Weekend Preview: Prowlers Take Louisiana Swing

The Port Huron Prowlers take their only trip to the southern coast this season as they face the Baton Rouge Zydeco for two games and the Monroe Moccasins for one. It’s the first of two three-games-in-three-nights stretches for the Prowlers this year and the only one on the road.

Port Huron won a pair of tight contests at home against the Blue Ridge Bobcats last weekend at home. In the first game, Lukas Lacny broke a 1-1 tie early in the third and the Prowlers hit the empty net twice in a 4-1 win. The next night, Blue Ridge was up 2-0 with under seven minutes to go in regulation but Alex Johnson and Ludwig Thellström scored to send it to overtime and then a shootout. Austin Fetterly put home his second shootout winner of the season in the bottom of the third round. After earning five of a possible six points over the weekend, Port Huron moved up to third in the Empire Division at 5-4-1 with 14 points.

Baton Rouge faced the last-place Mississippi Sea Wolves for a home-and-home. The first night at Raising Cane’s River Center, the Zydeco dominated 7-1 behind four points from Elijah Wilson. The next night in Biloxi, Wilson and Shane Haggerty contributed a goal and an assist apiece in the first two periods as Baton Rouge built a 2-0 lead. The Sea Wolves got one back in the third but Bailey Stephens kept his team ahead to the final horn, making 42 saves in the process. The Zydeco sit second in the Continental Division at 7-3-1 with 20 points.

Monroe was on the road last weekend visiting the Carolina Thunderbirds. The first game was an offensive shootout with both teams having runs of three-straight goals and the lead changed multiple times. Jon Buttitta put the Thunderbirds in front by two early in the third and that was enough as Carolina took it 6-5. The next night, the Moccasins’ offense couldn’t muster any more goals. Mario Cavaliere made 30 saves in a 3-0 shutout win for the Thunderbirds. Monroe ends up 2-2-0 on a four-game road stretch and is now 3-5-3 with 11 points, good for sixth in the Continental.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Prowlers - Tristan Simm (F) - Simm gets a second chance with the Prowlers after being re-acquired in a trade this week. He has three goals this season in nine games as a Blue Ridge Bobcat.

Zydeco - Elijah Wilson (F) - Baton Rouge’s leader in goals, assists and points is averaging two points per game over his last five games. 

Moccasins - Frank Schumacher (D) - The Prowlers traded Schumacher to Monroe late in the offseason after two years in Port Huron. He’ll play against his former team for the first time since the 2016 Commissioner’s Cup Final as a member of the Danbury Titans.

STAT CENTRAL

The Prowlers have not won a game outside the state of Michigan this season (0-3-1 in those games)…The Zydeco are second in the Continental in points (20) but fourth in win percentage (.606)…The Moccasins are winless in 6 games at home heading into the weekend

WEEKEND SCHEDULE

Nov. 21, 8:05 P.M. at Raising Cane’s River Center (Baton Rouge, LA)

Nov. 22, 8:05 P.M. at Raising Cane’s River Center (Baton Rouge, LA)

Nov. 23, 8:00 P.M. at Monroe Civic Center (Monroe, LA)

*game times in eastern standard time

All three games will be streamed live on the PHP Network YouTube channel and can be seen at the Port Huron Buffalo Wild Wings.