The Rail Yard Dawgs pulled off a comeback to remember on the eve of Christmas Eve, rallying from a 3-1 deficit with 6:30 remaining in the third period to stun the visiting Fayetteville Marksmen in overtime.
CJ Stubbs finished off the Marksmen with a goal at 2:59 in overtime off of assists by Nick Devito and Travis Armstrong. Brady Heppner scored the first and game-tying third goal for Roanoke, with Jeff Jones supplying the second score.
The first period was slow-moving comparatively, with Fayetteville scoring the lone goal of the period on a 5-on-3 power play finish by Tanner Froese. The Marksmen led 1-0 at the first intermission.
Heppner tied the game up at 11:03 in the second period with a quick snapper by Fayetteville’s Jason Pawloski off of a feed by Josh Nenadal. The score remained tied at the end of the period, despite the Dawgs out-shooting Fayetteville 16-7.
The third period was wild, with Fayetteville taking the lead at 4:42 off of a Bryce Ferrell goal, and doubling the advantage to 3-1 through F.X. Girard with 6:30 remaining in regulation. Jones quickly pulled one back for the Dawgs just 59 seconds later, and after the Dawgs pulled goaltender Austyn Roudebush with 1:40 remaining in the game, Heppner slammed home a rebound to tie the score at 3-3 at the 18:31 mark.
Both teams created chances in the overtime period, as Mac Jansen and Armstrong were denied while Roudebush stopped a point-blank opportunity by Don Olivieri. Roanoke created a 3-on-2 chance, and after Armstrong’s shot from the high slot eventually found its way off of Devito’s rebound chance to Stubbs, the 6-foot-3 winger lit the lamp to give the Dawgs their third straight win, and their first in overtime this season.
The Dawgs will be on the road on Sunday afternoon against the Knoxville Ice Bears. Puck drop is scheduled for 3:00 p.m EST at Knoxville Civic Coliseum. Season tickets, packages, group tickets, and single game tickets for home games are on sale now, and you can listen to the games on the Haley Toyota Rail Yard Dawgs Hockey Network via Mixlr or watch it on HockeyTV.
Photo Courtesy: Brian Collett