Saturday Scores: Rochester Claims East Division Title

New Hampshire 5 @ Danbury 1 - The Danbury Hat Tricks scored first, but five unanswered goals from the New Hampshire Mountain Kings paved the way for their 5-1 road win. Forwards Nicholas Reif and Kim Hilmersson each scored a pair of goals in the win, bringing Reif's season total to eight and Hilmerson's to 21. Forward Alex Gelhar was the third skater to score for the Mountain Kings, his eighth of the season. Three of the goals that New Hampshire slapped were from power play opportunities. New Hampshire was successful in 3 of 7 power plays, increasing their team power play goal total on the season to 53, which ranks as the second most in the NAHL. The one goal Danbury scored was from forward Alexis Billequey, his 14th of the season, the third-most on his team. The win went to New Hampshire goalie Sam Scopa, who was in the net for the Mountain Kings all 60 minutes and saved 23 of 24 shots on goal.

Amarillo 3 @ Colorado 4 (OT) - The Colorado Grit split their two-game series with the Amarillo Wranglers following a 4-3 home overtime win. The Wranglers got on the board first thanks to a goal from forward Alexander Aleslov, but the Grit would answer back in the first period with goals from defensemen Braden Junker and Alexander German. Colorado forward Lucca Ori slapped in another for the Grit, and they led 3-1 heading into the third period. Aleslov scored his second goal in the third period, and forward Daniel Rassega sent the contest to overtime with his fourth goal of the season. The hero for Colorado was forward Sheldon Rioux, who lit the lantern for his tenth goal of the season and his first game-winner.

Elmira 1 @ Rochester 5 - The Rochester Jr Americans have scored five goals in the past three games, extending their winning streak to 12 following a 5-1 home victory over the Elmira Aviators. Forward Owen King and defenseman Gavin Carr started the scoring for the Jr Americans in the first period before forward Calle Karlsson extended the lead to 3-0 with his 31st goal of the season. Elmira forward Jett Otwell answered back on a power play with his 14th goal of the season; however, that's all the Aviators could muster offensively despite having five other power play opportunities. The Jr Americans, however, took full advantage of the power play, scoring on 4 of 7 and taking the lead for the most team power play goals in the NAHL with 53. Forward Adam Gionta capped things off for Rochester and scored two more goals in the third period. This was Gionta's fifth multi-goal game of the season, and in the fourth straight game, scored at least once. 

Johnstown 1 @ New Jersey 4 - The New Jersey Titans came away with a 4-1 home win over the Johnstown Tomahawks thanks to a stifling defense from goalie Austin McNicholas. In his 21st win of the season, McNicholas saved 30 of 31 shots on goal, only letting up to Johnstown forward Adam Csabi in the third period with a four-goal lead. Forward Ryan Novo found the back of the net in the first period for his 23rd goal of the season. Then forwards James Taylor, Jack Hillier, and Owen Leahy each lit the lantern to pull away. The victory was New Jersey's second straight win against Johnstown, a notable outcome as both teams have already clinched playoff spots. 

Maryland 2 @ Philadelphia 6 - After a scoreless first period, the second period would be a different story. In the first minute, Luke Janviriya would light the lamp to take the first lead of the game for the Rebels. Ruslan Jamaldinov would later add on to the lead, along with Brayton Frick, to put Philadelphia up by three. Maryland would cut down on the lead, thanks to a quick response from Luke Janus, and Dylan Gordon would score to put them within one. Nicholas Bianchi would score to add insurance to the lead and Ryan Bunting would finish off the game scoring two goals to lead the Rebels to victory. Owen Crudale would do what he needed to do, making 36 saves on the night.

Springfield 1 @ Chippewa 4 - The goal light would be activated in the second period when Chippewa's Jackson Lackas and Henry Peterson would light the lamp. In the final minutes of the period, Lukas Bellinger would extend the lead to put the Steel up three heading into the final frame. Conner Broadhead would score to cut the lead, but an empty netter from Ryder McIntosh would seal the deal. Devin Shakar would stop 21 of 22 shots on the night.

Lone Star 8 @ Oklahoma 0 - The Brahmas would be firing, with eight different players scoring in this contest. Christian Venticinque, Kyle Isenberg, and August Classon, would get the first period going, scoring on even strength, powerplay, and penalty kill respectively. The second period would be a similar story, with Grant Gostlin, Vladimir Saibel, and Saxton Tess, all lighting the lamp. In the third, Owen Kerr and Emerson Marshall would add powerplay goals and continue to stack on the Brahmas' lead. Ryan Cameron would grab the shutout, making only 11 saves on the night.

Aberdeen 7 @ Minnesota M 4 - Jordan Brothers would get the ball rolling, scoring only minutes into the first. This lead would soon collapse, as Sebastian Lillsund and Cade Moxham would score for the Wings. Deke Davidson would tie the game once again, but a powerplay goal from Luke Backel would have this game tied again. Aberdeen would continue adding to the lead in the second, with goals coming from Jibber Kuhl and Grant Winkler. Brothers would respond with his second of the game. Owen Pitters and Lillsund would score to extend the lead to four, not before a last-minute foal from Arhip Sidarovich finished out the game as a 7-4 win for Aberdeen.

Minot 0 @ Austin 5 - The Austin Bruins roared back from a Friday loss against the Minot Minotauros, shutting out the Tauros. Team-leading scorer Luc Malkhassian put his name on the scoresheet first early in the first. The Bruins with less than four minutes in the first period scored three quick goals. EJ Paddington on the power play scored the first, and John Hirschfeld took his first goal of the season at 18:55. Malkhassian added a second goal to his name with one second left in the first period, making it 4-0 after one period. The final goal of the game came 0:54 into the second period, with Jackson Rilei scoring the Bruins’ second power play goal of the game. Bruins goaltender Carl Axelsson earned the shutout after stopping all 20 shots faced.

Watertown 3 @ North Iowa 2 - The Watertown Shamrocks completed the series sweep over the North Iowa Bulls Saturday evening. A power play midway through the first period helped the Bulls draw first blood, Denis Hodas getting the goal. The Shamrocks tied the game 6:29 in the second period with their own power play goal from Henry Lechner, who scored his first goal of the season. Late in the second period, Ryan Gingher gave the Shamrocks the lead. Entering the third period, another player notched his first goal of the season for the Shamrocks, this time Phoenix Cahill extending the Shamrocks’ lead to two. With the game quickly ending towards a Shamrocks victory, Hodas scored another goal in the final minute to bring the Bulls within one, but it wasn’t enough as the Shamrocks closed out for the win.

St. Cloud 1 @ Bismarck 2 (SO) - The Bismarck Bobcats swept the St. Cloud Norsemen with two shootout victories in two days. Both teams scored their only goals of regulation in the first six minutes: the Norsemen struck first thanks to Hudson Blue and Jakub Kopecky tied the game. The rest of regulation was scoreless, despite both teams registering at least 28 shots on goal. Heading into the shootout after a scoreless overtime, both teams scored with their first skater in the shootout, and it was Alexander Kim who secured the sweep in front of the home crowd.

Janesville 1 @ Minnesota W 8 - A hat trick from Brady Zugec helped the Minnesota Wilderness earn a series split against the Janesville Jets. The Jets held the lead after the first period, the lone goal from Hans Hedlund late. The Wilderness looked to Jakeb Lynch to tie the game in the second, followed 38 seconds later by Frantisek Netusil to take the lead. Ryan Freeman extended the lead to two goals to end the period. The third period was dominated by the Wilderness: two quick goals from Lucas Jendek and Noah Dziver, followed by Zugec with three goals to end regulation and help the Wilderness get revenge for Friday’s loss.

Corpus Christi 8 @ Odessa 4 - A pair of goals from Stepan Kuznetsov would be enough to help the Corpus Christi IceRays defeat the Odessa Jackalopes by a final of 8-4 on Saturday night, earning the weekend split. Just two minutes in, a point blast from Caden Morgan found twine, and the IceRays took an early lead. Just before the midway point of the period, Kowin Belsterling would sneak one through, and the teams would skid into the first intermission tied at a goal apiece. In the second, goals from Troy Pelton, Cooper Conway, Kuznetsov, Max Ranstrom and Matthew Green would stake a rather large IceRays lead, but Belsterling would get one back to cut the deficit to 4 heading into the final frame. In the third, Kuznetsov and Carter Krenke would each score for Corpus Christi, while Gage Martell and Caden Ghiossi would each tally goals for Odessa.

New Mexico 0 @ El Paso 2 - A pair of Kyle Arias goals would be all the El Paso Rhinos needed on Saturday night, defeating the New Mexico Ice Wolves by a final of 2-0, earning an all-important weekend split. In the first, Arias would open the scoring. The next 2 periods would be intense, back and forth action, but a Arias empty net goal with 50 seconds left would seal the deal.  In net, El Paso goaltender Logan Hughes would earn a impressive 25 save shutout, while New Mexico netminder Jackson Fuller would stop 18 of his own.

Wisconsin 5 @ Kenai River 2 - Hunter Hayes logged a four point night with a goal and three helpers as the Wisconsin Windigo grabbed a 5-2 win over the Kenai River Brown Bears. Braydon Beahm, Zachary Cline, Jackson Ernst and Nate Farrell all lit the lamp for the Windigo in the win. Andrew Politoski and Carter McCormick got on the scoreboard for the Brown Bears. Lucas Szyszka bounced back from a tough shootout loss on Friday night to earn the win in between the pipes. Mitchell Mccusker suffered the loss in net as he ended the evening with 20 saves. 

Fairbanks 5 @ Anchorage 1 - Five different goal scorers found the back of the net for Fairbanks as they took down the Wolverines 5-1 on Saturday evening. Kaycee Coyle netted his first goal of the year to open the scoring. Jason Bourdukofsky evened the game early in the second period but after that it was all Ice Dogs as they scored four unanswered. Cam VanSickle grabbed the eventual game winning goal while Oliver Barna adding insurance for the Ice Dogs just before the end of the period. Nick Madsen and Adam Timm netted a pair of goals in 34 seconds to really put this one out of reach as the Ice Dogs coasted the rest of the way. Mason McElroy earned the victory in the blue paint as he made 36 saves. Michael Manzi was given the loss as he made 26 stops. 

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