Prowlers Take Barn Burner in Delaware

The Port Huron Prowlers held off the Delaware Thunder 7-6 on March 3 to split their series in Harrington. Joe Deveny led the way with four points for Port Huron.

Matt Stoia opened the scoring with his first FPHL goal of the season on the power play just before the midway point of the first period. With under five minutes to play in the frame Dustin Henning’s shot was stopped by Spencer Kozlowski but the puck popped back in front and Deveny batted it in out of the air to make it 2-0.

Danila Milushkin got one back for the Thunder on the man advantage early in the second. Deveny restored the two goal lead when he poked the puck off of Rocco DiCostanzo’s stick past Kozlowski. 1:23 later, Gino Mini danced his way around Erik Oganezov and scored a highlight-reel goal to extend the Port Huron lead to 4-1.

Delaware battled back before the end of the frame. Houston Wilson potted a short-handed goal and Marquis Grant-Mentis brought the Thunder within one heading into the third.

Evan Foley scored a power-play goal 48 seconds into the final period when his cross-crease pass came back to him. 53 seconds later, Milushkin notched his second of the night. 

Austin Weber tied the score with just over 13 minutes to play after blocking a shot and catching up to the puck in Prowler territory. Stoia responded on a rebound opportunity two minutes later to put Port Huron back in front. 43 seconds after that, Jakub Volf banged home a puck in the crease to knot the score at six.

Less than two minutes later, Matt Graham found some open space on a rush and picked the corner over Kozlowski’s glove to put the Prowlers up for good.

Foley added an assist to his goal while Alex Johnson and Dan Chartrand each contributed two assists. Wyatt Hoflin made 22 saves in the win as Port Huron snapped a three-game skid.

Weber led the way for the Thunder with a three-point night. Wilson and Volf had a goal and an assist apiece while Denis Gafarov chipped in a pair of helpers. Kozlowski made 22 saves in his first professional loss.

The Prowlers return to McMorran Place to begin a seven-game homestand on March 10 against the Elmira Mammoth. Tickets for the entire homestand are available at phprowlers.com/tickets or by calling the McMorran box office at 810-985-6166.

Photo courtesy of Bill Wiegelman