Cox's Hat-Trick Fuels Zydeco (1/17)

DANVILLE, IL - The Dashers looked to rebound after a brutal weekend with the Port Huron Prowlers. Energized by their goaltender duo returning, the Dashers competed for a solid 30 minutes. However, a Jake Cox hat-trick paired with 5 other Zydeco goal scorers led to another blowout loss in front of the home crowd in Danville.

Returning between the pipes for the Dashers after a week’s hiatus was fan-favorite netminder Oscar Wahlgren. He was tested several times early in period 1 as a result of a few Dasher penalties. On the first powerplay, Kevin Szabad tipped home a shot from the point to give the Zydeco an early edge just over 4 minutes into the contest. On the next Zydeco power play however, Nikolai Salov collected a turnover at the perimeter and burned the Zydeco backcheck to find himself all alone. Cutting from right to left, he opened the five-hole of Bailey Stephens and tied the hockey game at 1. The next 10 minutes featured back and forth action with the Zydeco producing the majority of shots. With just inside 4 minutes remaining, Chris Ciolek finished a 2 on 1 chance after a bad turnover by the Dashers in their own end. With a 2-1 advantage, the Zydeco would take their first minor penalty when Thomas McGuire was sent off for interference. The power play time would roll over 22 seconds into the second frame, with the Dashers trailing 2-1

Period 2 featured all kinds of fireworks. About 4 minutes in, Zydeco forward Matthew Gordon took a shot up high resulting in 2 missing chiclets. After a 5-10 minute delay to clean the ice, Quinn O’Reilly snapped a shot past Stephens right off the draw to tie the contest at 2 in his Dashers debut. The fun would end about 6 minutes later when Aaron Shahin banged home a shot just outside the crease on the powerplay to give the Zydeco the lead back at 3-2. 4 minutes after that the Dashers went to a man advantage, but a shorthanded rebound goal by Jake Cox doubled the Baton Rouge lead at 4-2. About a minute later after a whistle, Thomas Murphy and Ryo Namiki went toe to toe right in front of the Dasher bench, with Murphy landing the majority of shots before the officials boldly stepped in to call the fight. Murphy was also assessed a 2 minute instigator penalty. On the ensuing powerplay, Shane Haggerty fired another shot home just outside the crease and all of a sudden it was 5-2. Less than 2 minutes after that, Cox buried his second in a span of 5 minutes to make it 6-2 and give the Dashers a steep task for the final 20. The Zydeco outshot the Dashers 15-13 in the frame. 

Period 3 provided minimal positives for the Dashers. Around the midway point, Narek Aleksanyan tipped home a Tommy McGuire shot to make it 7-2. Less than 2 minutes later, Jake Cox completed his hat trick sniping a one-timer past Wahlgren to make it 8-2. The Dashers were outshot 48-33 after the full 60 minutes, with another blowout loss serving as the consequence.

The Dashers fall for the 23rd straight time, just 1 loss away from tying the worst start in FPHL history held by the Battlecreek Rumblebees. In 3 games under Steve Esau, the Dashers have been outscored 24-3. The two teams will meet once again tomorrow night at 7:05 CST inside the David S. Palmer Arena.