KNOXVILLE, TN. – The Rail Yard Dawgs controlled the game for the first 35 minutes of play, but unraveled down the stretch in a 6-1 loss to the Knoxville Ice Bears on Saturday night. CJ Stubbs scored Roanoke’s lone goal, assisted by Josh Nenadal and Vojtech Zemlicka.
The Dawgs dictated play in the first period, outshooting the Ice Bears 10-5 and killing off a pair of Knoxville power play chances. Stubbs was finally able to snap a shot by the glove of Evan Moyse with 2:28 left in the period to give Roanoke a much-deserved lead that held into the first intermission.
The second period began with an absurd ‘Michigan’ goal by Knoxville’s Stepan Timofeyev that tied the score just 20 seconds into the frame. Even after the goal, Roanoke continued to push the pace of the game and had many chances to take the lead back that were denied by Moyse. With just over five minutes to go in the period, the game turned against Roanoke. While on a power play, the Dawgs were unable to keep the puck in the zone, and Andrew Bellant took the puck on a shorthanded breakaway to give Knoxville the lead. Two minutes later, Timofeyev knifed through the Roanoke defense and slotted another goal in to make it 3-1 Ice Bears. Sixty-eight seconds after that, J.B. Baker smashed a puck through the legs of his own teammate to make it 4-1 Knoxville with 1:16 left in the period. The Dawgs suddenly trailed by three goals entering the third period, despite a 21-10 shot on goal advantage and two more power play chances than their opponents.
Henry Dill relieved Austyn Roudebush to start the final frame, which saw the Ice Bears add to their lead at the 6:19 mark on a power play goal by Anthony McVeigh. Just 69 seconds later, Razmuz Waxin-Engback rounded out the scoring on a rebound goal to make it 6-1, and Knoxville held the Dawgs out for the rest of the contest.
Dill saved five-of-seven shots that he faced for Roanoke in relief, and Roudebush saved six-of-10. Moyse made 29 saves on 30 shots faced for Knoxville. The Ice Bears went 1-for-3 on the power play, while Roanoke went 0-for-5 on its chances.
The Rail Yard Dawgs stay on the road next weekend for three games against the Peoria Rivermen. Wisler Plumbing and Air Family Four Packs, group tickets, 2022-2023 season 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 Credit: Brian Collett