ROANOKE, VA. – The Rail Yard Dawgs (13-7-2) once again ran out of time in a comeback attempt on home ice, falling in a 4-3 loss to the Huntsville Havoc (19-4-3) on Friday night at Berglund Center. Matt O’Dea had a Gordie Howe Hat Trick (1 G, 1 A, fight), Nick Ford was involved on all three goals (1 G, 2 A), and Carson Gallagher also scored for the Dawgs in the defeat.
It was a slow start in the first period, with both teams playing their fifth game in nine days. Roanoke would get two power play chances that generated three of the team’s five shots on goal in the first period, and Huntsville had a late power play chance that yielded four of its 10 shots on net. Both teams came up empty on the man advantage chances, and it was still a 0-0 game after 20 minutes.
The second period was the tale of two halves – Huntsville dominating early in the frame, and Roanoke battling to pull the game back within reach. An early Huntsville power play sprung a 2-on-1 rush, and Robbie Fisher tapped home the cross-crease pass of Buster Larsson at 1:12 to open the scoring. At 8:23, the Havoc took advantage of a long offensive zone possession when Charlie Risk shot a puck from above the left-wing circle through a bunch of traffic and found the back of the net to make it 2-0. The Havoc would notch a transition goal at 10:07 to make it 3-0, as Craig McCabe jumped into the rush and slapped home a pass by Matt Allen in the slot. The Dawgs would get on the board shortly after, as Ford snagged a long outlet pass in the neutral zone from Stephen Alvo, spun towards the middle of the Huntsville blue line, and uncorked a shot from just inside the Havoc zone into the top left corner of the net at 11:38. Roanoke would add another late in the period, as Ford and O’Dea combined down the left-wing side, and O’Dea’s shot set up an easy rebound finish for Gallagher at 18:11 to make it 3-2. A late penalty by Roanoke would put them on the penalty kill into the third period, but the deficit was just a single goal for the Rail Yard Dawgs.
Tommy Munichiello started the third period with a bang, as he dropped the gloves with Huntsville’s Jeremy Gervais at 4:05. It didn’t give the Dawgs the intended boost, as Huntsville instead created a bit of a cushion at 7:25 into the third, as Connor Fries slotted home a rebound chance in the low slot to make it 4-2. A hit on Ford by the combination of Risk and Gervais well away from the puck would cause multiple altercations at 11:53, as O’Dea went after Gervais and Roanoke’s Bryce Martin got involved with Larsson. Larsson and Martin each received game misconducts, with the other dueling pair receiving fighting majors. The Dawgs would empty their net and pull one back with 26 seconds left, as O’Dea finished off his Gordie Howe Hat Trick (a goal, an assist, and a fight) at 19:34 off of the feed of Ford from behind the Huntsville net. The Havoc burned out the remaining time to hand the Dawgs their first regulation loss at home since November 1.
Austyn Roudebush saved 35-of-39 shots faced for Roanoke and also added the secondary assist on Ford’s goal, while Mike Robinson stopped 21-of-24 shots faced in net for the Havoc. Huntsville went 1-for-3 on the power play, while Roanoke went 0-for-2 on its chances.
The Rail Yard Dawgs will stay home on Saturday, January 4 against the Huntsville Havoc at Berglund Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 P.M. EST in the Star City. Single game tickets for the season are on sale now online and at Berglund Center box office.
Photo Credit: Michele Hancock