Dashers’ Tenacious Effort Falls Short (12/28)

FRASER, MI - After a difficult 45 shot loss last night, the Dashers had a chance for revenge with the Motor City Rockers. In a game filled with frustrations, controversies, and tensions, Motor City was able to outlast the Dashers in a 4-3 thriller. 

A fresh start. A new life. Whatever you want to refer to it as is what the Dashers had for another contest with the Motor City Rockers. A pair of fresh goaltenders would take their places in between the pipes, despite Rico Gonzalez putting together a 45 save shutout in last night’s affair. For the Rockers, it was Trevor Babin, AKA The Dark Knight who was ready for his first action since November. On the other end it was Parker Rutherford, the Dasher goaltender with a win this season and searching to make it 2. The Dashers came out hot like they did the previous night, with a handful of shots early into the period. However, a pair of penalties minutes later would kill the mojo. On the power play a Jameson Milam blast was redirected past Rutherford’s glove by Tristen Wells to open the scoring at 1-0. Playing from behind has been no irregularity for the Dashers this season. Dashers assistant captain and former Rocker Nick Gullo took it upon himself to make something happen. With a hard drive to the net, a Rocker shoved Gullo into Babin leaving him out of position. A loose puck in the high slot was snapped home by Kim Miettinen for his first of the season, tying the game at 1. Both teams had more chances the rest of the frame, including Nik Salov ringing one off the post for the second straight night, but the score would remain deadlocked going into the locker room. 

Tensions would heat up in a fast paced end to end period 2. 3 posts were hit between the two teams in the frame. Motor City regained the lead on a Cody Oakes net drive to beat Jonatan Wik and tuck the puck past Rutherford around the midway point. In a 2-1 game, naturally things get chippy. Following Nick Gullo taking a hard, controversial hit in the neutral zone, Trey Fischer and Adam Kuhn exchanged some slashes and crosschecks before losing the mitts for the games’ first bout. It was a lively crowd on $2 Beer Night inside Big Boy Arena, and Motor had the momentum. However, the hockey gods answered the Dashers’ prayers when Brandon Stojcevski slid a soft wrist shot through Babin’s five-hole to tie the game at 2. In the closing moments of the period, Trey Fischer had a chance to fly in all alone, but a couple slashes from Eli Rivers broke up the opportunity. With a couple being after the buzzer, Dasher rookie Jacob Gagnon went after RIvers, and the two engaged in a brief scrum leading to offsetting minor penalties. Safe to bet, the final regulation chapter would be a fun one.

Period 3, the hockey gods turned on the Dashers. Just over 4 minutes in, Jameson Milam slammed a knuckle puck that was tipped a few times and when all was said and done Eli Rivers was credited for the tally to make it 3-2. Bad turned to worse on one of the more controversial moments of the Dashers season. Colton Wiacek gloved the puck to himself and was tripped as he was changing directions. Furious for the no-call, AJ Tesoriero let the refs have it and as a result was assessed a minor penalty and ultimately an ejection. On the ensuing powerplay, Motor City scored in just 13 seconds to make it 4-2. Thomas Murphy then took it upon himself to share some thoughts with the officials and was also given a 2/10/10 ejection. Without the ship’s captain, the Dashers began to reel. They were able to draw a pair of penalties, but time was not their friend. With under 25 seconds to go, Jhuwon Davis tipped home a Lester Brown rocket to make it 4-3, but it would prove to be too little too late, as the Dashers fell 4-3. 

Motor City earns a much needed weekend sweep to improve to 8-11-3, as the Dashers fall and descend to 1-17-3. The Rockers are slated to host the Port Huron Prowlers on New Years Eve, as the Dashers travel to Monroe for a weekend set next Friday and Saturday with the Mocassins.