Series Preview: Prowlers Return From Break, Visit Danbury

After a weekend off, the Prowlers begin a busy March with three games in Danbury. These will be Port Huron’s only three games in the month outside of Michigan.

The Prowlers had an extra week to digest their two losses to Motor City on Feb. 16 and 17. In the first game, Motor City scored three times in the second to build a big lead and added on in the third. Austin Fetterly scored late to spoil the shutout bid for a 5-1 final. The next night in Fraser, Evan Foley’s second of the night tied the score late but TJ Delaney got the overtime winner to help the Rockers take five of a possible six points. Port Huron still sits third in the Continental at 19-14-5 with 59 points.

The Hat Tricks picked up a pair of wins against Elmira last weekend before dropping a Sunday contest with Binghamton. In the first game with the River Sharks, Jonny Ruiz scored twice to help Danbury build a 3-0 lead early in the second. They held off the Elmira attack to win 3-2. The next night, Ruiz led the way with a hat trick as his team rebounded from an early 3-1 deficit to take the game 10-4. In the final game of their weekend against the Black Bears, the Hat Tricks fell short 4-2 as Peter Izzo’s first pro goal with under three minutes to play stood up as the game winner. Danbury is 21-16-4 with 61 points and still third in the Empire.

SEASON SERIES (DANBURY LEADS 2-0)

Dec. 22 @ Danbury: Hat Tricks 4, Prowlers 0

Dec. 23 @ Danbury: Hat Tricks 4, Prowlers 3 (OT)

LAST MEETING

The Prowlers mounted a three-goal comeback in the second half of the third period, capped by to force overtime but Jacob Ratcliffe scored his second of the night in the extra session to seal a weekend sweep for Danbury.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Prowlers - Dalton Jay (F) - Still sitting on 499 points, Jay has a chance to reach another milestone in a building he knows well. 

Hat Tricks - Josh Labelle (D) - The offseason acquisition hadn’t yet joined Danbury the last time the Prowlers were there but since coming into the lineup, he has 20 points in 20 games to lead all Hat Tricks defensemen. 13 of those points have coming during his six-game point streak.

STAT CENTRAL

Dalton Jay (PHP) is 1 point away from becoming the 3rd player in FPHL history with 500 points…Connor McCollum (DHT) is the only goaltender to shut out the Prowlers this season…The Prowlers are winless in their last 9 games at Danbury Arena and are 1-8-2 overall against the Hat Tricks since the start of 2021-22…The Prowlers and Hat Tricks are tied for the second-most shorthanded goals in the FPHL with 8 apiece

SERIES SCHEDULE

Mar. 1, 7:30 P.M. at Danbury Arena (Danbury, CT)

Mar. 2, 7:00 P.M. at Danbury Arena (Danbury, CT)

Mar. 3, 3:00 P.M. at Danbury Arena (Danbury, CT)

All three games will be streamed live on the PHP Network YouTube channel.