KNOXVILLE, TN. – The Rail Yard Dawgs (22-11-4) prevailed with a gritty performance against the Knoxville Ice Bears (19-17-5) on Saturday night, taking a 3-2 win at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum. Tyler Roy stopped 33-of-35 shots faced in the victory. Nick Ford (1 G, 2 A), Andrew Harley (1 G, 1 A), and Joe Widmar all scored goals for Roanoke.
The tempo was high between both teams in the first frame, with plenty of up-and-down action. Knoxville hit the goalposts twice, and Roanoke hit the iron once as well. The Dawgs would open the scoring at 8:38, as Ford collected a clearance by C.J. Valerian in the neutral zone. The Roanoke captain weaved his way down the left-wing side into Knoxville territory with great strength, then slotted the puck into the back of the net for his 18th goal of the year. It took less than a minute for the Ice Bears to answer, as defenseman Kevin Lassman jumped on a rebound chance to tie the score at 1-1 at the 9:31 mark. Roanoke outshot Knoxville 15-8 in the first 20 minutes, but the score remained tied.
Roanoke got off to a hot start in the second period, tallying the second go-ahead goal of the game. Joe Widmar won an offensive zone faceoff back to Ford, Ford dished it to the overlapping Matt O’Dea down the left-wing wall, and O’Dea teed Harley up perfectly for a one-time shot in the low slot that made it 2-1 just 28 seconds into the middle frame. The Ice Bears didn’t need long to answer, tying the game at 2-2 when their third rebound chance fell to Kyle Soper who smashed the puck into the net from the high slot at 2:29. The Ice Bears would outshoot the Dawgs 17-6 in the period, forcing some major stops from Roy. A late delay of game penalty against Knoxville’s Brendan Dowler would leave Roanoke its second power play of the game to begin the third period, as the score remained tied at 2-2.
A penalty by Roanoke would negate the early power play chance in the third period, but the score stayed at 2-2 once both teams were back at full strength. The Dawgs would find the game-winning goal at the 6:47 mark, as Widmar collected the puck in the Roanoke zone, found Ford at the left-wing wall right as he gained the Knoxville blue line, then Ford sent the puck back to Widmar for a redirect shot at point-blank range that gave the Dawgs a 3-2 lead. Roy came up with more incredible saves down the stretch for the Dawgs, as Roanoke prevailed for its sixth consecutive win in the head-to-head series against Knoxville.
Talor Joseph stopped 25-of-28 shots faced in net for the Ice Bears. Roanoke was 0-for-2 on the power play, and Knoxville went 0-for-1 on its chances.
The Rail Yard Dawgs stay on the road on Sunday, February 16 against the Huntsville Havoc at the Von Braun Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:00 P.M. EST in Alabama. Single game tickets for the season are on sale now online and at Berglund Center box office.
Photo Credit: David Ingraham