his fifth goal of the year. The shot would be the only of Maine’s 49 that made it passed the Rebel goaltender. Philadelphia tied the game midway through the second period as Lucas Minard scored his first of the year. Brock Jones found the game-winning goal early in the third. It was Jones’ fourth of the season. Carter Richardson also played well in net for the Nordiques stopping 23 of the 25 shots he faced. Philly jumps up to eighth place in the East Division collecting their 25th point of the year. The Rebels are one point ahead of Northeast and one point behind Elmira. Maine remains tied with New Jersey for third in the East with 31 points.

Bismarck 5 @ Watertown 0 - Bismark continued their dominance of the Central Division, dominating Watertown. Julian Beaumont broke the ice 6:24 into the first with his sixth goal of the year before Chase Reid grabbed his sixth later in the period. The Bobcats led by a pair after 20 minutes. The second period looked like the first. Nick Snyder and Josh Lehto each found the back of the net to double the Bismark lead. Evan Hunter potted the game’s final goal late in the third period to push the score to its 5-0 final. Tomas Anderson stopped all 19 shots he faced in the win. Watertown’s River Leslie-Toogood stopped 18 of 21 shots he faced while Phileas Lachat made 12 saves in 14 opportunities for the Shamrocks. Bismark remains atop the Central with 35 points. The Bobcats are six points ahead of Austin. Watertown sits last in the division with 11 points.

Anchorage 5 @ Wisconsin 3 - The Anchorage Wolverines completed the weekend sweep of the Wisconsin Windigo Saturday evening.The first period almost went scoreless, but Elliot Gulley scored for the Windigo with 13 seconds left to get the 1-0 lead after 20 minutes. An early goal in the second period from Beau Kralovec doubled that lead, but in three minutes the Wolverines scored three unanswered goals to take the lead. The first from Jason Bourdukofsky and two goals from Cole Christian. Like the last period, the third period had the Windigo score early again, this time from Martin Klicka. In a tied game, the Wolverines took the lead halfway in the third period from Samuel Evert, and he scored his second of the game in the final minutes on an empty-net goal.

Minnesota W. 7 @ Janesville 2 - The Minnesota Wilderness never took their foot off the gas in the win over the Janesville Jets. The Wilderness jumped to a 2-0 lead after Noah Dziver and Avery Anderson. James Taylor gave the Jets their first goal of the game early in the second period, but the Wilderness responded with two more goals of their own from Jakeb Lynch and Lucas Jendek, making it 4-1 Wilderness with 20 minutes left in play. The Jets only scored one more goal, Joseph Hyten getting his second of the season, but it wasn’t enough as the Wilderness kept up their scoring prowess. Zach Homer, Payton Struck, and Caleb Kim all contributed their own goals in the 7-2 victory during the final period. Wilderness goaltender Niklas Erickson stopped 37 of 39 shots faced.

Aberdeen 7 @ North Iowa 4 - The North Iowa Bulls were swept this weekend by the Aberdeen Wings. Despite only getting seven shots on goal in the first period, the Bulls made the most of it, finding the back of the net twice with Fuji Suzuki and Anthony McIntosh each scoring goals. The period ended 2-1 Bulls with the Wings scoring from Sebastian Lillsund. The Wings offense exploded in the second period, scoring three unanswered goals. Gustas Zemaitis began the scoring, and Ryan Flaherty and Brady Estabrook scored less than 30 seconds apart. Now finding themselves down 4-2, Michael Malatino cut the lead down to one late in the period. The third period was a repeat of the second, three more goals for the Wings from Ishan Mittoo, Cade Moxham, and Mathew Martin-Gaudreault. Parker Osborn scored the Bulls’ final goal of the game.

Lone Star 2 @ Odessa 3 (SO) - In a high pressure shootout, the Odessa Jackalopes prevailed over the reigning Robertson Cup Champion Lone Star Brahmas. The Brahmas held the lead for most of the game, scoring the only goals in the first two periods from Owen Kerr and Charlie Masek. In the final six minutes of regulation, the Jackalopes’ power play unit scored two goals. Kowin Belsterling scored first, and David Hamr notched his goal in the final minute, both unassisted. In the shootout after a scoreless overtime period, Caden Ghiossi would win it for the Jackalopes in a much needed victory.

Fairbanks 5 @ Chippewa 0 - The Chippewa Steel were shutout by the Fairbanks Ice Dogs Saturday evening. The Steel found themselves on the penalty kill nine times, which contributed to them not being able to get offensive pressure. The first goal of the game came in the second period, a power play goal from Adam Timm. Luc Plante doubled the score 13 minutes later, and Cole Burke notched the Ice Dogs’ second power play goal of the game to end the period. The scoring didn’t stop in the third period, Kyle Rohrer and Gage Leonard each joining the scoring to cap off the victory. Ice Dogs goaltender Charlie Menard was credited with the shutout, stopping all 17 shots faced.

Oklahoma 4 @ Corpus Christi 8 - The Corpus Christi IceRays unleashed five goals in the final ten minutes of play against the Oklahoma Warriors to win in a decisive win. The Warriors struck first midway in the second period, jumping to an early 2-0 lead with goals from Trent Burlison and Sebastian Speck. Both teams would enter the third period tied, however after Grayson Gerhard and Troy Pelton scored back-to-back power play goals for the Ice Rays. The beginning of the third period was a trading of goals. Travis Bryson scored first for the Warriors, and Cooper Conway responded for the IceRays, followed shortly after by Kyle Sorensen. The last ten minutes of play was a barrage of goals by the IceRays. Gerhard, Peloton, Cody Kempf, Raymond Perrault, and Jackson Wade all contributed in the final minutes of play to win it for the IceRays.

Minnesota M. 1 @ Minot 4 - The Minot Minotauros off a hat trick from Billy Batten got the victory over the Minnesota Mallards. The Mallards only goal of the game was the first by both teams, Mitch Vanderway on an unassisted goal. The next three goals were all from Batten, the first two within 21 seconds of each other, and the third in the beginning minutes of the second period. The final and game winning goal came from Adam Mahler late in the second period. Batten led all teams in scoring with three goals, and goaltender Lukas Swedin blocked 37 of 38 shots in the win. Mallards goaltender Zane Spaniol blocked 30 of 34 shots.

Shreveport 3 @ El Paso 2 - The Shreveport Mudbugs relied all on one player for their scoring on Saturday in the win over the El Paso Rhinos. The Rhinos scored first off a Duke Gentzlerm goal, but the Mudbugs tied it minutes later from Brent Litchard. The second period was a repeat of the first, Gentzler and Litchard trading goals for their respective teams. Going into the third period tied, Litchard earned himself a hat trick to cap a tight race between both teams.