Port Huron Breaks Slide

The wait is over. The Port Huron Prowlers snapped their six-game losing streak with a 3-2 win over the Blue Ridge Bobcats at McMorran Place. Port Huron outshot Blue Ridge 45-29 in the effort.

“Teams lose a few games in a row and they start to panic, there was none of that in our locker room,” said Prowlers associate head coach Chris Paulin. “We had a bad weekend last weekend and put it behind us. We put a great week in preparation and played hard. These guys know it’s a long season and they battled hard tonight.”

The Prowlers’ power play got off the schnide just over five minutes in when Blake Anderson found Arttu Heikkilä right in front to open the scoring.

Blue Ridge responded later in the period. Daniel Martin feathered a pass to PJ Demitrio on a two-on-one rush and he one-timed it to top shelf.

Heikkilä struck again late in the period after hard work by his linemates. His shot from the right-wing circle hit Anthony Shrum’s shoulder but still found the net for his eighth of the year and a 2-1 Port Huron lead.

“[Heikkilä is] somebody who’s very coachable, when we tell him where to be, he’s there,” Paulin said. “He runs great routes. Both of his goals, great position and perfect execution. Offensively, he’s been getting chances and tonight, they went in.” 

It only took 11 seconds into the second period for Nikita Kozyrev to tie it up again, but Port Huron took the lead back a few minutes later. A shot by Bryan Parsons was tipped home by Matt Graham. It was originally waved off but further review showed the puck hit the back bar, not the cross bar, and it stood up as the game winner.

The Prowlers’ top line led the way with Heikkilä’s two goals, Graham’s Gordie Howe hat trick and Lukas Lacny’s pair of assists. Reid Cooper got his 10th win of the season after a 27-save performance, capped off by a paddle top in the final seconds.

“The boys played a heck of a game tonight,” Cooper said. “I thought it would come down to something late game so I was ready for a big moment to happen and I made the save.”

Shrum took his first loss against Port Huron after making 42 stops.

The teams battle again on Saturday, December 20 with puck drop at McMorran Place scheduled for 6:05 P.M. Tickets are available at phprowlers.com/tickets.