Weekend Preview: East Coast Road Trip

The Port Huron Prowlers hit the road east to begin a four-game road trip this weekend. They’ll visit HC Venom on Friday and the Danbury Hat Tricks on Saturday before returning to Danbury for two games next weekend.

The Prowlers and Hat Tricks will face each other for the second week in a row after meeting at McMorran Place last weekend. Friday’s game entered the third period tied 2-2, but Danbury pulled away with five unanswered to win 7-3 behind Vadim Frolov’s hat trick. The next night featured fights and game misconducts and Port Huron gritted out a 4-2 victory to earn the split. The Prowlers did fall to fourth in the Empire Division at 20-15-4 with 60 points. The Hat Tricks are in second at 20-11-6 with 64 points despite seeing their seven-game win streak snapped.

The Venom went into Binghamton last weekend to take on the FPHL-leading Black Bears. A 3-1 first-period lead slipped away from the Venom as Binghamton scored the game’s final four goals to claw back and win 5-3. The next night was rough for both Makar Sokolov and Rahul Sharma in net. The Black Bears hung 11 on the board in a six-goal victory that wasn’t ever close. The Venom have now dropped 11 in a row and sit sixth in the Empire at 7-22-3 with 24 points.

SEASON SERIES

VENOM LEAD 2-0

Oct. 25 @ Venom: Venom 4, Prowlers 3

Nov. 8 @ Venom: Venom 6, Prowlers 5

HAT TRICKS LEAD 3-1

Nov. 29 @ Port Huron: Hat Tricks 5, Prowlers 4

Nov. 30 @ Port Huron: Hat Tricks 5, Prowlers 2

Feb. 14 @ Port Huron: Hat Tricks 7, Prowlers 2

Feb. 15 @ Port Huron: Prowlers 4, Hat Tricks 2

LAST MEETINGS

Trailing 2-0 in the first, Port Huron scored three times on a five-minute man advantage, including two from Reggie Millette making his Prowlers debut. The Venom roared back in the second and scored four of the final six goals of the game to chase Makar Sokolov and win 6-5. Dustin Jesseau had five points while linemates Eimantas Noreika (currently inactive) and Davide Gaeta (now with Watertown) had three apiece.

Port Huron scored three times in the middle period this past Saturday, including twice in the final two minutes, to take a 3-1 lead it would never relinquish. Short benches on both sides in the third, thanks to injuries and game misconducts, kept the pace down. helping Reid Cooper and the Prowlers earn a weekend split with the Hat Tricks. The teams combined for 82 penalty minutes with fights throughout the game.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Prowlers - Matt Graham (F) - Graham’s Gordie Howe hat trick on Saturday led his team to the win over Danbury. He’s been Port Huron’s most consistent point producer as of late with a point in 12 of his last 14 games. 

Venom - Connor Craig (D) - In his first full pro season, Craig has been a big part of the Venom blue line. He’s registered a point in each of his last seven games.

Hat Tricks - Vadim Frolov (F) - The rookie winger had a busy weekend in Port Huron with a hat trick on Friday and a game misconduct on Saturday. His line with Gleb Bandurkin and Aleksandr Vasilyev was Danbury’s best against the Prowlers.

STAT CENTRAL

Austin Fetterly (PHP) will play in his 300th FPHL game on Friday, all as a Prowler…Dustin Jesseau (HCV) leads the Venom in goals (20), assists (23), points (43) and penalty minutes (147) despite playing in fewer than two-thirds of their games so far…19 of Gleb Bandurkin’s (DHT) team-high 21 goals this season have come at even strength

WEEKEND SCHEDULE

Feb. 21, 7:15 P.M. at McCann Ice Arena (Poughkeepsie, NY)

Feb. 22, 7:00 P.M. at Danbury Arena (Danbury, CT)

Both games will be available live on the PHP Network YouTube channel.