Defensemen Lead Prowlers Past Rockers

The Port Huron Prowlers broke hearts–and glass–in Motor City as they defeated the Rockers 5-3 at Big Boy Arena on Feb. 18. The Battle of I-94 is tied at seven wins apiece with two games to go.

Motor City got the scoring going less than a minute in when Danny Vanderweil’s point shot found its way through traffic into the back of the net. That goal stood until just over seven minutes later, Dalton Jay flew down the wing and gave a perfect feed to Frank Schumacher speeding down the back door. He tapped it in to tie the game at one.

A few minutes later, the Prowlers worked a faceoff play that led to Joe Deveny firing the puck on net from the blue line. Dan Chartrand was the only one who could find the rebound in front and he slid it home to give the Prowlers their first lead of the night. 

Port Huron extended the lead in the second when Gino Mini walked down from the point and fired a wrist shot that leaked through Blake Scott for his second goal of the season and second at Big Boy Arena. Later in the period, Chartrand dropped the gloves with Cade Lambdin and threw a barrage of punches before wrestling the former Prowler to the ground.

Danick Rodrigue and the Prowlers held Motor City at bay for the first half of the third period before Scott Coash fired a perfect shot to the top of the net and bring his team back within one.

With under two minutes the go, Bryan Parsons notched his first of the year after his point shot hit a Rocker and bounced past Scott to make it 4-2. The Rockers made things interesting when they pulled Scott on the power play for a 6-on-4 advantage and Connor Inger made the score 4-3 with 23 seconds to go.

On the ensuing faceoff, Schumacher threw a hip check on Brad Reitter that shattered a pane of glass in front of the penalty boxes. After a lengthy delay, the puck dropped again and Sam Marit hit the empty net to seal the victory.

Schumacher and Mini each snapped 25-game goal droughts with their tallies while the Prowlers snapped a two-game losing skid. Mini was the game’s first star. Rodrigue was the second star after a 41-save performance while Dalton Jay added two assists.

Inger had a three-point night as did Everett Thompson who finished with a trio of helpers. Coash turned in a goal and an assist while Scott allowed four goals on 27 shots in the loss.

Port Huron heads to Danbury next for two games against the Empire Division-leading Hat Tricks. Puck drops are scheduled for 7:30 P.M. on Feb. 24 and 7:00 P.M. on Feb. 25 with both games being available on the Port Huron Prowlers YouTube channel.

Photo courtesy of Delta Imaging