Day Chief helps Rush in weekend sweep

As usual, the ECHL teams were all busy on the weekend (March 13-15, 2015) with key battles in both the East and West Conference involving teams from the Midwest.

Among the most successful was the Rapid City Rush who used home ice to full advantage and collected a two-game sweep of the Allen Americans to stay right in the hunt in the West Conference.

West Conference

Rapid City 

Friday — Americans 2 at Rush 3 

Saturday — Americans 3 at Rush 5

On Friday night the Americans started quickly, doubling its host on both the shot clock with a 14-7 edge and the scoreboard in the opening period to carry a 2-1 lead into the second.

Winston Day Chief had the lone first period marker for the host Rush, sandwiched by Kyle Follmer with the first Americans goal 2:18 into the game and Greger Hanson who wrapped it up on a powerplay with 4:20 to go in the frame.

Day Chief picked up his second point of the night with an assist on the lone second period marker, scored by Kevin Harvey and it was Day Chief again giving the Rush its first and only lead of the night just 22 seconds from the final buzzer.

In the Saturday game, Kale Kerbashian led the way, setting up each of the first three Rush goals, then adding the insurance goal at the end into an empty Allen net.

Mathieu Brisebois connected on a powerplay goal for the Rush 72 seconds from the end of the opening period and that 1-0 lead held up all of the way to the final frame when early goals by Jesse Schultz on powerplay and Dallas Ehrhardt had the home team up 3-0.

The Americans responded with a pair of powerplay goals coming 15 seconds apart, the second being the 40^th of the year for Gary Steffes. He added another at even strength just over a minute later to finish the evaporation of a three goal deficit.

Cody Ferriero’s 20^th of the year on a powerplay with exactly six minutes to play stood up as the game winner and Kerbashian scored his empty netter with 30 seconds to go.

The Rush will stay at home for two more this coming weekend against the Quad City Mallards, then finish the month with three on the road at Brampton.

Missouri/Wichita/Quad City

Friday – Beast 4 at Mavericks 5

Missouri started off its weekend with a 5-4 loss on home ice against the visiting Brampton Beast.

The visitors scored three times before Lindsay Sparks finally found the mark for a powerplay goal in the final minute of the opening period.

Troy Vance triggered a shorthanded marker early in the second to get the Mavs within one and Geordie Wudrick’s powerplay tally just over a minute later had the home team back on par with its opponent.

Brampton however responded with two more in the second half of the second and carried a 5-3 margin into the final frame.

A powerplay goal by Geoff Walker with 4:47 to go made for an interesting finish but that was as close as the Missouri squad could get in this one.

Friday – Thunder 1 at Oilers 4

The Thunder started a rough road weekend at Tulsa dropping a 4-1 decision.

Tulsa scored the lone first period goal but Tyson Gauthier tied it for the Thunder 4:25 into the middle frame. However that would be the lone goal of the game and three unanswered third period goals for the home team made the difference in this one.

Saturday – Thunder 1 at Mallards 3

Saturday’s game was nearly a carbon copy for the Thunder who again fell behind 1-0 after a period and tied the game with the lone second period goal, this time off of the stick of Nikita Kishirsky.

The Mallards’ first period goal came from Kevin Baker and the game winner was scored by Mason Baptista 9:25 into the third. Insurance came from Mario Lamoureaux who notched his team’s third with 31 seconds to play in the game.

Parker Milner picked up the win in goal for the Mallards with a 25 save effort and Tim Boron stopped 21 of 24 for the Thunder.

Wichita will stay on the road for a midweek series in Texas against Allen Americans, then return home to play both Allen and Tulsa on the weekend.

Sunday – Mavericks 3 at Mallards 1

Both the Mavericks and Mallards wound up with weekend splits following this one as the Mavericks scored the first two and carried a 2-1 lead out of both the first and second periods.

Geoff Walker and John-Scott Dickson had the first period goals for the Mavericks with Kevin Baker responding for the Mallards.

The lead held up all of the way to the third when Lindsay Sparks padded it with a shorthanded goal just over four minutes away from the final buzzer.

The Mavericks will stay on the road, venturing into East Conference territory with games at Toledo and Fort Wayne on the weekend. The Mallards meanwhile will entertain Tulsa on Wednesday, then make the trip to Rapid City for a pair of weekend contests.

East Conference

Friday – Solar Bears 3 at Cyclones 2

The Cyclones had a busy three-game weekend beginning with a visit from the Solar Bears who were starting a 3-0 trip to the Midwest.

The Solar Bears scored a late first period powerplay goal then added another before Christiaan Minella finally got the Cyclones on the board with 5:18 to go in the middle period.

Another powerplay marker gave the Bears some breathing room but Steven Hodges made it a one goal game again with 73 seconds to play. The Cyclones were never able to get the equalizer.

Friday – Icemen 0 at Fuel 3 

Evansville was limited to just 21 shots and Indy goaltender Mac Carruth handled all of them to lead his team to the win.

Matt S. Wise, Pete Massar and Niklas Lindberg collected the goals for the home team

For the Icemen, the game was its first of three on the road for the weekend while the Indy was off Saturday, then traveled to Toledo Sunday.

Friday – Wings 1 at Nailers 4 

The Wings began a three game weekend road set at Wheeling Friday night where goaltenders were the story early on.

Both teams fired 41 shots on the night but early on there was no openings in the armor of either Joel Martin in goal for the Wings or Franky Palazzese at the opposite end.

Both goaltenders played through a scoreless opening period before the Nailers found an opening 4:38 into the second. Wings evened it when 6’7″ defender Brett Ponich scored his first of the year but that was to be the only goal for the visitors.

Teams were still even heading to the third but Wheeling found a way by Martin at the 8:48 mark and then added another with just under five minutes to play and put the game away with an empty net tally.

Friday — Walleye 1 at Komets 2 (ot)

Joey Leach ended the most exciting game of Friday with his goal 3:59 into overtime to lift host Fort Wayne over the visiting Toledo Walleye.

Until then, J.M Rizk was the lone shooter to solve Walleye goaltender Neil Conway who ended up with 32 saves on the night. Mark Guggenberger held out even longer for the Komets, stopping 25 of 26 and carrying a shutout into the game’s 51st minute before A.J. Jenks tallied the lone Toledo goal.

The Walleye returned home following the game for a Saturday battle while the Komets hit the road for Cincinnati.

Saturday — Fuel 3 at Walleye 4 (so)

Toledo engaged in its second overtime contest in 24 hours Saturday and this time went all of the way to a shootout before wrapping up a 3 out of 4 points weekend with the 4-3 edge.

Teams were even after a period, Cody Lampl giving the Walleye an early lead but Kyle Stroh responding later for the Fuel.

Rhett Bly and Chris DeSousa both scored for the Fuel in the second period, Troy Schwab pulling one back for the Walleye who trailed 3-2 heading to the final period. Kyle Bonis scored his 28th of the season to equalize in the third for Walleye and teams played through a scoreless overtime period before heading to the shootout.

Both teams scored two out of three to extend the shootout and A.J. Jenks finally ended it with his fifth round marker for the Walleye.

Saturday–Komets 1 at Cyclones 3

Sunday — Cyclones 2 at Komets 3

This was a key battle as both teams are in the hunt for top spot overall in the East Conference. This one settled nothing though as teams ultimately split the four points — the home teams winning on both occasions.

Despite being doubled on the shots clock, the Cyclones grabbed the win in the opener led by goaltender Rob Madore who stopped 31 of 32 Komets chances.

Jack Downing scored twice in the opening period to get the Cyclones underway and James Martin countered with what would be the lone Komets goal 6:42 into the second.

Downing finished off the hat trick on a Cyclones powerplay with 6:40 to go in the second and the Komets through all they had at Madore down the stretch, outshooting its host 9-2 in the third, but there were no openings.

The following night was similar, the Cyclones once again up 2-1 heading to the third, but this time Matthew Pistilli scored to tie it up 5:50 in and William Lacasse triggering the game winner a little more than two minutes later.

Shawn Szydlowski had the other Komets goal while Downing and Steven Hodges countered for the Cyclones.

The Cyclones will be heading south for next weekend, visiting Greenville Friday and Saturday before wrapping up against the league’s hottest entry, the South Carolina Stingrays, on Sunday.

It’s a four-game week for the Komets who hit the road for stops at Indianapolis Wednesday and Kalamazoo Friday before entertaining Missouri Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday — Solar Bears 10 at Icemen 3

Sunday — Solar Bears 4 at Icemen 1

Home ice held no advantage at the Ford Center in Evansville as the visiting Orlando squad wrapped up a six-point weekend giving it a little breathing room in its chase for a playoff position.

A playoff spot has never been in question for the last place Icemen which found itself looking up a 5-0 deficit by the end of the first period Saturday and down 7-0 to the third.

The good news for the Icemen was a dominant third period that saw them score three times and hold a 21-3 edge in shots down the stretch on its way to a 56-33 edge overall. The bad news was the Orlando crew scored three times on three shots in that period.

Spencer Humphries, Myles Bell and Jordan Sims counted the Icemen goals while the Solar Bears had 14 different players record at least a point in the contest.

The Icemen managed to keep the game closer on Sunday but Orlando still built up a 2-0 first period lead and after a scoreless middle segment they added two more before Jarret Lukin shattered the shutout bid of Solar Bears goaltender Maxime Clermont with 7:49 to go.

The Icemen will face another tough test as Florida’s other team, the Conference leading Everblades pay a visit for two this coming weekend.

Saturday — Wings 5 at Royals 2

Sunday — Wings 1 at Royals 6

The Wings headed east and picked up a split with the Royals at Santander Arena.

In the opener, Ludwig Blomstrand opened the scoring with his 24th of the season for the Wings 37 seconds in to the contest, but the Royals responded later in the frame and led 2-1 early in the second.

Royals’ lead lasted all of 34 seconds before Lane Scheidl tied it up for the Wings and teams were still locked up heading to the third period.

Michael Neal’s goal 1:56 into the final frame stood up as the game winner, Blomstrand adding some insurance late in the game and Gergo Nagy clinching it with his empty netter in the final minute.

The following night, it was the Royals in control from 67 seconds in when they notched their first.

Up 2-0 after a period, the Royals extended its lead with three more in the second. Dane Fox scored the Wings’ only goal, his 24th of the season, 2:04 into the third and Reading wrapped up the scoring a little over a minute later.

The Wings will be home to face Indy on Tuesday and entertain the Komets on Friday before heading to Toledo two wrap up the week Saturday.