Prowlers-River Dragons Preview (Sponsored By Eli's)
By: Brady Beedon
Port Huron - The Port Huron Prowlers (12-7-3-0) will make the long trip down to Georgia to take on the Columbus River Dragons (6-14-3-1) in a trio of games starting Thursday night. The first two games will start at 7:35, while the Saturday game will be played at 6:05.
Game Storylines - Port Huron and Columbus are no strangers to each other. The two have faced off seven times this year. The Prowlers are 5-2-0-0 in those contests, including winning the last three in a row. Port Huron’s nine game winning streak was snapped Saturday when the Delaware Thunder handed them their first loss in over a month.
Scouting the River Dragons - On the stat sheet, Parker Moskal is the leading scorer for the River Dragons. However, he has yet to play a game for Columbus since being traded from Mentor. Their leading scorer that the Prowlers will likely see is MJ Graham, who was absent the last time these two teams met due to injury.
Last Time Out - The Prowlers saw their nine game winning streak come to an end Saturday, as the Delaware Thunder pulled away late for a 6-2 victory. The River Dragons split a pair of games with Watertown this past weekend, including an overtime victory on Saturday’s contest.
Getting the Call! - Port Huron goalie Cory Simons got the call to the Pensacola Ice Flyers of the SPHL on December 24. At the time of his call up, he had an undefeated record in net and was leading the league in both save percentage (.948) and goal against average (1.81). Matt Robertson was also called up on January 1 to the Fayetteville Marksmen. For his efforts during the month of December, Matt Robertson was named FPHL Player of the Month.
Tending the Twine - With the call up, Chris Paulin will now be leading the charge between the pipes. Paulin has recorded two shutouts on the year. Jared Rutledge will be the number one for Columbus this weekend. Just like the Prowlers, Columbus saw their best goaltender in Rylan Pashovitz get called up in December. The Prowlers may also see a familiar face in net. Cody Karpinski has appeared in three games for the River Dragons. Karpinski played the latter half of the 2018-19 season with Port Huron.
Season Series - The Prowlers and River Dragons have had seven meetings, with Port Huron taking five wins. Of those seven, the Prowlers have hosted six of them. This will be the final series with Columbus in the regular season.
300 For Robertson! - With an assist during the November 23 contest against the Mentor Ice Breakers, Matt Robertson recorded his 300th career point in the FPHL. Robertson is far and away the Prowlers all time leading scorer, scoring 133 goals, while assisting 186 times. Robertson currently sits at fifth all time on the FPHL scoring leaders.
Change of Venues - The Prowlers are 5-4-3-0 when outside of the Blue Water area. While on home ice Port Huron is 7-3-0-0. Columbus has posted a 4-7-1-1 record in the peach state, which is better than their 2-7-2-0 while on the road.