ROANOKE, VA. – The Rail Yard Dawgs stifled the Quad City Storm on Thursday night, winning 4-0 at Berglund Center. Nick DeVito, Nick Ford, Billy Vizzo and Dom Marcinkevics scored for the Dawgs. Austyn Roudebush had his first shutout of the season as well, and captain Mac Jansen broke the all-time franchise record for career points.
The early stages were hotly contested by both teams, as the shot count was even at 9-9. Roanoke missed two great breakaway chances, but finally opened the scoring on a DeVito tally on a sweet feed by Brady Heppner at 11:11. Quad City had a power play chance go awry, and the Dawgs led 1-0 at the intermission.
The goaltenders dominated the second period, with no scoring taking place. Roudebush made 14 stops in the frame, while Quad City’s Bailey Brkin made 10. Another Storm power play came up empty, and the 1-0 Roanoke lead held entering the third period.
The final frame turned into a bloodbath, literally and figuratively. Ford’s goal at 2:27 doubled the advantage, and Vizzo followed with a redirect at 5:32 to make it 3-0 Dawgs. Through 53 minutes, there had only been four penalty minutes (all by the Dawgs). That changed in the final seven minutes, with 17 combined penalties accounting for 72 penalty minutes in the closing stages. Brady Heppner fought Carter Shinkaruk, Brody Duncan had a tilt with Pat Gazich, and four Quad City players ended the game in the locker room in comparison to two for Roanoke. A late power play finish by Marcinkevics capped the scoring at 14:54, as the Dawgs got back in the win column to take sole possession of first place in the SPHL.
Roudebush stopped all 30 shots in net for Roanoke, while Brkin made 27 stops on 31 shots faced for Quad City. Roanoke was 1-for-5 on the power play, while the Storm went 0-for-2.
Roanoke will stay home to host the Quad City Storm on Friday, December 29 at 7:05 p.m. at Berglund Center. 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.
Photo Credit: Brian Collett // BC Captures