Millette, Cooper Help Prowlers Take Shootout

Reggie Millette scored the only goal in the shootout to help the Port Huron Prowlers grab the extra point from the Motor City Rockers on April 11 at McMorran Place. Reid Cooper outdueled Ricardo Gonzalez to get himself back in the win column.

“We had a lot of mistakes tonight,” said Prowlers assistant coach Chris Paulin. “We turned over the puck quite a bit and we didn’t get pucks deep as much as we talked about coming into the weekend. With that said, I thought the guys battled and we got fantastic goaltending and that was the difference in the game.”

The Prowlers got on the board first in the opening period. Daniel Chartrand ripped the puck from the corner towards the blue paint. Matt Graham got a touch on it and it found a way through Gonzalez for Graham’s career-high 24th of the season.

That lead held into the third. The Rockers continued working on a power play that leaked over from the middle frame and TJ Sneath put home the rebound from a Nick Gullo shot from the wall.

Both goaltenders stopped two-on-none opportunities and got the game to a shootout. Millette scored in round two and Cooper stopped all three shooters to seal the deal.

“I tried to stay as big as possible,” Cooper said. “In talks with [Coach Paulin] and shootouts in the past, I’ve learned that being aggressive and cutting down their angle gives me a really good chance to make the save.”

Millette comes away with the shootout winner and an assist. Cooper made 18 saves in the 65 minutes before the skills competition.

Gonzalez stopped 47 shots in the loss.

The Prowlers and Rockers finish the regular season at Big Boy Arena on April 12 at 7:05 P.M. The game will be available live on the PHP Network YouTube channel.

Photo courtesy of Delta Imaging