ROANOKE, VA. – The Rail Yard Dawgs won their fourth straight game on Saturday night, sweeping the Huntsville Havoc with a 3-1 victory at Berglund Center. Nick Ford, Jeff Jones, and Brady Heppner scored for Roanoke.
The Dawgs took a few minutes to wake up in the opening period, and a Mathieu Newcomb rebound score at 2:48 made it 1-0 for the visitors. Despite outshooting the Havoc 13-8 in the opening 20 minutes, Huntsville’s Hunter Vorva kept out a few golden scoring chances by Roanoke. At the first intermission, the Dawgs trailed 1-0.
The second period was back and forth for long periods, as Roanoke had several opportunities for an equalizer and Huntsville came close to pulling away. A power play goal by Ford at the 14:08 mark finally got the Dawgs on the board, and Jones followed with a bullet shot from the left wing circle just 92 seconds later to give Roanoke the lead. The Dawgs rode that momentum into the locker room, as they led 2-1 entering the final period.
The third period featured less scoring looks for the Dawgs, but they were able to hold Huntsville to just five shots. A power play empty-netter by Heppner extended his point-streak to five games, and clinched a 3-1 win for Roanoke.
Austyn Roudebush saved 18-of-19 shots for Roanoke, while Vorva stopped 31-of-33 in net for Huntsville. The Havoc went 0-for-3 on the power play, while the Dawgs went 2-for-4 on their man advantages.
The Rail Yard Dawgs are back next weekend at Berglund Center for a two-game series with the Knoxville Ice Bears. 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.