Prowlers Take First Matchup With Sea Wolves

The Port Huron Prowlers took the first game of their series with the Mississippi Sea Wolves 6-1 at Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi. The win snapped a four-game losing skid for Port Huron.

After a scoreless opening frame, newly signed Philip Wong got the Sea Wolves on the board first just under three minutes into the second. Evan Foley responded shortly after, jamming a loose puck in the crease over the goal line for his fourth of the year.

Later in the period, Dalton Jay wristed a power play goal past Blake Weyrick to give the Prowlers their first lead of the night. 88 seconds later, Joe Deveny got body position near the crease and potted his team-leading seventh of the season to make it a 3-1 game. Deveny is riding a personal four-game goal-scoring streak. 

With under three minutes to go in the period, Tucker Scantlebury took a shot that found the glass behind the net but the puck bounced back in front and Matt Graham batted out of the air for his third goal in three games and a three-goal Port Huron lead heading into the third.

The Prowlers weren’t done as Jay found Scantlebury charging the net and he put home his fourth of the season in his fifth game. A couple of minutes later, one of many scrums in front of Wyatt Hoflin’s crease turned into a fight between rookie Dan Chartrand and veteran Joe Pace. Both got five minutes for fighting with the former Prowler Pace picking up a two-minute instigator penalty and a 10-minute misconduct. Lucas Helland also received a minor penalty which put Port Huron back on the man advantage. It only took 10 seconds for Foley to find Larri Vartiainen for a one-timer from the right-wing circle to tack on the sixth straight goal for the Prowlers.

With goals in its final two opportunities last week in Motor City and three tonight, the Port Huron power play has now scored on five of its last six chances. Vartiainen, Foley and Deveny returned as the top line with all three available for the first time since Oct. 22 and combined for eight points. Hoflin made 30 saves and picked up the win in his FPHL debut.

Chris Hunt was held off the scoresheet for the first time this season for Mississippi. Blake Cudmore picked up an assist in his Sea Wolves debut while Weyrick made 15 saves in the loss.

These two teams battle again on the same ice on Nov. 12 at 8:05 PM eastern with coverage available on the Port Huron Prowlers YouTube channel.

Photo courtesy of Delta Imaging