PENSACOLA, FL. – The Rail Yard Dawgs defense and goaltending was strong for a second consecutive night, but the offense sputtered in a 2-0 defeat to the Pensacola Ice Flyers on Saturday night. Austyn Roudebush stopped 26-of-27 shots faced for Roanoke, while Christian Pavlas recorded a 31-save shutout for Pensacola.
The first period saw both teams come out a bit flat, as neither really gained control of the game. Pensacola did outshoot Roanoke 10-8 in the first 20 minutes, while the Dawgs had the only power play chance of the stanza. The first intermission arrived with the game still scoreless.
An early Sean Leonard penalty made the Dawgs shorthanded in the second period, and Pensacola’s Griff Jeszka blasted a one-timer into the Roanoke cage to open the scoring on a power play. Roanoke would have two more power plays of its own later in the period and some of its best scoring chances of the night, but couldn’t knot the score. The Ice Flyers led 1-0 after 40 minutes of action.
The third period saw Pensacola content to defend its own zone more carefully in lieu of a more aggressive attacking approach. The Dawgs outshot the hosts 11-8 in the final frame and had two more power plays, but the offense couldn’t find paydirt. An Ivan Bondarenko empty net score with just over a minute remaining confirmed the Pensacola victory. Roanoke was 0-for-5 on the power play, while the Ice Flyers connected on their one and only power play chance.
Roanoke will return home to face the Knoxville Ice Bears on Wednesday, November 23 at 7:05 p.m. EST at Berglund Center. You can watch the game on HockeyTV or listen for free on Mixlr. Season tickets and single-game tickets are available by calling the Rail Yard Dawgs office, visiting the ‘Tickets’ page on our website, or by visiting the Berglund Center box office.