Rockers STUN Dashers, Losing Streak Moves to 10 (11/29)

DANVILLE, IL - The Dashers continued their 8 game homestand against the Motor City Rockers inside the David Palmer Arena. Looking to snap a 9-game slide, the Dasher’s would crumble in the final 7 minutes of regulation and ultimately lose in the shootout despite a pair of goals from Nikolai Salov and a 55 save effort from Oscar Wahlgren.

Both teams came out flying for period one. End to end, fast paced action set the scene for a fun matchup between the two bottom seeds in the Empire division. The top story of the night was Dashers assistant coach Brad Denney dressing and starting on defense. Denney was the captain of the 2017 championship Dashers team with AJ Tesoreiro and Justin Brausen. He created some great chances early, showing he still had plenty left in the tank. Darius Cole had the best opportunity of the frame for the Dashers off a beautiful backdoor feed from Denney that couldn’t be pounded home. The scoring would open when Dasher forward Yegor Kabatayev had an uncharacteristic turnover that created a scoring opportunity for Samuel Gagnon who sent it on goal to be deflected past Wahlgren. The shot totals would read 20-13 in favor of the Rockers at the end of the first 20. 

To begin period two, Ricardo Gonzalez was substituted in at goalie for Bryn Sommerfelt, who left for undisclosed reasons after stopping all 13 shots he faced. Both teams had opportunities on the man advantage, including a 44 second 5 on 3 for the Dashers, but neither could cash in. The two teams also exchanged a handful of hard hits, but the officials made sure nothing would boil over. With time dwindling in the frame, Dashers’ assistant captain Lester Brown forced a turnover and broke the puck out to Marian Pazitka. Pazitka, leading a two on one, slid it across to Nikolai Salov who wristed it past Gonzalez to even the game with just 27 seconds on the clock in the frame. The Dashers outshot their opponent in the second period for the first time all season (13-12). The vibes were high heading into the intermission for both the home team and crowd.

Period three was a battle of momentum. Dasher rookie Nikolai Salov rushed up the near side and wristed a bottle popping shop past Gonzalez just 14 seconds after the puck was dropped, and the Dashers had their first lead of the night. 6:27 later, Brandon Stojcevski slammed home his own rebound for his team high 5th goal of the season to extend the lead to two. However, the Rockers turned up the heat. With just under 7 minutes in regulation TJ Sneath redirected home a shot from the point on the powerplay to make it 3-2. Determined and with momentum, the Rockers began to pepper Wahlgren. Just outside of the two minute mark, an unfortunate rebound was tucked home by Eli Rivers to even the game at 3 a side. A deflated Dashers group who was 7 minutes from their first win in over a month would now have to play for a bonus point in overtime.

Overtime provided opportunities for both sides. Wahlgren was tasked with facing a penalty shot after Jacob Gagnon slashed Nicholas Magill-Diaz who was in alone. Magill-Diaz was a little too patient and had the puck poked away to extend the game. The best chance for the Dashers was Brandon Stojcevski who had two breakaways on the same shift but couldn’t find the twine. After 65 minutes, the game would need a shootout. The Dashers went 0/3 in the shootout, and TJ Sneath’s tally in the second round would prove to be the difference maker as the Dashers fell for the 10th straight time in heartbreaking fashion. 

Wahlgren’s 55 save effort would go to waste in arguably the most difficult loss of the season.The Rockers improve to 4-9-0 as the Dashers fall to 1-10-2. The two teams will square off once again tomorrow night at 7:05 CST inside the David Palmer Arena.