Friday Finals: Anchorage Secures 3-2 Victory Thanks to Luc Bydal’s Hat Trick

Photo Credit: Snowyrock Photography

Danbury 2 @ Maryland 6 (Maryland leads series 1-0) - Heading into weekend two of playoff hockey for the Danbury Hat Tricks, they head to Maryland to take on the Black Bears for the start of a best-of-five series. The contest kicked off with Maryland striking first, with Army commit Samuel Osei sending the fish flying at the Piney Orchard Ice Arena on the tail end of the power play for the Black Bears.  40 seconds later, Kristofer Krumins continued the Maryland scoring, finding twine for the Black Bears. With less than two minutes on the clock, the Hat Tricks cut the Black Bears’ lead in half with an unassisted tally by Matt Dabrowski from the faceoff circle. Moving into the second frame, Maryland’s captain, Owen Drury, scores off the faceoff for Black Bears thanks to a deflection off of Danbury’s netminder Jon Dukaric at the 13:51 minute mark. The scoring continued, this time with the NAHL’s leading scorer during the regular season, Harrison Smith, lighting the lamp for the Black Bears a little over a minute and a half later. Moving into the final frame, Maryland continued to defend their den, this time with Stonehill commit Tanner Duncan, tallying a power play goal less than six minutes into the period. The Black Bears would score one more for the night, this time with a former Minnesota High School hockey champion, William Esterbrooks, scoring in one-timer fashion midway through the period. The Hat Tricks would strike back once more in the contest, with Kai Elkie scoring top shelf in the final seconds of their final power play of the night. The Black Bears skate to a big 6-2 victory and take the lead in the best-of-five series. A key contributor in the contest was Harrison Smith from Maryland, featuring a four-point night.

Northeast 3 @ Rochester 4 OT (Rochester leads series 1-0) - With an eventual overtime thriller on their heads, the Rochester Jr. Americans hosted game one of the Division Semifinals against the Northeast Generals on Friday night. The contest featured both teams exchanging chances in the opening frame; however, no team found twine. Rochester outshot Northeast 10 to 9. Moving into the second frame, the alternate captain, Keanan Dewberry, dances through the Northeast’s defense and breaks the scoring deadlock six minutes into the middle frame. The Rochester veteran scored backhanded to give the Jr. Americans the lead. Minutes later, the Generals would respond while on the man advantage. With 10 seconds left on the power play, Braydon Hudtloff lights the lamp off of a rebound in front of the Jr. Americans’ net. With the score even, Rochester would snatch the lead back with 4:27 left on the clock in the middle frame. Ryan Flaherty lights the lamp in backdoor fashion on the power play for the Jr. Americans. Moving into the final 20 minutes of regulation, the Generals would storm back to even the score and take their first lead of the night. Northeast would first level the score a little over four minutes into the third period, thanks to a top-shelf goal by the captain, Mikey Bartkowski. A few minutes later, the Generals would capitalize on the power play, with Rich Rucireto finding twine in unassisted fashion. As the Jr. Americans look to respond, the third-year Rochester veteran, Adam Gionta, scores in a one-timer fashion thanks to a Jr. Americans rush into the offensive zone. The scoreboard would stay tied until the buzzer sounded. With the contest forced into overtime, the Jr. Americans would look to get rowdy in the extra frame. As the overtime period featured a back-and-forth battle between the two East Division teams, it would be Logan Keup from the Jr. Americans who would get it done. Keup wired it from the faceoff circle to give Rochester the 4-3 overtime victory.

Watertown 2 @ Austin 3 (Austin leads series 1-0) - With a desire to make a statement against the Central Division winners on the road, the Watertown Shamrocks come into Austin with a playoff push on their mind. The scoring kicked off in the opening frame with Watertown converting on the man advantage. Antons Macijevskis finds twine off a bounce in front of the Bruins’ net. It would not be long until Austin would even the score with defenseman Gus Elbert lighting the lamp on the man advantage. Moving into the first intermission, the score would be knotted up 1-1. In the middle frame, the Bruins would take their first lead of the night off of John Flood’s tally four minutes into the period. Both teams would exchange chances for the rest of the frame, and the score would stay 2-1 moving into the final 20 minutes of regulation. The insurance marker of the night would be scored by EJ Paddington for the Bruins at the 13:27 minute mark in the final frame. The Shamrocks would have some puck luck late into the period with Jake Pietila scoring from the point with 5:29 left on the clock. The Bruins would eventually finish the night with a 3-2 victory in game one of the Central Division Semifinals. 

Anchorage 3 @ Minnesota W 2 (Anchorage leads series 1-0) - As the first round of the Midwest Division Semifinals kicks off, the Anchorage Wolverines make the trip down to the lower 48 to battle the Minnesota Wilderness in a Friday night affair. The contest kicked off with the Wolverines striking first thanks to the Bydal brothers. Little brother Rylan provides the setup for his older brother Luc less than two minutes into the game. Luc scored backhanded to give the Wolverines the quick lead. 10 minutes later, the Wilderness would even the score thanks to Talan Blanck lighting the lamp off of a feed from Joseph Luger. Moving into the second frame, Luc Bydal would score his second of the night with a top-shelf unassisted tally at the 5:23 minute mark. With the 2-1 advantage in the final frame, the Wolverines looked to capitalize on the momentum. Midway through the third period, Luc Bydal would secure the hat trick with a toe-drag unassisted goal at the 11:16 minute mark for the Wolverines. The Wilderness would battle throughout the rest of the frame, especially in the final minutes of the game. Minnesota would pull their goaltender, Ryan Gerlich, and with the man advantage, the Wilderness lights the lamp with 12 seconds to spare in the third period. Theo Kiss finds twine to make it a one-goal game in the final moments of the game. The Wolverines would skate to a 3-2 victory thanks to Luc Bydal’s offensive prowess on the ice.

Aberdeen 3 @ Bismarck 0 (Aberdeen leads series 1-0) - In a third-period scoring affair, the Aberdeen Wings make a statement in game one against the Bismarck Bobcats. The first two frames would be scoreless as both teams traded 17 shots apiece between the two periods. The scoring would pick up at the VFW Sports Center in the final frame, with Aberdeen tallying a hat trick worth. First, Easton Edwards breaks the deadlock with a tally on a backdoor play by the Wings. 10 minutes later, David Hruby adds to the Wings’ lead with a breakaway goal. Following the two goals, the Bobcats would pull their goaltender for the man advantage on the ice. At the 2:00 minute mark, the University of Alaska-Anchorage commit, Matthew Martin, finds twine in empty-netter fashion for Aberdeen. The Wings skate to a dominant 3-0 shutout victory in game one of the Central Division Semifinals. Between the pipes, Adam Dybal notched his first shutout of the season with the Wings with a 27-save performance. 

Shreveport 1 @ Lone Star 4 (Lone Star leads series 1-0) - In a battle between two South Division rivals, the Lone Star Brahmas look to win big in front of their home crowd. The scoring kicked off with the Brahmas striking first with Vladimir Saibel finding twine midway through the opening frame in top-shelf fashion. The Brahmas hold onto a 1-0 lead heading into the first intermission. The second period showcased the Mudbugs striking back quickly. Duke Ehrhard scores one hole for Shreveport. However, that lead would be short-lived as Nolan Wildfong finds twine off a feed from Tyson Scanlon. With the 2-1 advantage heading into the final frame, the Brahmas would add to their lead with two more goals in the third. First, Loic Nasreddine scores seven minutes into the contest during a breakaway in the final frame. 11 minutes later, Lone Star would add to their lead, this time Leo Isaksson lighting the lamp with 2:38 to spare on the clock. The Brahmas dominate with a 4-1 victory over the Mudbugs. In net, Brady Krey turned aside 27 out of 28 shots on the night.

El Paso 6 @  New Mexico 5 OT (El Paso leads series 1-0) - Another South Division battle brewing between rivals kicks off tonight in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The scoring kicked off with the Rhinos striking first. Ethan Woolcott finds twine short-handed five minutes into the frame. Nine minutes later, Sean Smith would even the score, scoring off a feed from Brock Fairbanks. The scoring continued in the period, this time Jacob Solano lighting the lamp on the power play for the Rhinos. With a 2-1 advantage heading into the second period, the Ice Wolves would look to respond. A little over five minutes into the second period, Anrey Moskvitin found the twine to even the score at 2-2. Three minutes later, Nayan Pai gave New Mexico their first lead of the night with a tally midway through the frame. However, the Rhinos would storm back, this time with a goal by Ian Kastamo two minutes later. Rounding out the period with his second goal of the night, Pai scores on the man advantage to snatch the New Mexico advantage back. In the final 20 minutes of regulation, the Ice Wolves would add to their lead this time, Brock Fairbanks showing up on the scoresheet to give them a two-goal advantage. El Paso would respond with a power-play tally by the Maryville commit, Ethan Woolcott, a minute later. The Rhinos would even the contest with 1:19 left on the scoreboard thanks to the captain, Kamden Kaiser, finding twine. With a game forced into overtime, the Rhinos complete the game one victory with Alexander Stephen scoring in overtime fashion for the next time this season for El Paso in New Mexico. The Rhinos secure a 6-5 win in overtime thriller fashion. Including the two road wins against New Mexico during the regular season, all three El Paso victories over the Ice Wolves have come in overtime fashion at the Outposts Ice Arena.

Wisconsin 3 @ Fairbanks 0 (Wisconsin leads series 1-0) - The Wisconsin Windigo head back up to the Land of the Midnight Sun to take on the Fairbanks Ice Dogs in the Midwest Division Semifinals. The first two periods of the hockey game were scoreless as Fairbanks and Wisconsin both traded chances. The third frame is where the Windigo would take over, scoring a trio of goals. First, Joshua Sardo scores on the man advantage to break the deadlock at 7:05 in the contest. Following him less than two minutes later was AJ Bongiorno lighting the lamp off. The Ice Dogs would pull their goaltender to give their team the man advantage on the ice. However, the Windigo would score in empty-netter fashion at the end of the frame. Brendan Finley scored the empty-netter with seven seconds to spare. Between the pipes, Max Larsson turned aside all 31 shots by Fairbanks, securing his team the 3-0 shutout victory.