The Lockport Express had a chance to make up ground on fourth place Roc City Friday evening when the two teams faced off at the Lakeshore Ice Arena. The Express dropped a heart breaker when the Royals scored with only two seconds left on the clock, 5-4. The loss dropped Lockport seven points behind Roc City for the final playoff spot.
Lockport’s Aaron Shahin opened the scoring at 8:24 of the first period, with the lone assist coming from Pavel Kovtunov. There were no penalties in the period. Lockport out-shot Roc City 17-13 in the opening frame.
Roc City’s Brandon Corey tied the game only 92 seconds into the second period. The Royals took their first lead of the night off the stick of Peter Izzo at 6:02. Lockport’s Blake Bennett knotted the game 2-2, at 8:12. He was assisted by Andrew Logar and Luca Mazzo. Roc City regained the lead when Christopher Spicer found the back of the net at 13:53.
Lockport struck early in the third period off an unassisted goal by Andrew Logar only 39 seconds in. Brandon Corey nabbed his second of the night at 11:32 to make it 4-3. Logar scored again to tie the game with 5 minutes left in the period while on the power play. Tied 4-4 and looking at overtime, Roc City was able to slide one over the goal line with only 2 ticks left on the clock. Henrik Toiviainen was credited with the goal.
Mike Landers, who made the trip to Rochester for the game, said, “We got away from our game a little in the second and Rochester won the period. We played much better in the third. Probably the most disciplined Express team I have ever seen. Coach Hill was very effective, and his presence is quickly becoming evident.”
Lockport outshot Roc City 44-32. Sam Fitzpatrick made 27 saves on the night, and Ian Stahl made 40 stops for the Royals. The Express were 1 for 4 on the power play, while the Royals were 0 for 1.
Friday’s game was the only game of the weekend for the Express. Roc City played Saturday and Sunday against Skylands Kings. Roc City dropped the decision Saturday 5-3 to the Kings, but rebounded Sunday to defeat Skylands, 5-1.
Lockport’s next game will be Friday, February 17th when they face off against the Roc City Royals at the Cornerstone Ice Arena. Game time is 8pm. The Express will then play Saturday and Sunday against the Skylands Kings at Cornerstone. The game Saturday will be at 8pm, and Sunday’s will be at 2pm.
All home games can be heard LIVE on Niagara’s Watercooler.
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| Howell Motors proudly sponsors the Lockport Express and Niagara Watercooler's live broadcasts. |