Fresno Monsters vs. Valencia Flyers
First in the division, Fresno, secured two home wins at the Gateway Ice Center against the bottom seed of their division, Valencia Flyers. Flyers put forth two big efforts but could not break the three-goal threshold in both games to push for more.
Fresno Monsters 4, Valencia Flyers 3
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William Markstedt scored the first goal of the game, and broke the 3-3 tie with the final goal of the game to push the Monsters ahead of the Flyers. Brenden Culbertson-Bond of the Flyers made 47 saves despite the loss and Max Karlenzig stopped 20 of 23 shots.
Fresno got started early in the first period. Just a minute into the tilt, Markstedt found his first goal to give Fresno the initial lead.
Valencia finished the first period with two straight goals and the 2-1 lead after Evgenii Semeniuk and Deva Shahi got on the board. Flyers were vastly outshot in the first but Culbertson-Bond got them out of deep waters early.
Fresno got the jump to open the second frame and regained the lead by the 11:44 mark when Jon Tagoona made it 3-2 after Narek Aleksanyan leveled it. The Flyers would have one more in them as Nikita Garin sneaked one past Karlenzig at 6:32 of the second.
Marksted found the game-winner at 5:13 of the third period.
Fresno Monsters 4, Valencia Flyers 3
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Friday the 13th didn’t seem to hinder the Monsters with bad luck as they proceeded to their second 4-3 win in as many nights. The superstitious aura may have given William Markstedt a boost, who replicated with two goals and another game-winner.
Another 47 saves, this time from Brooks DiMarino, could not swing the current in favor of the Flyers who were again outshot severely.
Mikhail Gavrilenko gave Fresno the 3-0 lead to finish the first period. Kirill Hordiichuk put the Flyers on the board at 17:31 of the second period. Eventually Lucas Demsar would convert on two goals after the Monsters capped off their four.
Demsar’s tallies brought Valencia to a one-goal deficit with an entire third period to remedy. With only 4 shots in the third frame, Valencia couldn’t pull together the rally.
El Paso Rhinos vs. Seattle Totems
The Seattle Totems traveled to the County Events Center in El Paso for the first time in team history, but could not avoid the sweep with a loss on Sunday; pair of fresh goalies to the roster backstop the defending champs to a sweep.
El Paso Rhinos 4, Seattle Totems 1
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A power-play goal, and a 5-on-3 game-winner from Albin Lingebrand in his debut for the Rhinos, routed the Seattle Totems in their first appearance at the County Events Center.
Seattle’s Rustam Kulizade was peppered with shots but stopped 50 in the game to keep it within reason. Adam Rousselo had a subtle night with 16 saves and a win in his debut.
Ricky Bredberg scored the only goal for the Totems but it served as the tying bid at 5:19 of the first period.
The Rhinos scored three unanswered starting with Lingebrand’s first of the night at 14:15 and ending with his second of the night at 18:53 of the third.
El Paso Rhinos 11, Seattle Totems 0
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El Paso scored eight goals in two periods and Cameron Cornish needed to make only 11 saves to earn a shutout and victory in his first appearance as a Rhino.
Marcus Ohlsson-Ornelius, Heath Drye, Easton Easterson, and Sam Sykes each had two goals in the night; Albin Lingebrand and Ohlsson-Ornelius tied to lead with three points.
El Paso Rhinos 7, Seattle Totems 4
Game Three Scoresheet: https://stats.wshl.timetoscore.com/generate-scorecard.php?game_id=8202
Wrap-up posted prior to conclusion.
Hinton Timberwolves vs. Cold Lake Hornets
Second in the division, Hinton, took two road wins at the Cold Lake Energy Center to stay well ahead of the pack along with the Edson Aeros.
Hinton Timberwolves 9, Cold Lake Hornets 1
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Jamahl Eakett scored four goals and five points and Max Sturko followed up with four points to get past the Hornets.
Jakob Arsenault opened up what became a seven goal lead by 7:58 of the third period.
Johan Crowchild scored the only goal for Cold Lake though it came when all was said and done.
Hinton Timberwolves 4, Cold Lake Hornets 0
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A scoreless first period turned into four straight unanswered goals from the Hinton Timberwolves.
Alim Darmenov, Bryant Joseph, Brayden Harper, and Jakob Arsenault all scored a goal while Carter Wickson stopped 27 for the shutout, and registered an assist.
Wickson moves to six wins on the back of his second shutout performance of the season.
Hinton improves to 3-1 against the Hornets in their season series.
Ogden Mustangs vs. Utah Outliers
Photo by Tim Broussard, Ogden Mustangs
Another epic installment of this in-state rivalry reignited with two games just before the Showcase. Ogden earned two hard fought victories in the home-and-home series that culminated at the Acord Ice Center.
Ogden Mustangs 1, Utah Outliers 0
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Bryson Bartell has scored a point in every game against the Outliers this season, and continues the trend with the only goal in the slightest of victories.
Utah outshot Ogden 36 to 28, but Travis Allen picked up his sixth win and first shutout of the season making 36 saves.
The Ice Sheet got its lone goal at 9:52 of the first period, which served as the game-winner.
Ogden Mustangs 3(OT), Utah Outliers 2
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The Utah Outliers had to send the game to overtime after dropping an initial lead. Harry Gulliver delivered the overtime game-winner improving the Mustangs to 25-1-1-0.
Travis Allen started for Ogden and gained his seventh win of the 2019-2020 campaign.
It was the first time Ogden hit overtime all season. The Outliers could have dealt Ogden only it’s second loss, but goals from Shane Gilbert and Zach Pires gave the Mustangs a lead after being down 1-0.
Andrei Shmakov sent the game to overtime when he made it 2-2 at 18:36 of the third frame.
It seems as if Utah is the only team that can strike doubt into the Mustangs so far. Their hard work presses Ogden to rely on late-game heroics or to put on defensive clinics in order to escape with victories by the slightest of margins.
Five of six games between the clubs have been one-goal games.
Southern Oregon Spartans vs. San Diego Sabers
The San Diego Sabers overtook third place in the Western Division standings with convincing wins over the Southern Oregon Spartans at home.
San Diego Sabers 6, Southern Oregon Spartans 0
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William Baird scored two goals; Trevor Wittkopf tied for the lead in points with two goals and one assist.
Ludwig Nordqvist won his fourth game of the season and second consecutive shutout, making 27 saves. Visiting, Christopher O’Shaughnessy, made 59 saves in the game but the herculean effort wasn’t converted into fuel for the Spartans who were blanked for the first time in six games.
Three different goal scorers combined to give the Sabers a 3-0 lead in the opening period. San Diego added two more goals in the second to make 5-0. The Spartans best period proved to be the third, but untimely, as their highest volume of shots came far too late.
San Diego Sabers 8, Southern Oregon Spartans 2
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The San Diego Sabers cruised to its second win over the Spartans who could only get within two goals of the San Diego lead.
Ondrej Vaculik led all skaters with two goals and one helper while Southern Oregon’s Ian Wark and Yuval Halpert got the Spartans on the board. Mikulas Pluhacek secured his second win of the season making 34 stops.
Though the Spartans suffered the steep setback, Ethan Shute played quite the game with 73 saves.
The Sabers capitalized on three power plays in a row to take a 3-0 lead by the final minute of the second period. Wark cut the lead down to 3-1 when he scored unassisted at 17:53 of the third period.
San Diego was able to stretch the lead by a goal before the Spartan’s Halpert inched to 4-2. The Spartans fell short and the Sabers ultimately dismantled them in the latter stages of the third, with four straight goals to end the night 8-2.
San Diego Sabers 6 vs. Southern Oregon Spartans 1
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San Diego managed a sweep of the Northwest’s, Southern Oregon Spartans, and reopens the four-point gap from the trailing Ontario Avalanche.
Southern Oregon imposed a brief moment of discomfort over the stands of Escondido Iceoplex as Yuval Halpert gave the Spartans a 1-0 lead at 15:27 of the first.
Not even 30 seconds later, San Diego stole back some momentum with a tying goal from Ondrej Vaculik in the same period. With the score tied at one, going into the middle frame, San Diego quickly scored 33 seconds into the period and took their only lead.
They then expanded on the lead with two more in the period and added an additional two goals to make it 6-1.
Pueblo Bulls vs. Oklahoma City Blazers
After the Oklahoma City Blazers swept Pueblo two weekends ago at the Pueblo Ice Arena, The Bulls come back and take the weekend series at the Arctic Edge Ice Arena. Oklahoma suffers a scoreless defeat in successive weekends but avoids a sweep.
Pueblo Bulls 5, Oklahoma City Blazers 1
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The Pueblo Bulls continue to turn heads as they stampede past another Midwest-Mountain heavy weight. After winning two of three against the Rhinos last weekend, they come back and take two road wins from second place Oklahoma City Blazers.
The Bulls are in fifth place but still very much in the race for a top three position in the Midwest-Mountain if they continue with the same pace.
Pueblo’s leading scorer, Ondrej Blaha came in clutch against a worthy adversary scoring back-to-back goals and bolstered the Bulls to a 3-0 advantage by the third.
Standout defensemen, Dominic Loubert, scored the only goal for the Blazers who were held from multiple goals for just the second time.
Henry Denee played to his ninth victory of the season making 23 saves.
Pueblo Bulls 3, Oklahoma City Blazers 0
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Wyatt Andres scored a goal and registered an assist to lead the Pueblo Bulls who delivered Oklahoma City its first scoreless defeat, at home, of the season.
Henry Denee got his 10th victory with 27 saves earning his second shutout since Oct. 18. The Bulls outshot Oklahoma by three as Denee proved to be the pivotal factor for the Bull’s success this weekend.
Brock McQuistan scored first at 8:17 of the opening frame and John Henderson added to make it 2-0 at 1:40.
Oklahoma was awarded a power play early in the third and a goal could have turned things around for them. However, it was Pueblo who found the back of the net shorthanded as Andres made it 3-0.
Pueblo Bulls 3 vs. Oklahoma City Blazers 4
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Oklahoma scathed away with a win to avoid the three game sweep but required a rally in order to do so. The Pueblo Bulls matchup well against the Blazers and managed to outshoot them again despite the loss.
Four different players converted for OKC to reach the 4-3 win as there wasn’t a player with multiple goals for either team.
Joel Svensson made 30 saves to pacify the Bulls who were truly pressing in the third. The Blazers showed resiliency in scoring two shorthanded goals as they took the 4-2 lead by 7:46 of the second period.
Ondrej Blaja attempted to get the Bulls close when he brought the deficit to one at 2:08 of the third.
Barrhead Bombers vs. Edson Aeros
The Barrhead Bombers opened up a home-and-home series at Repsol Place but were ousted by the Aeros on both nights. Edson remains No. 1 in the Provincial Division by three points and extends its win streak to 20.
Barrhead Bombers 3, Edson Aeros 10
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Edson had already built the 3-0 lead by the time Joshua Stypka found his first of three goals. Edson’s scoring was latent as they only had a single goal in the first prior to opening a six-goal frenzy in the second period.
Barrhead found three goals, though it wouldn’t scratch the surface of a potential rally, from Carter Zawortny, Stran Backfat Redcrow, and Harley Pitura.
Edson connected on four separate man advantages and one short-handed disadvantage to create further separation from the Bombers.
Barrhead Bombers 0, Edson Aeros 6
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Two goals in each period facilitated an Edson Aeros shutout victory while Gregory Smith and Filip Myrskog both goal-tended to make it possible. Axel Sodergren scored a hat-trick to lead all skaters.
The Aeros kept their opponent from scoring for the sixth time this season. Edson needs only one more win to surpass the largest win streak of the season set at 20 wins by the Ogden Mustangs.
Sodergren scored the first, third and sixth goal for the Aeros as he steadily completed the hat-trick with supplemental scoring from Philip Bjorkman, Mathew Rathbone, and Sebastian Heden.
Dallas Snipers vs. Wichita Jr. Thunder
The Wichita Jr. Thunder were able to avoid a sweep for the second weekend in a row, and against the same opponent in the Dallas Snipers. Dallas will have to wait for its first three game sweep of the season.
Dallas Snipers 4, Wichita Jr. Thunder 0
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Dallas was held off the scoreboard in the third period but the game was essentially won by the end of the second period. Four different goal scorers converted to give the Snipers a home win.
Alexander Aleshkin stopped all 29 shots en route to his first shutout of the season and 10th win.
Jesper Lundqvist sparked the goal scoring at 16:44 of the first as they outshot Wichita by almost double in that frame.
Dallas would move to three straight goals in the second period and the Jr. Thunder could only force Aleshkin to make five saves.
Arvidas Domeika delivered on the power play and Arthur Aloyan made it 4-0 in the second stanza.
Dallas Snipers 3, Wichita Jr. Thunder 4(OT)
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Thomas Srsha’s overtime game-winner lifted the Jr. Thunder to its third OT win of the season, second win over the Snipers. Robert Allen made 45 saves and remained strong in sudden death.
Dallas was at the cusp of its first three game sweep having started with the initial lead, falling behind, and then tying it twice. Thien Gamble’s goal at 13:15 not only gave Wichita the lead, but it turned out to be a decisive one as it forced Dallas to play from behind all night.
Bradlet Richardson tied the game 2-2, at 8:21 of the second period. The Jr. Thunder would respond with a power play conversion from Anton Frolin.
Snipers Leo Selitaj tied it for the second occasion at 11:17 of the third and sent the game to overtime.
Dallas Snipers 12, Wichita Jr. Thunder 2
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Wichita’s good fortune went downhill fast as they failed to follow-up their winning performance from the night before.
Bradley Richardson led with a hat-trick and six points while Arvidas Domeika seconded the mark with four points. Dominik Hajas scored two goals and Dylan Detwiler also had two in his Snipers debut.
Wichita found scoring efforts from Quinn O’Reilly who tied it 1-1 at 13:42 of the first, before the Snipers started on 10 unanswered goals; And then Michael Steggall scored for Wichita in the third.
Las Vegas Thunderbirds vs. Ontario Avalanche
The two Western Division clubs split the weekend series with a third game still to come at Sobe Arena on Monday.
Las Vegas Thunderbirds 5, Ontario Avalanche 1
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Five distinct scorers had goals for the Thunderbirds while Rhett Bruckner stopped 55 shots to edge the Ontario Avalanche at Anaheim Ice.
Las Vegas’s only prior game at Anaheim Ice resulted in a 7-0 blow out and the Thunderbirds improved to 2-0 at the home of the Avalanche.
The T-Birds started early with a goal from Emil Svartbro at 17:15. They increased it to 2-1 in the same period when Nikolas Sotiriou netted one in.
The second period didn’t feature any goals although Ontario kept Bruckner busy with 17 shots. The Thunderbirds added three more tallies in the third period making it 5-0.
The Avalanche’s only goal is credited to Mark Kurliandchyk at 3:05 of the final period.
Las Vegas Thunderbirds 2, Ontario Avalanche 9
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Las Vegas Thunderbirds suffered its greatest defeat of the season, and by a divisional rival in the Ontario Avalanche. Although San Diego is in third, the win over Las Vegas keeps Ontario within one point of the Sabers at least for now.
Uncharacteristic of their previous games, Ontario spring boarded to a 4-0 lead. Eric Moran, Liam Massie, and Gabel Longshore all had two goals in the game.
A pair of Joseph’s in Wheeler and Terrana converted on back-to-back opportunities to get Vegas on the board. But, the Avalanche responded with five goals.
The win marks the first time Ontario beats Las Vegas although they have six games remaining in the second half of the season.
