Weekend Preview: Keep On Rolling

The Port Huron Prowlers put their five-game win streak on the line this weekend as they welcome in HC Venom and the Mississippi Sea Wolves. The games will wrap up Port Huron’s regular season series with both teams.

Last weekend, the Prowlers swept their home-and-home with the Motor City Rockers to clinch a season series victory. On Friday at Big Boy Arena, Port Huron peppered Ricardo Gonzalez to the tune of 48 shots and beat him five times plus an empty netter. Lukas Lacny and Reggie Millette led the way with four points apiece in a 6-2 Prowlers win. The next night in Port Huron, the Prowlers scored four times in the first 9:35 of the game to put it out of reach early. Lacny scored a hat trick and added two assists as his team took it 7-3 to win its fifth straight. Port Huron is in third in the Empire Division at 26-16-6 with 78 points.

The Venom were on the road last weekend for interdivisional play against the Blue Ridge Bobcats. On Friday, they trailed the Bobcats 2-0 and 3-1 at different points in the game but Dzianis Zaichyk tied things up 4-4 with 3:30 to go and Denila Belov scored in overtime to steal the extra point. Blue Ridge bounced back the next night with a dominant 65-shot effort and a 6-1 win in Anthony Shrum’s first professional start. He got the win after making 26 saves. The Venom are 11-27-3 with 33 points, seven points behind Motor City for the final play-in spot. They’ll visit the Rockers for two games after facing Port Huron on Friday. The Venom also host the Danbury Hat Tricks and Dashers Hockey Club on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, as part of a five-games-in-five-nights week.

The Sea Wolves faced the Dashers in a battle of the last-place teams in each division. On Friday, it was 2-2 in the second period until Curtis Hansen broke the tie shorthanded. His team held on the rest of the way for a 5-2 win. Saturday’s game was tied with five minutes to go but Lucas Piekarczyk and Noah Hippolyte-Smith scored less than three minutes apart to secure a 4-2 victory for Mississippi. Sunday belonged to Richie Parent as he pitched a 37-save shutout to complete the weekend sweep with a 4-0 final. Despite being out of playoff contention, the Sea Wolves are hot and sit at 11-34-3 with 35 points. They’ll visit the Rockers on Friday before heading to Port Huron.

SEASON SERIES

VENOM LEAD 3-0

Oct. 25 @ Venom: Venom 3, Prowlers 2

Nov. 8 @ Venom: Venom 6, Prowlers 5

Feb. 21 @ Venom: Venom 3, Prowlers 2

PROWLERS LEAD SEA WOLVES 4-0

Dec. 20 @ Port Huron: Prowlers 2, Sea Wolves 1 (OT)

Dec. 21 @ Port Huron: Prowlers 5, Sea Wolves 2

Jan. 17 @ Port Huron: Prowlers 5, Sea Wolves 1

Jan. 18 @ Port Huron: Prowlers 4, Sea Wolves 2

LAST MEETINGS

Port Huron held leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in Poughkeepsie but Danila Belov tied things up with a perfect deflection in the second period and Ivan Ponivanov scored a power-play goal to give the Venom a 3-2 lead. Rahul Sharma held the Prowlers off the board with 12 third-period saves to pick up his first pro win.

With Port Huron leading Mississippi 2-1 late in the third, Tanner Coleman appeared to tie the game. The goal was called back due to a Sea Wolves player throwing a stick on the ice from the bench during the play. The Prowlers got a man advantage and Matt Graham put home an insurance marker and his team escaped with three points.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Prowlers - Reggie Millette (F) - Millette was dishing out the puck at a high level last weekend against the Motor City Rockers with six assists in two games. His chemistry with Lukas Lacny creates a dangerous offensive combo for Port Huron.

Venom - Dzianis Zaichyk (F) - With Dustin Jesseau gone, Zaychik now runs the offense for the Venom. He’s tied for the most points on the team (28) despite playing just 30 games.

Sea Wolves - Isiah Parris (F) - Last Saturday, Parris had two points against the Dashers, his third two-point game of the season. The other two came as a member of the Prowlers.

STAT CENTRAL

Lukas Lacny (PHP) has 21 points over his active 10-game point streak…John Moriarty (HCV) has dropped his last 11 starts and hasn’t won since Dec. 20…Dalton Anderson (MSW) leads the Sea Wolves with 17 goals this season but hasn’t found the back of the net in his last 13 contests…The Prowlers and Sea Wolves are both on 5-game winning streaks, the longest active streak in the FPHL

WEEKEND SCHEDULE

Mar. 21, 7:05 P.M. vs HCV at McMorran Place (Port Huron, MI)

Mar. 22, 7:05 P.M. vs MSW at McMorran Place (Port Huron, MI)

Tickets to both games are available at phprowlers.com/tickets.