In the first of nine meeting this season between two long-time Elite Southeast division rivals, the Hampton Roads Whalers Elite team came away with the win with a 4-1 final. Nick Kremnister was huge between the pipes for the Whalers as he made 28 saves in the winning effort. Anthony Trantas picked up the loss for the Jr. Canes, stopping 16 of the 20 shots he saw come his way.
Taryk Filippuzi picked up the game-winning goal in the second period with his fourth goal of the season.
First Period
While the first few minutes of the first period was back-and-forth between the two squads, the Jr. Hurricanes were able to settle into the game first. The Jr. Canes dominated possession of the puck and shots as by the 13:13 mark of the first, they were outshooting the Whalers by an 8-3 margin with plenty of grade-A chances.
In what would turn out to be a chippy end to the period, it would come to a scoreless end. The Jr. Canes outshot the Whalers by a 9-3 margin. Neither team had a powerplay chance in the period.
Second Period
Despite being outplayed the entirety of the first period, Hampton Roads came out hot as it got the games’ first goal at 1:43. A beautiful play from Aidan Hamerquist to move the puck up quickly to an awaiting Griffin Erickson allowed him to touch pass the puck into the skating path of Dylan Sedlak. Sedlak was all alone with Trantas and was somehow able to fire it past the blocker side of the netminder. At 3:08, the Whalers extended their lead to two as a shot from the point by Brycen Sprong made it’s way onto the stick of Filipuzzi. Filipuzzi, in an awkward position, was able to get his blade on the puck and tip it past Trantas for his fourth goal of the season.
Now down by two, the Jr. Canes made a strong attempt to get back in the game, but Kremnister came up with some big saves to keep the Whalers’ lead intact. At 8:09 of the second period, Preston Michels tallied his third goal of the season on a breakaway goal. Micheles had a bit of trouble handling the puck as it would not settle for him, losing it three times before he was able to finally collect it, and bury it under the pad of Trantas, with a little bit of help from contact with the goaltender.
The second half of the second period was lackluster, with a lot of back-and-forth. The Whalers ended the period up 3-0, outshooting the Jr. Canes 9-7 for the period. They had the only powerplay, but were not able to capitalize on their chance.
Third Period
A back-and-forth start to the third period finally saw the Whalers collect the period’s first goal at 6:44. A beautiful stretch pass from a Whalers’ defenseman caught the Jr. Canes sleeping as Griffin Erickson was able to sneak all alone on Trantas. Erickson shot the puck low and hard, allowing Trantas to get a big piece of it that should have been enough to keep the puck out. Instead, the puck found a hole on the right side of the goaltender, rolled down his leg, and would lay in the crease. A Jr. Canes defender tried clearing it from the crease, but batted it into his own net. That was Erickson’s fourth goal of the season.
On a couple of brutal calls by the referee, the Jr. Canes were handed a full two-minute 5-on-3 situation. At 15:36 to play, Kremnister’s shutout faded away as the Jr. Canes capitalized on the chance handed to them. Zachary Rich collected his third goal in the season, and Christopher Zwirblia collected the assist.
Despite the adversity they faced, the Whalers did not concede any more goals and hung on to the win. Carolina outshot Hampton Roads in the third, 13-7. Carolina went 1 for 2 on the man advantage in the third.
