(PENSACOLA, Fla.) –The Mayhem traveled into Pensacola and skated away 4-3 winners to open the two-game series in Florida.
Pensacola came out flying immediately in the opening period as they registered ten of the game’s first twelve shots on goal. It was however the Mayhem who cashed in first at the 15:29 mark of the period. Phillippe Caron held the puck behind goalkeeper Dom Basse’s net, and on the goal line stretched a pass out just before center ice on the right-wing side to Mason Hoehn. Hoehn buzzed into the offensive zone and threw a pass to Artem Pugachev on the left-wing boards. Pugachev sent the puck back to Hoehn beyond the ring and he threw a top-shelf wrister that snuck by Pensacola goalie Rico DiMatteo.
The Ice Flyers certainly had the better chances in the first period of play, outshooting the Mayhem 16-6. Samson Mouland did take a delay of game call for Pensacola with just :02 remaining until the intermission, so it gave Macon the opportunity to open the second period on the power play with the 1-0 lead.
Macon put the foot to the gas and buzzed in a couple of good opportunities on the power play but ultimately couldn’t connect. Their insurance goal to move ahead 2-0 came at even strength at the 2:48 mark of the stanza. Khaden Henry and Pugachev came into the zone playing catch and it ended up being Henry who took the try short side on DiMatteo. After being stuffed. Brandon Stojcevski came out of nowhere and cleaned up the change with a glove hand side score. The offensive firepower in the period was far from over though.
Just 1:02 later, Savva Smirnov was able to throw another hook shot the Ice Flyers way to stretch the lead to 3-0. Matt Carlson was pinned up in the trapezoid and thrust a pass to his left that landed on Michael Herrera’s tape. He brought the puck net front and found a wide-open Smirnov who didn’t miss his one-time opportunity. It was after this that the fight back for the Ice Flyers finally started.
At the 5:19 mark of the period, Tyler Carpenter would do a nice job toeing the blue line on the right-wing side to hold the zone. He shoveled the puck up to Nicholas Aromatario who stood alone in the right-side circle. Aromatario despite some traffic in the slot area connected with sharpshooter Porter Schachle. Schachle jousted one to the back of the twine to make the difference 3-1.
After trading end-to-end rushes for the better end of the next twelve minutes, the Mayhem would add what ultimately would be the game-winning tally. With Stojcevski having no open lane to the net, he saddled the puck to the left-wing boards. Cory Liu held the pass and quickly rocketed it to Domenic Della Civita just inside the zone on the left side. Della Civita let a high clapper go that took so much spin that it ended up in the back of the net back post side at 17:26. The second period didn’t see a single penalty called, and the Ice Flyers led in shots 28-14 through forty minutes despite trailing 4-1.
Alex Dameski and Andrew Kurapov would add goals for Pensacola in the third period, with Dameski’s being a breakway backhander and Kurapov’s being a net front stab on the only Ice Flyers power play of the net. The Mayhem had two additional opportunities on the power play in the final frame, but did not add any insurance and luckily it was unneeded anyway enroute to the 4-3 final score. Dominic Basse stopped 36 of 39 in the win for the Mayhem.
Macon’s seven game road trip finally concludes tomorrow night with another 8:05pm ET drop in Pensacola against the Ice Flyers. The Mayhem are back at home next Friday, November 20th vs the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs at 7pm on Pro Wrestling Night. Get your tickets today by visiting maconmayhem.com.
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