Prowlers Drop First Shootout of the Season

In their 36th game of the season, they went to a shootout for the first time, but the Port Huron Prowlers fell 6-5 to the Binghamton Black Bears. The Bears won the skills competition 2-1.

For the second straight night, the scoring started in the second period. Matt Graham sent a slap shot on net from the high slot and Lukas Lacny cleaned up the rebound. Less than two minutes later, Ben Brockway sent home his first goal of the season through traffic.

Austin D’Orazio got the Bears on the board with a one-timer that just snuck through later in the period and Jacob Shankar tied it on a two-on-one rush. The Prowlers got the lead back before the break after a long-range power-play goal from Reggie Millette.

“We responded way better today,” Millette said. “Our bench is a big factor. When we get scored on, sometimes the bench gets down and it shows on the ice. Today, we were cheering each other on.”

Tyson Kirkby flipped the game with two power-play goals 45 seconds apart in the early minutes of the third. The Prowlers tied it again on a rebound goal by Arttu Heikkilä. 

“The mentality was significantly better today,” Prowlers associate head coach Chris Paulin said. “I think yesterday was a little bit uncharacteristic of our group. Today was much more common for how we handle things here.”

With under four minutes to go, Millette picked the top corner over Dominik Tmej’s blocker to give Port Huron the lead. But, with 13 seconds left, Binghamton won a faceoff and got the puck to the net where Gehrett Sargis tossed home the rebound.

After an entertaining overtime that featured 10 combined shots, the teams headed to a shootout. Nick Swain and Mac Jansen scored in the first two rounds and Tmej stopped Bobby Price in round three to seal it.

Millette and Lacny finished with three points apiece while Price had two helpers. Reid Cooper made 37 saves. 

Jansen, D’Orazio and Kirkby all had four-point nights while Tmej stopped 38 shots.

“I think the execution was a step in the right direction,” Paulin said. “We have a long way to go but the guys are building.”

The Prowlers hit the road next week for a hugely important series in Topeka against the Scarecrows. All three games can be seen on the PHP Network YouTube channel.

Photo courtesy of Delta Imaging