PENSACOLA, FL – After over a week away from the ice, the Huntsville Havoc had the fresher legs as they traveled to the Gulf Coast of Florida and knocked off the first place Pensacola Ice Flyers 4-2. Four different Havoc players scored en route to the victory.
“It was a hard-fought win on the road,” said Havoc Head Coach Glenn Detulleo. “We played better as the game went on and played our best period of the season in the third to seal the win.”
The Havoc (5-2-0) were all business, scoring less than a minute into the game. Forward Scott Trask got his first goal of the season, taking a pass from Shawn Bates and putting it past Pensacola (7-2-0) goaltender Kent Patterson.
The Ice Flyers tied the game five minutes later by sneaking a shot past Keegan Asmundson as a powerplay was expiring. The tie only lasted a few minutes as Tyler Piacentini put one in the back of the net — with an assist from fellow rookie Alex Botten — to put the Havoc back on top.
Pensacola would not go away quietly, especially not on home ice. The Ice Flyers capped a very hectic first period by scoring with five minutes left, knotting the game up 2-2 going in to intermission. At this point, Pensacola had peppered Asmundson with 12 shots compared to only seven for the Havoc.
While Pensacola did not light the lamp again the rest of the night, they did pressure the Havoc defense in the second period, getting another 12 shots on goal to Huntsville’s nine. One of those Havoc shots was from Sy Nutkevitch, who continued his streak of scoring a goal in every game he has played this season. He got an assist from fellow Havoc vet Christian Powers, who has points in 6 out of 7 games this season. Going in to the second break, Havoc had the lead 3-2.
Huntsville flipped the script, as it were, in the third by out-shooting the Ice Flyers 13 to 5. It was also a clean skate for both teams as no penalties were called in the third. Jack Ceglarski scored on an empty net with seven seconds left in regulation to make the final 4-2.
Both teams will host the other as part of a three-in-three set of games for the Havoc next week.
Huntsville first will take on the Evansville Thunderbolts for the first time this season on Thanksgiving night, Nov. 23, at 7 p.m. at Pharmacy First Ice in the Von Braun Center. It’s another Simple Helix “Hockey Night in Huntsville” where fans can enjoy food and drink specials all night, including $2 hot dogs, $2 soda and $2 beer. The Havoc skate a WZDX Black Friday matinee home game the following afternoon against Pensacola. Fans are invited to bring a wrapped plush toy to toss on the ice to benefit Toys for Tots. The puck drops at 3 p.m. Single-game tickets are on sale now at ticketmaster.com or at the VBC box office.
The next night, Saturday, Nov. 25, the Havoc are back in Pensacola for another match against the Ice Flyers.
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