Hat Tricks Steal Two Points From Prowlers

The Danbury Hat Tricks came back from deficits of 4-1 and 5-4 in the third period as they robbed the Port Huron Prowlers of two points in Danbury. Gleb Bandurkin scored the winner in the shootout’s seventh round.

Port Huron got goals from Stefan Diezi, Kenny Styles, Matt Graham and Luke James to build a 4-1 lead through 40 minutes of play. Aleksandr Vasilyev had the only Danbury goal up to that point.

“We had a good first period and an even better second period,” said Prowlers assistant coach Chris Paulin. “As we said after the second, you don’t win the war in the beginning, you win it at the end. [In the third,] a couple of things didn’t go our way, we made a couple of mistakes and Danbury made a couple of good plays.”

Noah Robinson and Dylan Hullaby scored power play goals less than two minutes apart followed by the game tying goal by Jonny Ruiz within the first 5:22 of the third.

“What I didn’t love is that the confidence on the bench decreased as we started the third period,” Paulin said. “Things are going to happen, good and bad. We gain confidence from our preparation, not one particular shift or one bounce.”

A fortunate bounce set up Lukas Lacny to put the Prowlers back ahead late in regulation. With Connor McCollum on the bench for the extra attacker, Zach Pamaylaon floated a shot from the point that Hullaby deflected to send the game to overtime and, eventually, a shootout. 

After Hullaby scored in the first round, Austin Fetterly and Reggie Millette gave Port Huron the lead heading into the bottom of the third. Pamaylaon kept the skills competition alive with a goal there and no one scored until Bandurkin’s winner.

Braidan Simmons-Fischer picked up his first two pro points with a pair of assists. Millette had two helpers as well while Styles and Diezi finished with a goal and an assist. Reid Cooper made 29 saves in net and made four saves in the shootout.

Vasilyev and Ruiz ended up with three points apiece on a goal and two assists. Pamaylaon and Kyle Gonzalez ended up with two helpers each. McCollum stopped 45 Port Huron shots and made five saves in the shootout, including on the last four shooters he faced.

“It hurts,” Paulin said. “A lot of the guys in the locker room are wearing this one pretty hard from every position. We have these guys for two more games. The intensity and focus has to be sharp come Monday because we have a big week ahead.”

The teams meet again in Danbury next weekend, February 28 and March 1. Both games will be streamed live on the PHP Network YouTube channel.

Photo courtesy of Delta Imaging