The PowerHawks were eager to get back on the ice after nearly a month-long break, and it showed as they came out fast against the visiting Skylands Kings. The home team came out on top of the contest 7-3. The same two teams will face off Sunday afternoon at 1pm at the Niagara Falls Ice Pavilion.
Brandon Snyder opened the scoring for the PowerHawks on a breakaway at 5:12 of the first period. Andrew Logar and Justin King assisted. The Kings answered almost immediately with a goal by Lionel Landry 24 seconds later to tie the game.
Frankie Bodami gave Niagara Falls it’s lead once again at 11:10 of the first on the power play. Logar and King once again provided assists. The Hawks were able to add to their lead off a sniper shot by Brandon Snyder, for his second of the night. Logar and Spencer Hrynczak were credited with the assists. Stephen Minichiello padded the lead to 4-1 on a two-on-one rush. Minichiello kept the puck and froze the goalie. Nathan Walerowicz, who was the other half of the odd-man rush, and Branden Tripi assisted.
The second period was a penalty-filled twenty minutes with both teams trading power plays and a lot of four-on-four action. The lone goal came off the stick of Andrew Logar with only 15.3 seconds left in the period. The shorthanded marker was unassisted
Skylands attempted a comeback in the third period. Stephen Sirov made it 5-2 on a shorthanded goal at 3:30. Eric Vanderhoff assisted. The Kings closed it up with another goal, at 8:58, off the stick of Dylann Dinzig. The power play marker was assisted by Vanderhoff and Craig Garrigan.
Niagara Falls regained control of the game with Andrew Logar’s second goal of the night, an unassisted tally at 11:36. He completed the hat trick at 18:38, with an assist from Stephen Minichiello. Logar finished the night with three goals and 3 assists for six points.
Kris Augustine made 9 saves on 12 shots in the victory for Niagara Falls. Mathias Yttereng turned away 45 of 52 shots for Skylands. During an extended stoppage of play late in the third period, the two goaltenders entertained the crowd by trying to score on the opposite net from their own crease. Augustine nabbed the lone goal in that extra action. The crowd, who had cheered at each attempt, booed when a linesman intercepted what appeared like it was going to be a second Augustine goal.
“Our team came out with some jump after the long break. We took advantage of a short bench by our opposition and played hard for three periods. It was a well deserved win,” said general manager Frank Vecchio after the game.
After Sunday’s game against the Skylands Kings, the PowerHawks will be back in action on the road, Thursday against Southern Tier Xpress. They then travel to Binghamton for a pair of games against the Junior Senators Saturday and Sunday. The next home tilts for Niagara Falls will be December 9th and 10th against the Jersey Shore Wildcats.