NEWS

 

LONG BEACH BOMBERS @ LAS VEGAS STORM

 

10.06.16 – Long Beach 10, Las Vegas 2

10.07.16 – Long Beach 6, Las Vegas 0

10.08.16 – Long Beach 4, Las Vegas 3 (SO)

 

The Long Beach Bombers posted a road sweep of the Storm in Las Vegas to stay undefeated and maintain a one-point lead over San Diego in the Western Division.  The Storm kept closing the gap, losing by eight goals, then six, and then taking Sunday’s series finale to a shootout.

 

Andre Spens of the Storm made 17 of his 39 saves in the third period, but Nikita Nikitin (1-4-5) figured in five of 10 Bombers goals as Long Beach won, 10-2, on Thursday.

 

Max Barr turned aside all 14 shots Vegas sent his way on Friday to record his third shutout of the young season.  Konnor Madsen and Robert Roslund each scored twice in a 6-0 Long Beach win.

 

Las Vegas made Long Beach work for the sweep on Saturday, coming back from 1-0 and 3-2 deficits to force overtime in a game that needed a shootout to settle.

 

Isaiah Letendre scored two of the three Las Vegas goals in regulation and Rhett Bruckner made 40 saves for the Storm.

 

Barr made 33 saves to record another win for the Bombers.

 

 

SAN DIEGO SABERS @ TAHOE ICEMEN

 

10.06.16 – San Diego 3, Tahoe 1

10.07.16 – Tahoe 5, San Diego 4 (2 OT)

10.08.16 – San Diego 7, Tahoe 2

 

The San Diego Sabers returned from their trip update to Tahoe with five of six points from a pair of wins and an overtime loss to the Icemen.

 

Thursday’s series opener was scoreless until 5:38 of the second period when Kevin Dumont broke the ice for San Diego.  That was all of the scoring until Mason Kohn doubled the Sabers’ lead early in the third period.

 

Martin Valicek put the game out of reach but Nicholas Davidow put Tahoe on the board to ruin the shutout bid of Andy Sandberg (24 saves).

 

Wade Conlan kept the Icemen in the game with 44 saves.

 

Tahoe jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Friday only to see the Sabers tie it up before the end of the third period.

 

Kohn had the only goal of the middle frame to give San Diego their first lead of the game, but they were unable to hold the Icemen off in the third period.

 

Matthew Psasas scored twice for Tahoe – including the goal with 23 seconds left that sent the game to overtime.

 

Ivan Radetskyi’s second tally of the contest – at 2:58 of the second overtime – gave Tahoe their first win since last December.

 

Icemen goaltender Luke Cohen turned in an amazing performance, making a total of 63 saves for Tahoe – 23 of them in the third period.

 

Sandberg stopped 31 pucks and took the tough-luck loss for the visiting Sabers.

 

Tahoe was unable to keep the momentum going Saturday.  Dumont’s second goal of the game broke a 2-2 tie late in the second period and that opened the floodgates.  San Diego scored two more goals in the last 1:10 of the second period to open up a three-goal lead.  They tacked on two more in the third for a 7-2 win.

 

Matt Soldano gave Sandberg the night off, making 27 saves to pick up the win, while Conlan made 61 more saves for Tahoe – 44 of them over the final two periods.

 

 

VANCOUVER RANGERS @ IDAHO JR. STEELHEADS

 

10.07.16 – Idaho 3, Vancouver 0

10.08.16 – Idaho 6, Vancouver 2

10.09.16 – Idaho 7, Vancouver 3

 

The Idaho Jr. Steelheads hung a banner Friday, but they looked like champions all weekend long, out-scoring the Vancouver Rangers 16-5 in a three-game sweep.

 

Jacob Hedencrona scored twice for Idaho and Tyler Matthews posted a 12-save shutout as the Jr. Steelheads won their home opener, 3-0, on Friday.

 

Timothy Kuivinen scored both Vancouver goals in a 6-2 Idaho win on Saturday.  Christopher Hunt scored twice and picked up an assist for Idaho.

 

Sergei Pysarenko made 23 saves for Idaho in his first start of the season in front of the McCall faithful, while Matthew Habbe kicked out 38 shots for the Rangers but took the loss.

 

Idaho kept the balanced attack going Sunday as Lance Herning (2-1-3) and Fredrik Lindquist (1-2-3) led the way to a 7-3 win.  Brendan Leise (18 saves) was the third goalie to post a win for the Jr. Steelheads on the weekend.

 

 

ONTARIO AVALANCHE @ PHOENIX KNIGHTS

 

10.07.16 – Ontario 9, Phoenix 1

10.08.16 – Ontario 6, Phoenix 0

10.09.16 – Ontario 6, Phoenix 3

 

The Ontario Avalanche picked up six points in Phoenix to keep pace in the Western Division.
 

Filip Stensson (2-2-4), Filip Ullgren (1-2-3) and Joseph Aguirre (2 goals) led the Avalanche attack in a 9-1 Ontario win on Friday.  Filip Subrt allowed just one goal on 19 shots.

 

Phoenix starter Tim Zurbuchen was peppered with 27 shots in his one period of play, allowing three goals.  He was relieved by Marcus Nylander who stopped 23 of 29 over the final two periods.

 

Ullgren scored a hat trick and Subert stopped all 26 shots he faced in a 6-0 Ontario victory Saturday.  Manuel Mancha added a pair of goals and an assist for the Avs while Nylander went the distance for the Knights, making 55 saves.

 

Six different Ontario skaters scored in a 6-3 Avalanche win Sunday to complete the sweep.

 

Zurbuchen made 59 saves and Teighan Keller scored twice in a losing effort for Phoenix.

 

 

TULSA JR. OILERS @ WICHITA JR. THUNDER

 

10.07.16 – Wichita 3, Tulsa 1

10.08.16 – Tulsa 6, Wichita 5 (OT)

10.09.16 – Wichita 5, Tulsa 2

 

The Tulsa Jr. Oilers and Wichita Jr. Thunder resumed hostilities at Wichita Ice Center with the host Jr. Thunder collecting five of a possible six points to take the pole position in the Mid-West Division.

 

Tulsa scored first on Friday, but Wichita veterans Jack and Matt McClelland each scored a goal and Erik Spath stopped 29 of 30 shots in a 3-1 comeback win for the Jr. Thunder.

 

Jr. Oilers netminder Henrik Kaspersen recorded 26 saves.

 

Tulsa got into the win column with a 6-5 overtime victory on Saturday.  Wichita built a 3-0 lead in the first 10:52 of the game, but the Jr. Oilers got three in a row to tie it back up.

 

Two more times after that the Jr. Thunder went ahead, but the Jr. Oilers tied it back up each time.

 

Augusts Veidenbaums scored the winner for Tulsa 1:46 into OT – their first lead of the game.

 

Bogden Shleev and Miroslav Smid each scored twice for Tulsa and Kespersen (28 saves) posted the win.

 

Jack McClelland scored a hat trick for Wichita and Spath made 26 saves in the overtime loss.

 

Wichita took the rubber game, 5-2, on Sunday.  Oskar Gullstrom of the Jr. Thunder scored the first three goals of the game – a pure hat trick – and Adam Conkling (27 saves) made it hold up.  Jack McClelland assisted on all three of Gullstrom’s goals while Shleev scored both for Tulsa.

 

 

BUTTE COBRAS @ CASPER COYOTES

 

10.07.16 – Butte 4, Casper 3 (OT)

10.08.16 – Casper 8, Butte 1

10.09.16 – Casper 7, Butte 3

 

The Casper Coyotes lost to the Butte Cobras on home ice Friday, but recovered to claim five of a possible six points on the weekend.

 

Butte failed to hold onto leads of 2-0 and 3-1 in Casper Friday night, but won their season opener in overtime, 4-3.  Amandus Laukkanen scored the winning goal for Butte just 36 second into OT.

 

Lukas Sadlon made 15 of his 36 saves in the third period for the Cobras.  Daniel Kornakker (38 saves) took the loss and Sven Zinsli scored twice for Casper.

 

The Coyotes, who have struggled somewhat in the early part of the season, got things going in the right direction with an 8-1 win on Saturday.  Lukas Lojka (2-2-4), Austin Parrish (1-3-4) and Zinsli (2-2-4), all had four points in the game and Kornakker allowed just one goal on 41 shots.

 

Zisli put up five more points in Sunday’s 7-3 win, scoring a hat trick and dishing out a pair of helpers.  Dominik Capek (1-2-3) and Lojka (3 assists) also had big nights for the Casper attack.

 

Kornakker (33 saves) got the win over Sadlon, who made 30 saves for Butte.

 

 

SUPERIOR ROUGHRIDERS @ VAIL POWDER HOUNDS

 

10.07.16 – Superior 10, Vail 0

10.08.16 – Superior 6, Vail 1

 

The Superior RoughRiders swept both ends of a home-and-home series with their new in-state rivals, the Vail Powder Hounds.

 

Superior rolled to a 10-0 road win in their season opener at Vail Friday.  Christopher Nitchen notched a hat trick and got help from Sean DeKramer (1-3-4) and Zachary Black (4 assists).

 

Hampus Akesson stopped all 24 shots he saw in the game to post the shutout.

 

Former Salt Lake City Moose goaltender Eric Ahlberg made 47 saves for the Powder Hounds.

 

In Superior on Saturday, Adam Beyerlein (2-2-4) scored twice and Jacob Seibold (1-3-4) also figured in four goals in a 6-1 RoughRiders win.

 

Ashton Opperman handled 18 of 19 shots in the Superior net while his counterpart, Drew Pehrson of Vail, faced 61 shots – stopping 55.

 

 

SEATTLE TOTEMS @ BELLINGHAM BLAZE

 

10.07.16 – Bellingham 3, Seattle 0

10.08.16 – Bellingham 3, Seattle 2

 

The Bellingham Blaze and Seattle Totems continued to build their rivalry with a home-and-home series.  Bellingham took both ends, but it was an entertaining weekend of close, competitive hockey in Washington State.

 

Jake Holden posted a 31-save shutout in front of the Blaze faithful in Bellingham Friday.  It was a 1-0 game until Thomas Steven gave the Blaze a little breathing room 2:19 into the third period.

 

Seattle veteran Angus Campbell kept the Totems in the game with 44 saves.

 

Saturday’s re-match in the Emerald City was another close-checking affair.  The Blaze took leads of 1-0 and 2-1 only to see the Totems tie the game up in front of their home fans.  They were not able to get the equalizer a third time, however, and Brett Hanson’s goal with 7:22 left in the third period held up as the winning goal in a 3-2 Bellingham victory.

 

Alexander Olson was the winning goalie, making 35 saves for the Blaze, while Jacob Virtanen’s 43 saves were not enough or the Totems.

 

 

UTAH OUTLIERS @ SOUTHERN OREGON SPARTANS

 

10.07.16 – Southern Oregon 5, Utah 1

10.08.16 – Southern Oregon 3, Utah 1

10.09.16 – Southern Oregon 4, Utah 3 (SO)

 

The Southern Oregon Spartans posted the sweep on home ice, but the Utah Outliers were in all three games and did not go home empty-handed, picking up a point on Sunday.

 

Five different skaters scored for the Spartans in a 5-1 win on Friday.  It was a 2-1 game well into the third period when a pair of goals 2:13 apart, by Michael Proskos and Charlie Wood, gave Southern Oregon a three-goal lead.

 

Southern Oregon’s Mark Vlahovic turned aside 30 of 31 shots to pick up the win in his WSHL debut.  Jacob Hagstrom scored the goal for the Outlliers.

 

The Spartans scored three times in the second period for a 3-1 win in Saturday’s game.  Wood delivered the game-winning goal for Southern Oregon and Vlahovic had another strong game for the Spartans, stopping 28 of 29 shots.

 

Rasmus Mortensen had a strong game for Utah with 31 saves.

 

Utah had their best game on Sunday.  Matthew Culot’s goal just over a minute into the second period gave them a 3-1 lead, but the Spartans came back to tie in front of their home fans at the Medford Mad House.

 

Chris Seto cut the lead in half with just 32 seconds left in the period, and brother Cameron found the net in the third period and the game went to overtime – then a shootout.

 

Austin Toussaint made 28 saves for Southern Oregon in three periods of regulation before being replaced by Vlahovic, who stopped all 10 shots he faced in overtime, then out-dueled Mortensen (41 saves) in the shootout.

 

 

FRESNO MONSTERS @ ARIZONA HAWKS

 

10.07.16 – Fresno 4, Arizona 2

10.08.16 – Arizona 3, Fresno 2 (OT)

10.09.16 – Fresno 6, Arizona 5 (2 OT)

 

The Fresno Monsters claimed five of a possible six points in Arizona, but the Hawks played with them all weekend, taking two of the three games to overtime.

 

Fresno trailed, 2-0, heading into the third period on Friday night, but scored four unanswered goals for a 4-2 win.

 

Cody Key scored the first two goals to get things going for Fresno, and assisted on the other two – including Logan Domagala’s game-winner.

 

Jaedon McKinley picked up the much-needed win for the Monsters, making 29 saves.  Janne Salminen matched his effort with 29 saves for the Hawks.  Zacky M’Hamed scored both Arizona goals.

 

Gannen Eriksson broke a scoreless tie with 38 seconds left in the first period Saturday.  The Monsters came back to tie on a goal by Key, and they also tied it back up after Arizona took a 2-1 lead.  Domagala’s goal with 1:59 left in regulation sent the game to OT.

 

It only took 31 seconds for Ondrej Paliesek to find the net for the Hawks, giving them a big win over a division rival.

 

Salminen (36 saves) out-dueled Fresno’s Nicholas Gary (28 saves)

 

Sunday’s game was a back-and-forth affair with the teams trading leads in regulation.  The Hawks were unable to protect a 5-3 lead in the third period as Bailey Day Chief and Andrew Pelligrino tied it up for Fresno and Christian Rodgers won it for the Monsters with 1:14 left in the second overtime.

 

Domogala had two more goals, Key four more assists, and Max Elmgren 29 saves for the Monsters.

 

Five different players scored for Arizona, including M’Hamed and Paliesek who each added a pair of assists.  Reiker Edstrom made 58 saves for the Hawks but took the OT loss.

 

 

OGDEN MUSTANGS @ COLORADO JR. EAGLES

 

10.07.16 – Ogden 2, Colorado 0

10.08.16 – Ogden 4, Colorado 1

10.09.16 – Ogden 3, Colorado 2 (OT)

 

Ogden continued to roll, sweeping the Colorado Jr. Eagles in Fort Collins and establishing themselves as the early favorites in the Mountain Division.

 

Vladimir Cibulka’s 34-save shutout on Friday set the tone for the series.  Austin Shea and Alex Forbes scored for the Mustangs on Colorado goalie Austin Piquette (34 saves).

 

Ogden scored three times in the first period Saturday and, though the Jr. Eagles tightened things up from that point forward, they fell again at home, 4-1.

 

Shea scored two more goals for Ogden and Cibulka kicked out 28 of 29 shots.

 

The Jr. Eagles came out with a lot of determination on Sunday, coming back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to tie the game and force overtime, but Ogden veteran Montell Greene ended the game 2:49 into sudden-death, giving the Mustangs an impressive road sweep of last year’s Thorne Cup finalists.

 

John Tower scored both Colorado goals – including one with 1:12 left in regulation to force overtime.

 

Cibulka saves his best for last making 48 saves in the game – 26 of them in the third period.

 

Braden Lajoie made 46 saves for the Jr. Eagles, who find themselves with just two wins in their first eight games (2-4-2).