Thunderbirds Fly Past Prowlers For Six Points

By: Jeremy Skiba

Over the weekend, the Port Huron Prowlers headed down to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to take in the warm weather and face off against the Carolina Thunderbirds. I would be the first time they would battle since last year's playoff series. The Thunderbirds sat first in the Western Division with 91 points while the Prowlers were in second with 74 points. It would be an important weekend for the Prowlers to gain some headway in the standings. Here’s how it all went down.

On Friday night, Austin Fetterly got the action started when he backhanded a shot off a wraparound over the shoulder of Jacob Mullen. Jan Salak would wrist a shot through the five-hole of Cory Simons to even up the score a few minutes later.

The Thunderbirds would begin to pull away in the second period as Jon Buttitta, Jan Krivohlavek and Chad Herron each tallied for Carolina. Fetterly would also pick up his second goal of the game in the second period.

In the third period, Buttitta and Herron would each score their second of the game as the Thunderbirds would take game one by a score of 6-2. Cory Simons would make 61 saves in the loss.

The Prowlers would once again find the back of the net first on Saturday night when Zach Zulkancyz would flip a puck over Jacob Mullen who was down butterfly. The Prowlers looked like they had their legs moving and were ready to play.

Early in the second period on a powerplay, Jan Salak would score his second of the weekend to tie the game at one.

Dalton Jay would score on a breakaway 7:22 into the third period but it was all Carolina after that. The flood gates would open as Joe Cangelosi, Chad Herron, Petr Panacek and George Holt each found the back of the net to cement a 5-2 Thunderbirds victory. Cory Simons would make 42 saves in the loss. Simons had a total of 103 saves this weekend.

Prowlers head coach Joe Pace shared his thoughts on the weekend.

“It was definitely an important weekend to show Carolina who we are especially since the taste of salt is still in our mouths from last April. They were the better team Friday night for sure,” Pace said. “We got too comfortable after Dalton scored to put us ahead on Saturday and we just broke down after the tying goal. This is a weekend we all can learn from and we’ll be prepared when they come to Port Huron.”

After the weekend, the Prowlers still remain in second place in the Western Division with a record of 22-14-4-0. The Thunderbirds remain in first with a record of 30-6-2-3.

The Prowlers will be back in action this Wednesday when they take on the Battle Creek Rumble Bees at McMorran Arena. You can catch the game on EBW.TV. Puck Drop is for 7:30 PM.