Friday Finals: Day 3 of the NAHL Showcase

Day three of the NAHL Showcase is wrapped up, and the 14 contests brought all of the action! Read more about the exciting games below.

Philadelphia 2 @ Watertown 5 - The Watertown Shamrocks picked up their second straight win over the Philadelphia Rebels with a 5-2 victory. Justin Obrochta got Watertown off to a fast start, finding the back of the net twice in the opening period to give the Shamrocks a 2-0 advantage. Watertown continued to build its lead in the second as Andrew Smulkstys converted on the power play before Kirill Borodulin made it 4-0. Philadelphia responded late in the period when Broxton Ingle put the Rebels on the board, and Dylan Moran added another in the third to cut the deficit to 4-2. The Shamrocks held off any further comeback attempt before Owen Chartier sealed the victory with a shorthanded goal in the final minute. Luke Courtney finished with 25 saves on 27 shots for Watertown, while Obrochta led the offense with two goals.

Northeast 4 @ Houston 1 - The Northeast Generals continued their strong start to the season with a 4-1 victory over the Houston Bulls. Logan Poulin opened the scoring late in the first period to give Northeast a 1-0 advantage before Emil Szepesi doubled the lead early in the second. Houston answered when Denis Kuzmenkov found the back of the net to cut the deficit to 2-1, but the Generals kept the Bulls off the board for the remainder of the game. Houston had six opportunities on the power play but was unable to capitalize, while Northeast goaltender Keagin Wilson turned aside 26 of 27 shots. With Houston pushing late, Braydon Hudtloff scored into the empty net before Nate Porter added another in the closing seconds to secure the 4-1 victory for the Generals.

Elmira 1 @ Odessa 2 (SO) - The Odessa Jackalopes outlasted the Elmira Aviators in a marathon shootout, earning a 2-1 victory after the two sides remained deadlocked through overtime. Bjorn Bahneman opened the scoring for Odessa late in the first period, and the 1-0 advantage held through a scoreless second. Elmira finally broke through late in the third when Matthew Maglio found the back of the net with 4:42 remaining to tie the game and force overtime. Neither side could find the winner in the extra period, sending the contest to a lengthy shootout. Matthew Maglio and Maximus McGuire converted for Elmira, while Max Pieninkeroinen and Lucas Goodfellow answered for Odessa before Nicholas Arrington eventually delivered the deciding goal. Cody Nielsen turned aside 26 of 27 shots for the Jackalopes, while Conor O’Brien stopped 20 of 21 for the Aviators in a tightly contested goaltending battle.

Minot 4 @ Danbury 1 - The Minot Minotauros pulled away in the third period to earn a 4-1 victory over the Danbury Hat Tricks. Ivan Sidorov opened the scoring for Minot with 1:14 remaining in the first period, giving the Minotauros a 1-0 advantage heading into the intermission. Danbury responded late in the second as Aiden Stamm found the back of the net with 1:12 remaining to even the game at one. The tie would not last long into the third, as Lucca Ori scored at 16:14 to put Minot back in front before Luca Kataja added another at 8:15 to extend the lead to 3-1. Ori then sealed the victory with his second goal of the period, an empty-net tally with 2:58 remaining. Ryan Bodnar stopped 19 of 20 shots in the Minotauros' win, while Ty Ferguson made 23 saves on 26 shots for Danbury.

Johnstown 5 @ Grand Junction 0 -  The Johnstown Tomahawks used a three-goal second period and a perfect performance in net from Matthew Wood to shut out the Grand Junction River Hawks, 5-0. After a scoreless opening period, Jack Genovese broke the deadlock just 55 seconds into the second, followed by Beom Su Kim at 3:24 to quickly double Johnstown's advantage. Sam Esposito added another late in the period to send the Tomahawks into the second intermission with a 3-0 lead. Lane Glende extended the advantage just 34 seconds into the third before Nikita Lagodko capped the scoring with 1:40 remaining. Glende finished with a goal and an assist, while Wood turned aside all 26 shots he faced to secure the shutout. Preston Lewis made 27 saves on 32 shots for Grand Junction as Johnstown finished with a 32-26 advantage in shots.

Springfield 4 @ New Hampshire 5 -  New Hampshire Mountain Kings hold on against Springfield Jr. Blues to get the win. Springfield came into the game looking to pick up their first win of the season while New Hampshire had come in riding a four-game winning streak. The Jr. Blues were determined to make this game a fight, and they would score early. James Marshal would score on the power-play late in the period to give Springfield a 1-0 lead. He leaked out to the right side of the ice where no one noticed. Tate Spaulding made a nice pass to him as he buried a slapshot past New Hampshire goalie Nolan Francis. Neither team could get on the scoreboard for the rest of the period, but they could get into the penalty box as Springfield would commit four penalties and New Hampshire would commit three in the frame. Chaos erupted in the second period, with both Springfield and New Hampshire finding the net multiple times and players on both sides finding themselves in the penalty box. First, New Hampshire’s Colin Simpson would score, which was answered by Springfield's Colton Colby. The Mountain Kings’ Dylan Podergois would score shortly after that, but that was also countered by the Jr Blues’ Cooper Deziel with a little over 30 seconds left in the period. Finally, New Hampshire’s Liam Frier would bury one last goal with nine seconds left in the period to tie the game 3 to 3 before intermission. Surprisingly, none of those goals were on the power play, but that wouldn’t be the case in the third period as Springfield’s Marshall would score again on the power play to regain the lead. It wouldn’t last, though, as Frier scored his second of the game to tie it once more. Breaking the pattern was New Hampshire’s Tanner Olsen scoring his first goal of the season in what would be the game-winner, as the Mountain Kings were able to salt the rest of the time away to pick up their fifth straight win.

Aberdeen 4 @ New Jersey 3 - The Aberdeen Wings steal a regulation victory against the New Jersey Titans after scoring a last-minute goal in the third period. The first period between these two started out at a slower pace, with each team unable to eclipse the double-digit shot mark. However, that doesn’t mean there weren’t any goals, as Gavin Lapolla would score a goal around the halfway mark, cutting through the defense in front of goaltender Willum Braun and putting home a backhand shot. The shot totals would ramp up in the latter half of the period, but both Braun and his New Jersey counterpart Andrew Bely would stand tall and not allow a goal in for the rest of the frame. Starting the second period, Aberdeen knew it had to ramp up the aggression to try to get a goal early. Bely would stop all that came his way early, but around the halfway mark, Aberdeen forward Cooper Siegert would score twice in a five-minute span to give Aberdeen its first lead of the game. The Wings would get into some penalty trouble, but that opened the door for penalty-killing forward Caeden Heins to score a short-handed goal, increasing the lead to two goals. Needing to answer, the Titans would cash in on a power play after Luke Schoen scored late in the period to help them go into the second intermission only down one goal. The third period started with both teams trying to find one more goal to swing momentum their way, and it would be New Jersey who found just that after forward Hayden Saad scored his third goal of the season. With that, he now has a four-game point streak. As the game was tied, both teams were trying not to give the other team any good looks at the net. With 18 seconds remaining in regulation and overtime looming, Jonathan Doucette would redirect a puck past Bely on a designed pass from Broden Hontvet to break the tie. While New Jersey would pull the goalie and get pressure in the offensive zone for the remainder of the game, Aberdeen would hang on and pick up the regulation victory. Siegert (2G) and Hiens (1G, 1A) led Aberdeen in scoring while Braun had an .864 save percentage and picked up the victory. Schoen (1G, 1A) led New Jersey with two points, and Bely stopped 28 out of 32 shots in the loss.

El Paso 2 @ Maryland 3 - The Maryland Black Bears hang on to defeat the El Paso Rhinos, remaining undefeated on the season. Goaltender Michael Iliff would get the start for Maryland, coming in with a perfect 3-0 record, while Logan Hughes would get the nod for El Paso, looking for his first win of the year. In a relatively low-scoring and low shooting game, Maryland’s Ian Sherman would score the first goal from a beautiful pass from Juuso Rantala, who danced around a defender at the blue line and got the pass off to Sherman, who scored on a snap shot from the top right circle.The defense for Maryland would shut down El Paso for the rest of the period, as they would only register three shots on goal for the period. The Rhinos would eventually solve Iliff in the second period, getting two goals in the period, one from Aidan Bergner (his first of the season) as well as a power play goal from Brendan Murray. Looking to tie the game before the period was over, Maryland ramped up their offense, and Zhenya Miles would score with just under two minutes remaining to even the score. The third period was played defensively by both teams, as El Paso and Maryland would end up getting six and two shots in the period, respectively. The low shots didn’t matter to the Black Bears, though, as Lachlan Bommer would score his first goal of the season to break the tie, as he batted home a loose puck on a scramble drill that was under Hughes but was loose enough for him to put him. The defense and Iliff would do the rest, as Maryland won 3-2. With that performance, Iliff is currently the leading goalie in the NAHL in save percentage and is second in the league in goals-allowed average.

Billings 5  @ Oklahoma 3 - The Billings Cattle Punchers get outshot, but not outscored to pick up the win on the road against the Oklahoma Warriors. Oklahoma was looking to rebound from their loss to Johnstown the day before while Billings was looking to remain undefeated after a 3-0 start to the season. Well, the first period had a low shot count. It wasn’t without action as Billings’  Landon Jamison would score his first goal of the season, getting a chance on a breakaway that he wouldn’t miss on as he got one past Oklahoma goaltender Jakob Hanlan on the low blocker side to give the Cattle Punchers a 1-0 lead halfway through the first. The second period had both teams shifting their strategy to a more offensive game, which led to more penalties for each team, but also more shots as well. Oklahoma would end up taking 17 shots while Billings would have 10. The Cattle Punchers scored first in the period, however, as Felix Pomerleau scored his first goal of the season off an assist from Trenton Stark, who also got his first assist of the year. The Warriors would answer late in the period as Max Gagnon would cut the lead in half as he scored his first goal of the season. Both Hanlan and Billings goaltender Nicholas Rempel were on top of their game this period, turning away nine and 16 shots, respectively. Oklahoma would tie the game early in the third period off a power-play goal from Olivier Laverdiere that seemed to ricochet off a Billings defenseman and beat Rempel after the change of direction. However, Billings would get an answer after Evan Foiles scored a few minutes later on the power play as well. Foiles would also score with just over five minutes remaining to extend their lead to two. That was quickly followed up by his teammate, Joey Fankhanel, scoring his fifth goal this season to make the game 5-2 with time winding down. Oklahoma wasn’t done yet, as Tyler Wilmoth would score his first goal of the season with just over a minute left to cut into the lead; however, the defense of Billings was too much with that big of a lead, and the final would remain 5-3. Foiles (2G) and Jamieson (1G, 1A) would lead Billings in scoring in this game, while Rempel would save 27 out of 30 in the win. Laverdiere would lead Oklahoma in scoring, notching one goal and one assist for two points. Hanlan would stop 15 out of 20 in the loss

Bismarck 3 @ New Mexico 1 - The Bismarck Bobcats scored twice in the third to snag the win on the road against the New Mexico Ice Wolves. This game would be a pure defensive game as neither team would get double-digit shots in any period. That means every shot and every goal mattered that much more. Bismarck would be the first team to get on the board when defenseman Brenden Espenell scored on the power play after an Anthony Leech tripping penalty. The game was mainly played along the boards after that, as neither Bismarck’s Easton Thvedt nor New Mexico’s Ryan Galaski saw too much action afterwards. The defense for New Mexico would tighten up early, preventing a shot for most of the first half of the second period. Forward Caleb Debruyne would score for New Mexico after a puck ricocheted off of him from a shot attempt by Pete Luecke that beat Thvedt. Bismarck turned up the heat after this goal, getting eight shots on net, but Galaski stopped all of them to keep the game tied going into the second intermission. Bismarck would score early in the third period from defenseman Danny Browning right after their power-play expired to regain the lead. Jake Caffrey found him wide open top the left circle where he fired a laser past Galaski. Late in the period, Maddox Malmquist would score his sixth goal of the season (tying him for the league lead) to essentially ice the game. Thvedt would end up saving 17 out of 18 in the win while Galaski would save 19 out of 22 in the loss.

Austin 6 @ Amarillo 3 - The Austin Bruins and Amarillo Wranglers faced off on Friday afternoon, each looking for their first win of the weekend. The Bruins offense controlled the first period, putting nineteen shots on goal compared to Amarillo’s two. Hugo Thulin started off the scoring for Austin, with a second Bruins goal coming with just over five minutes remaining in the frame. Despite limited offensive opportunities, the Wranglers capitalized on one of their few shots on goal, as Hugo Råsten brought the Wranglers within one going into the next period. Logan Brown added the Bruins' third goal of the game just a minute into the middle period. The teams went back and forth until Truan Connor put the Wranglers on the scoreboard with a power-play goal, but the Bruins answered back a little over a minute later when Ally Mostafaie found Brett Ludvisgen. Mostafaie added another goal for the Bruins, scoring with six seconds remaining in the second period. The final frame began with a Wranglers goal by Malte Lantz-Rosdahl assisted by Råste, his third point of the afternoon. The Bruins had the final word of the matchup with Ally Mostafaie adding an empty net goal to seal a 6-3 Austin victory.

Idaho Falls 1 @ Corpus Christi 2 - The Corpus Christi IceRays looked to extend their undefeated season as they took on the Idaho Falls Spud Kings in a mid-afternoon battle. The matchup began with a scoreless first period; the teams traded shots back and forth with Corpus Christi slightly outshooting the Spud Kings 8-6. Tension flared in the second period with each team heading to the penalty box multiple times throughout the period, but it wasn’t until late in the second period that Parker Deschene scored on the power play and gave the Ice Rays a one-goal lead heading into the final twenty minutes of play. Idaho Falls’ Tyler Kedzo tied the game at one, taking advantage of a power play opportunity. Michael Azzarone broke the tie late in the frame, scoring the game-winning goal to help Corpus Christi secure a 2-1 victory and remain undefeated.

Pueblo 4 @ Shreveport 3 (OT) - Pueblo's Jake Spraetz was the overtime hero in a thrilling matchup to propel the Peppers over the Shreveport Mud Bugs. An early Pueblo goal from Johnathan Pylypubik assisted by Derek Albright gave the Peppers the advantage heading into the next frame. Five of the game’s seven goals were scored throughout the second period. Michael Mathison added to the Pepper score, but the two-goal lead was short-lived as Shreveport’s Evan Hoglund found the back of the net. Not long after, Albright found Pylypubik his goal of the night. The Mud Bugs scored back-to-back goals to end the second period with Sean Goodman scoring his first goal of the season and Hoglund adding his second of the game to even the score at three apiece. Each team’s defense allowed zero goals in the third period despite the Mud Bugs outshooting the Peppers 9-3. Spraetz ended the matchup with just :48 remaining in extra time to give the Peppers their first win of the season.

USNDTP 0 @ Lone Star 3 - The Lone Star Brahmas shut out the United States National Team Development Program in their first-ever meeting by a score of 3-0. The first period resulted in no goals for either side, with the Brahmas having the advantage in shots on goal, 8-5. The next period gave Lone Star a two-goal advantage; Hugo Zetterlund scored first on the power play, while Eric Alexander collected his first goal of the season off an assist from Colvin Callahan, bringing the score to 2-0 in favor of the Brahmas. Taking advantage of one of the four shot-on-goal opportunities in the third period for the Brahmas, Channing Kao added the final goal of the contest to secure the 3-0 shutout victory for Lone Star. Goalie Leo Gabriel made 17 saves in net in his first shutout of the season.

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