Cooper Blanks 'Crows

13 days after becoming the first goaltender with a shutout in the FPHL this season, Reid Cooper became the first to two shutouts after he made 18 saves in a 3-0 Prowlers win over the Topeka Scarecrows.

“He played outstanding,” said Prowlers associate head coach Chris Paulin. “You saw it, a couple of breakdowns and they got a couple of good looks. He just made game-changing saves. He steadied the storm back there.”

It took over 33 minutes of game time to find the first goal and it came from a gift. With Port Huron on a power play, the Scarecrows took another one. The Prowlers tried to give away the puck to make it a five-on-three advantage but they refused to touch it so Alex Johnson ripped it home from the high slot for his third of the season. 

A few minutes later, Vincent Dekumbis pulled the puck out of a pile in the corner. He moved up the wall, turned and fired a shot from a sharp angle. It got through a moving screen and beat Sammy Bernard, who never saw it as it found the top shelf. 

Port Huron put the game away late in the third as Arttu Heikkilä slid home his own rebound off a pass from Reggie Millette. Topeka only managed three shots on goal in the final 20 minutes.

“The boys really kept it clean in the third,” Cooper said. “We had to battle through a few penalty kills but, honestly, the boys played great defensively. We stuck to our structure and it paid off.”

Blake Anderson picked up his first point as a Prowler with an assist on Dekumbis’ goal while Cooper moved to 4-1-0 on the season.

Bernard stopped 24 shots in net.

The teams match up for the second time ever on Oct. 25 at McMorran Place with a 7:05 P.M. puck drop. Tickets are available at phprowlers.com/tickets.