Prowlers Slay River Dragons 4-2 In Friday Night Battle

By: Jeremy Skiba

In a single-game series hosted in Columbus, Georgia, the Port Huron Prowlers would defeat the Columbus River Dragons 4-2 on Friday night.

With the series tied at 2 games apiece and the Prowlers outscoring the River Dragons by one goal, this would be the fifth seasonal meeting between the clubs.

The River Dragons would strike first. When Ivan Bodnarenko fired home a pass from Chad Herron in the low slot, the ice was flooded with teddy bears from fans participating in the Columbus Teddy Bear Toss.

Almost 10 minutes later, the Prowlers would get on the board when Jarrett Pfeiffer banked a shot off a Columbus defenseman from behind the net. The puck would bounce off the arm of Pashovitz and trickle in for the score.

Matt Robertson would give the Prowlers a 2-1 lead. When Matt Graham pass the puck over to Dave Nippard behind the Columbus net, Nippard would create space moving off the defenseman. He would then throw the puck across  the slot and Robertson would deflect the puck off his skate.

CJ Hayes would knot the game up at two for Columbus. After Edgar Ozolins' dump ricocheted off the boards in the neutral zone, Hayes would pick up the puck and use his speed to get around the Prowler's defense to slip the puck five-hole on Cory Simons.

But once again, it would be the Captain Matt Robertson who would put them back on top. Matt Graham would take a shot from the point that would deflect off his shin pad. The puck would beat Pashovitz glove side to put the Prowlers up 3-2.

After the game, Robertson gave credit to his line mates for both goals that were scored tonight.

“I give Graham and Nippard much of the credit. The one Dave gave me was just a tap in,” Robertson said. “On the other goal, Graham shot the puck and I was just standing in front of the net. I  was happy the puck went off my shin pad. So these guys deserve credit for the two goals I scored tonight.”

Zach Zulkancyz would hit an empty-net with three seconds left in the game to cement the Prowlers 4-2 win.

Head Coach Joe Pace shared his thoughts on his team’s win and the importance of next week's match up.

“Being on the road against a team you’re battling for points in the standings is like battling for a playoff spot. These points matter to us. It was a physical game and our attitude from the start was in the right place. Look how we battled throughout,” Pace said. “We face them again next weekend and it’ll important to try and pick up the six points to put us up further in the standings.”

With the victory, the Prowlers improved their record to 5-6-2-0 and jumped to third place in the Western Division. The River Dragons dropped down to fourth place and hold a record of 5-7-1-1.

The Prowlers and River Dragons will meet twice next weekend in Port Huron for a two-game series. Puck drop for Friday’s game is 7:30 PM and 6:00 PM on Saturday. Fans can catch all the action on EBW.TV.