Friday Finals: The Ice Dogs snap Springfield’s four-game heater

Maryland 4 @ Elmira 3 (OT) - The Elmira Aviators hosted the Maryland Black Bears for their fifth matchup of the season. Maryland had won three of their previous four matchups. During the first period, when the Black Bears were on the penalty kill, forward Ryan Franks scored a shorthanded goal at 12:35. Franks proceeded to score two more goals in the first period at 10:10 and 5:57 for a natural hat trick. With the Black Bears leading by three, the Aviators managed to narrow Maryland’s lead by the end of the first period. Elmira forward Jack Kohlmann scored at 4:19, and forward Maximus McGuire scored at 1:33, which closed down Maryland’s lead to one goal. In the second period, the Aviators were able to tie up the score with a goal from forward Jack Baratta at 11:28 for the only goal of the period. The third period would end scoreless, resulting in the game heading to overtime. During overtime, Maryland forward Harrison Smith would win the game with a goal at 4:19, extending the Black Bears’ season record against the Aviators to four wins against one. Ryan Denes started in net for Maryland and made 29 saves on 32 shots. Aiden McKenna started in net for Elmira and made 27 saves on 31 shots.

Philadelphia 3 @ New Hampshire 4 (OT) - The New Hampshire Mountain Kings hosted the Philadelphia Rebels for their fifth matchup of the season. Philadelphia had won three of their previous four matchups. In the first period, the only goal of the period came from the Rebels’ power play, with a goal from forward Jordan Brothers at 10:18. In the second period, New Hampshire tied up the score with a goal from forward Ronnie Hill at 17:59. Philadelphia would proceed to capitalize on their power play with a goal from defenseman Joe Stauber at 16:21. New Hampshire would even up the score once again with a goal from Hill at 9:32. The Rebels and Mountain Kings would remain evenly matched throughout the third period. Philadelphia would strike first, with a goal from forward Dylan Moran at 16:08. New Hampshire would even up the score with a goal from forward Alex Gelhar at 7:15. The game would head into overtime, and New Hampshire proceeded to win the game with the game-winning goal from forward Thomas Malawski with 57 seconds remaining in overtime. Nolan Francis started in net for the Mountain Kings and made 18 saves on 21 shots. Ben Varsa started in net for the Rebels and made 33 saves on 37 shots.

Maine 2 @ Danbury 1 - The Danbury Hat Tricks hosted the Maine Nordiques for their first matchup of the season. The Nordiques had lost their previous game, and the Hat Tricks had a three-game losing streak. In the first period, the only goal of the period came from Maine’s power play, with a goal from forward Alex Sandhu at 8:56. No goals were scored in the second period, and the third period began with Maine leading 1-0. In the third period, Nordiques forward Marshall McCharles scored at 13:24 to give the Nordiques a two-goal lead. Danbury scored their first goal of the game a few seconds later with a goal from forward Jeremy Sprung at 13:07. Danbury would pull their goalie in the last two minutes of the game in hopes of evening the score, but they were not able to capitalize

with the extra attacker on. Maine proceeded to win the game 2-1. Lukas Fursten started in the net for the Nordiques and made 28 saves on 29 shots. Jon Dukaric started in net for the Hat Tricks and made 31 saves on 33 shots.

Anchorage 6 @ Chippewa 7 (SO) - The Chippewa Steel stood strong on home ice in a back-and-forth contest against the Anchorage Wolverines that needed a shootout to decide. After a late push from the Wolverines, the Steel found some clutch goal scoring that ultimately led to their victory. Mason Johnson got the night started with a sharp-angle shot that beat the goaltender up high to give Chippewa the early lead. Less than a minute later, Mario Solarte followed to double the Steel lead. Duke Gentzler scored for the Wolverines on the man advantage, but Lucas Mann came right back with a goal minutes later to reextend the lead. Chase Trompeter cut the lead to one after getting left open in the slot and potting a wrister, but again that momentum was broken thanks to Trevor Brodie scoring the fourth Chippewa goal on the power play. The Wolverines needed some second-period scoring to claw away at the lead, and that they got. Cole Frawner broke loose on a breakaway and busted out some silky mitts to beat the goaltender and cut the lead in half. 12 minutes elapsed with no scoring until Luc Bydal and Gentzler combined for a nice passing play that led to the tying goal. Although the Wolverines certainly intended to leave the second period with the lead, or at least a tied game, Ryan Murphy spoiled that goal with just three seconds remaining in the period to give the Steel the lead. Much like the second period, the Wolverines got the third started with two shorthanded tallies from Caleb Mahar. With the score set at 6-5 and ten minutes remaining, Murphy found the late goal again to send the game to overtime, which then resulted in a shootout. Zach Stahl shut the door in the shootout, which gave way to Murphy scoring the lone goal to win the game for the Steel. In a game that features a lot of goal scoring and a severe struggle to establish momentum, it sometimes takes one person to step up and be the hero when it matters most. Tonight, it was the 20-year-old Ryan Murphy scoring goals two and three on the season, both of which tied the game, as well as the lone goal of the shootout. These contributions from Murphy, as well as some exemplary goaltending in the shootout, ultimately allowed the Steel to leave victorious.

Minnesota M 2 @ Watertown 5 - The Watertown Shamrocks kicked off their 2026 with a gutsy 5-2 win over the Minnesota Mallards. After dominating the first period, the Shamrocks slowly but surely finished off the opposing Mallards for the remainder of the contest. Owen Fask broke the seal not even five minutes into the game with a nifty wrister over the right pad of the goaltender. Two minutes later, Jordan Gudridge took a shot from the point that caught Zach Boren for the second Shamrock goal from a favorable deflection. 24 seconds left in the first frame, and it was Jakov Matijevic giving the Shamrocks the 3-0 lead heading into the first intermission. The next goal was an important one, and unfortunately for the Mallards, it was Boren again for the Shamrocks, extending their lead to four on the power play. 24 seconds later, Beckett Hinchsliff responded to get the much-awaited first tally for Minnesota. In the dying moments of the second period, Jake Pietila found himself with the puck on his stick alone in front of the net and potted the fifth Shamrock goal. Mitch Vanderway gave the Mallards some hope with a mid-period goal, but no further progress was made, and the contest ended at 5-2 in favor of the Shamrocks. Despite the score looking lopsided, the game on paper was quite even. Both teams logged a similar number of penalty minutes and shot totals; however, only the Shamrocks were able to capitalize, and they did so early. Once they clinched the early multi-goal lead, they did a stellar job at both building on it and continuing to stifle their opponents' attempts and getting back into the game.

Fairbanks 3 @ Springfield 1 - The Fairbanks Ice Dogs spoiled the Springfield Jr. Blues' 2026 home opener with a statement 3-1 victory to maintain sole possession of the second-place spot in the Midwest division. Despite falling behind in a game that they seemed to have been controlling, Fairbanks scored three unanswered third-period goals to secure the win. The first period came and went with no scoring, despite a 19-2 shot differential in favor of the Ice Dogs and two power play opportunities. In the second period, Niko Laus finally found the first goal of the contest on the man advantage after a Logan Sutton shot from the point found the blade of his stick, and the Blues took an unexpected lead. To this point, shots were at a lopsided 30-12, but the Ice Dogs were behind in the total that mattered most. Finally, Fairbanks was able to convert with a goal from Matthew Volkman off a point-blank shot from the slot. Ten minutes later, Dub Eunice III sniped from the high slot to swing the lead in the IceDogs' favor. Volkman picked up his second tally of the evening on the empty net, and the Ice Dogs left in the win column to maintain their lead in the standings over the Blues. It’s incredibly frustrating being unable to create chances, but in some ways, it’s even more frustrating to create heaps of chances that simply cannot find the back of the net. The Ice Dogs did a great job of keeping their composure and scoring the big goals when it mattered most.

St. Cloud 1 @ Austin 5 - The Austin Bruins' explosive offense continued into the new year, taking down the St. Cloud Norsemen by a final score of 6-1 Friday night. The usual suspects of Saimion Marshchanok (four assists), Matsvei Marshchanok (two goals and one assist), and Gavin Hruza (two goals) led the way on the scoresheet for Austin, who all tallied three or more points in the win. The Bruins’ undefeated streak reaches six games with the win and keeps them four points ahead of second-place Bismarck in the Central Division. St. Cloud remains in seventh place with the loss, one point back of sixth-place Minot. The Norsemen began the scoring just over seven minutes into the contest on Gabriel Bugeaud’s 14th marker of the season. The Bruins’ big guns responded in a big way in the final two minutes. Goals from Matsvei Marshchanok (18th) and Hruza (19th) – whose goal came with one second remaining in the first period – put Austin ahead after 20 minutes. Trace Day doubled the Austin lead just over seven minutes into the middle frame on his 10th goal of the year. EJ Paddington (19th) and Hruza (20th) followed up with two more goals to push the Bruins’ lead to 5-1 after two periods. Siamion Marshchanok assisted on all three Bruins goals in the second period. The Norsemen pushed for a spark in the third period, outshooting the Bruins 17-13 in the frame. Austin goaltender Cody Butikis had no intentions of letting his lead slip, turning away all 17 shots in the period to lock up the Bruins' sixth-straight win. With four more points on Friday, Siamion Marshchanok inches closer to the NAHL lead in points. He sits in second place with 57 points behind only Maryland forward Harrison Smith’s 60 points.

Amarillo 2 @ Corpus Christi 4 - The Corpus Christi IceRays welcomed 2026 with a home victory that featured highly principled hockey and an all-around solid showing from all three levels of the squad. The offense was rolling, the defense kept the Wranglers to a minimum, and goaltender Xander Miceli did exactly what was asked of him to win this contest. The first period came and went with no scoring despite three power play opportunities for the IceRays and nearly double the shots. To start the second period, Justin Thibault finally converted for Corpus from an outstanding saucer pass courtesy of Chase Nehring on the rush. Unfortunately for them, Kirill Evstignee found the back of the net to even the score, not even a minute after the IceRays took the lead. Just two minutes later, however, Islom Dzhabberganov hammered home the second IceRays goal to regain the lead. After going back and forth over just a three-minute time span, the scoring halted until the end of the second period. With the next goal being highly crucial for both squads, Andrej Paricka deflected a Ture Anund shot from the point to double the IceRays' lead. Ty Izadi scored at the midpoint of the third period to put the pressure on, but Johnny Maruna responded with less than five minutes remaining in the period to seal the IceRays victory. Typically, shooting 30 more pucks than your opponent is a recipe for success. Although the IceRays didn’t blow out their opponent (hats off to Wranglers netminder Charles Antoine-Girard), they certainly showed how they can use their offensive firepower to break down their opponents and win hockey games.

Aberdeen 4 @ North Iowa 0 - The Aberdeen Wings snapped out of its mini-funk Friday, riding a stellar performance from goaltender Willium Braun to a 4-0 win. Aberdeen earned the win despite being outshot 25-22 in the contest thanks to Braun’s flawless 25-save outing and a diverse offensive attack that saw four different Wings record a goal. The power play went a perfect two-for-two for Aberdeen in Friday’s contest, bringing its season power-play percentage to 23.53%. The Wings get back in the win column after dropping their previous two matchups and sit comfortably at third place in the top-heavy Central Division with 37 points. The loss drops the Bulls to fifth place in the Central with 26 points after Watertown’s win Friday, which propels them to fourth place at 28 points. No goals were found until late in the first period, when Matthew Martin (15th) notched a power-play goal to give the Wings a late-period 1-0 lead. Martin’s goal stood as the only offense of the opening frame. Offense came quicker in the second period. Aberdeen’s Jonathan Doucette potted his sixth goal of the season just under three minutes into the middle frame to double the Wings’ lead. Doucette’s goal, like the first period, stood as the only offense of the middle 20 minutes. Aberdeen wasted little time washing away any hope North Iowa had left with a power-play goal from Easton Edwards (13th) just 4:32 into the final period. Owen Pitters put a stamp on the streak-snapping win with just over eight minutes to play with his 16th of the year to finalize the 4-0 scoreline.

New Mexico 1 @ Shreveport 6 - A monster offensive night from Shreveport forward Grayson Gerhard propelled his Mudbugs to a dominant 6-1 win over a South Division titan New Mexico Ice Wolves Friday night in Shreveport. Gerhard finished the night with four points, notching two goals and two assists in the statement victory. The big win helps the Mudbugs keep pace in the middle of the South Division, remaining tied with Oklahoma, who were victorious Friday, for fourth place with 34 points. The loss ends the Ice Wolves’ three-game unbeaten streak, but they remain comfortably in second place with a five-point cushion over third-place Amarillo. The Mudbugs took until the dying minutes of the opening period to find the icebreaker. Goals just 17 seconds apart from Chase Secriskey (fifth) and Owen Case (first) set Shreveport up with a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes. Gerhard assisted on both first-period goals. Unlike the first period, Shreveport got right to business in the second period. Jeremiah Roberts (third) extended the Mudbugs’ lead to 3-0 just 1:21 into the middle frame. Just 2:32 after Roberts’ goal, Gerhard chalked up his first goal and third point of the night to push the lead to 4-0. Liam Wolf-Taulbee (fourth) capped off the three-goal explosion with his fourth goal of the season with 13:50 left in the middle period, extending the Shreveport lead at a whopping 5-0 before the game’s halfway point. New Mexico finally stopped the bleeding via the power play thanks to Stanley Hubbard’s fourth goal of the campaign just under five minutes into the final period. Gerhard answered Hubbard, getting the goal right back just 1:24 later to restore Shreveport’s five-goal advantage. The goal was Gerhard’s 10th of the season and fourth point of the game. Mudbug goaltender Ethan Phillips flew under the radar in Friday’s contest, quietly turning away 24 of New Mexico’s 25 shots.

Kenai River 1 @ Minnesota W 5 - Minnesota Wilderness goaltender Valdemar Andersen stole the show Friday night, backstopping his squad to a 5-1 win over the Kenai River Brown Bears. Despite being outshot 31-19 in the contest, Andersen’s stellar performance and Minnesota’s opportunistic offense, led by a three-point night from team points-leader Noah Dziver, was enough to take the weekend-series opener. Minnesota extends its winning streak to three games with the win, staying four points ahead of a red-hot, second-place Fairbanks squad in the Midwest Division. The Brown Bears remain in Midwest Division purgatory at seventh place and 23 points – nine points ahead of last-place Chippewa but six points behind sixth-place Janesville. The Wilderness offense came out of the gate on fire, posting three goals in the opening 20 minutes. Dziver’s 16th goal of the year via the power play got Minnesota going early in the period. Zachary Homer struck for the Wilderness midway through the period to double his squad's lead. The goal was Homer’s team-leading 19th of the season. Logan Nagle notched a backbreaker for the Wilderness late in the first period, scoring his fourth goal of the year with just six seconds left in the period to send Kenai River to the locker room down 3-0. Andersen stopped all 12 shots he faced in the first period. The offense cooled down for the Wilderness in the second period, as they managed only a power-play marker off the stick of Max Edwards for his second goal of the season. The goal gave Minnesota a comfortable 4-0 lead heading to the final 20 minutes. Andersen again shut down the Brown Bear attack, stopping another 11 shots in the middle frame. Kenai River finally pushed back just under six minutes into the final frame. Alex Ballard scored his third goal of the season to give Kenai River a glimmer of hope. Andersen shut the door the rest of the way for the Wilderness, as they nabbed an empty-net goal by Talan Blanck (14th) to secure the 5-1 win.

El Paso 4 @ Lone Star 5 - The Lone Star Brahmas defeated the El Paso Rhinos 5-4 at NYTEX Sports Centre. Lone Star opened the scoring when Vincenzo Capano found the back of the net, assisted by Gustav Lexell and Loic Nasreddine. El Paso answered with a power-play goal from Kamden Kaiser, set up by Tommy Shore and Troy Hunka. El Paso then took the lead later in the period as Aidan Bergner scored with assists from Brendan Murray and Jackson Potulny, giving El Paso a 2-1 advantage after one. Lone Star tied the game early in the frame with a goal from Tyson Scanlon, assisted by Dylan McFadden and Ryan Coots. Lone Star continued to build momentum as Christian Venticinque scored, with Nathan Murray and Loic Nasreddine picking up the assists. Lone Star added a power-play goal when Dylan McFadden finished a play set up by Jackson Vaites and Christian Venticinque, before Vladimir Saibel capped the period with a shorthanded goal assisted by Tyson Scanlon, giving Lone Star a 5-2 lead heading into the third. El Paso pushed back with two power-play goals. Gaige Giblin scored first, assisted by Chase Nyitray, followed by Ian Kastamo, who found the net with helpers from Tommy Shore and Kamden Kaiser. Despite the late comeback attempt, Lone Star held on to secure the one-goal victory. Lone Star outshot El Paso 28-24 in the win.

Janesville 2 @ Wisconsin 6 - The Wisconsin Windigo defeated the Janesville Jets 6-2 at The Ponds of Brookfield. Janesville opened the scoring early as Joseph Hyten scored, assisted by Hans Hedlund and Murray Marvin-Cordes. Wisconsin answered later in the period when Joshua Sardo found the back of the net with help from Riley Joslin, sending the game into the intermission tied 1-1. Wisconsin took control of the game in the middle frame. Joshua Sardo struck again, scoring his second goal of the night with assists from Devin Berg and Will Doherty. Wisconsin added another shortly after when Brayden Severin scored, assisted by Matt MacDonald and AJ Bongiorno, giving Wisconsin a 3-1 lead after two. Wisconsin continued to build momentum early in the third as Jackson Ernst scored, assisted by Peyton Mithmuangnuea and Beau Kralovec. Janesville responded midway through the period with a goal from Jonathan Lyskawa, set up by Louis Vittorio. Wisconsin answered quickly when Maxwell Bennett scored with assists from Alexios Georgaklis and Callen Grilz. Wisconsin capped the scoring late as Brendan Finley found the net, assisted by Maxwell Bennett and Devin Berg.

Bismarck 6 @ Minot 2 - The Bismarck Bobcats earned a 6-2 victory over the Minot Minotauros at Pepsi Rink at Maysa Arena. The opening frame ended scoreless, with both teams unable to break through despite chances at both ends. Bismarck opened the scoring on the power play as Cooper Williams netted the game’s first goal, assisted by František Brož and Camden Alemond. Bismarck struck again on the power play when Camden Alemond scored, with Charlie Kresl and Boyce Pietila picking up the assists. Bismarck capped the period late as Mark Evans found the back of the net, assisted by Jimmy Dodig and George Poirier, giving Bismarck a 3-0 lead after two. Bismarck continued to build on its lead early in the third when Noah Ziskie scored with an assist from Jimmy Dodig. Bismarck added another as Jordan Mayo scored, assisted by Mark Evans. Minot responded with its first goal of the night when Cap Priem scored, set up by Jakub Habla and Lucca Ori. Minot added a power-play goal shortly after, with Ty James scoring and Arsenii Vorobyov and Philip Wiklund earning the assists. Bismarck closed out the scoring late as Patch Cronin scored, assisted by Eddie Revenga and Charlie Kresl. Bismarck finished the night 2-for-4 on the power play, while Minot went 1-for-5. Minot outshot Bismarck 29-21, but the Bobcats’ efficiency proved decisive.