The Hampton Roads Whalers Elite team defeated the Potomac Patriots in their USPHL season and home opener by a 4-3 final Saturday afternoon at Chilled Ponds Ice Sports Complex. They say two goal leads are the worst lead in hockey, and this was almost the case as Potomac came back from a 3-1 deficit to tie the game late in the third. The game was forced to overtime and when things were not settled, a shootout.
Both team’s goalies were the stars of the show. Janic Kennedy was incredible in the winning effort between the pipes for the Whalers, stopping 38-of-41 in the game, and 2-of-3 shooters in the shootout. Benicio Castellucci picked up the loss, but was tremendous all game long, stopping 31-of-34 in the game.
Potomac went 1-for-2 on the powerplay, and the Whalers were 0-for-1.
First Period
After a shaky back-and-forth first three minutes from both sides, Potomac was there first to register a shot as they would pepper Whalers’ goaltender, Kennedy with four shots in the span of a minute. Potomac would keep firing away, but the Whalers’ defense helped out their goaltender with a few shot blocks. Six minutes into the first frame, the Whalers finally registered their first shots of the game. Potomac goaltender, Castellucci, stood up to the task and was able to keep both opportunities from hitting the back of the net.
At 10:37, Whalers’ Keegan McArthur took a minor penalty for roughing, giving the Patriots their first powerplay of the afternoon. On the ensuing powerplay, the Patriots took advantage. Braylen Cox riffled one off the crossbar and into the net, right over the glove side of Kennedy. Nikola Shevchenko was credited with the lone assist on the goal.
Just 17 seconds later, the Whalers responded off a goal from Devin Dullum. Logan Crowder gained control of a loose puck off the right-wing wall and carry it down to the goal line. Crowder found a driving Dullum in front of the net, and fed a perfectly placed pass right on the tape for an easy tap in. Michael Marzitello recorded the secondary assist on the play.
Whalers’ Raymond Johnson would head to the box at 14:32 after being called for roughing. This time, the Whalers penalty-kill unit corrected their mistakes, and killed off the penalty.
The first ended tied at one. The Patriots outshot the Whalers 13-5. The Patriots had the only two powerplay opportunities of the period, going 1-for-2 on the man advantage.
Second Period
It was a goaltending dual in the second, but Kennedy got the best of Castellucci as he was stellar in net, stopping all 11 shots he faced.
After a feeling-out process from both teams in the first, the physicality jumped, and both teams had opportunities early in the period. At 4:06, the Whalers were given their first powerplay of the afternoon as Breyen Hanna was given a two-minute minor for hooking and an extra 10-minute misconduct for unsportsmanlike. On the ensuing powerplay, heavy hands got the best of the Whalers, which led to a Potomac shorthanded opportunity. Kennedy came up big in net with a stick save to keep the game tied at one. At 5:13, the Whalers had a grade-A scoring opportunity as a shot from the point by Johnson was kicked right out in front of the net by Castellucci. Castellucci had to bail himself out with a big right-pad save on McArthur, who had a wide-open net to shoot at, to keep the game knotted.
With 12:17 to go, Kennedy was calm in net as he made two big saves. The first with his right pad, then a shoulder save from a shot right in the slot.
The Whalers claimed their first lead of the game at 10:02 as Preston Michels recorded his first of the season. He was, somehow, able to get behind all the Potomac players, and all alone against Castellucci. Michels put a low shot on net that ramped off the stick of Castellucci and into the back of the net. Dylan Sedlak recorded the primary assists, and Henry Heser was credited with the secondary. 1:23 later, the Whalers took a two-goal lead off of McArthur’s first of the season, and first as a Whaler. With a scramble in front of the net, and a bouncing puck, McArthur was the only man to find it and tap it in on the empty left side of the net. Crowder and Martzitello picked up their second assists on the afternoon.
With 36 seconds left, Kennedy came up huge with a glove save. After biting on a fake shot, he was able to collect himself and track the puck all the way to the blocker-hand side and keep the Whalers’ two-goal lead intact.
The period ended 3-1 in favor of the Whalers. Hampton outshot Potomac in the period 17-11, but Potomac still held the game shot advantage 24-22. Hampton went 0-for-1 on the lone powerplay opportunity in the period
Third Period
The first five minutes was back-and-forth hockey, with the Whalers getting a majority of the shots. However, it was the Patriots converting on their third shot of the period. Beautifully executed by Potomac’s Damon Mackling, he picked up the loose puck and got a seeing-eye shot off through moving traffic to collect his first of the season. The puck changed directions off a Whalers’ defender that fooled Kennedy. Blake McGee and Rafe Armstrong picked up the assists on the goal.
Less than two minutes later, the Whalers’ two-goal lead disappeared into a tie game thanks to Brady Kirchner’s first of the season, and first of his junior career. Hudson Spencer threw a shot on net from the left-wing board. Kennedy could not control his rebound, leading to the puck trickling to the other side of the net for an easy tap-in goal. Spencer collected his first assist and Shevchenko recorded his second of the game.
Regulation ended tied at three a piece, and needed overtime to decide this one. The Patriots had the better chances, outshooting the Whalers 13-6 and 37-28 through three periods of play.
Overtime
Potomac quickly control of overtime, tacking on two shots through the first 40 seconds of overtime. Kennedy stood tall to keep the game alive. After the early pressure from Potomac, the Whalers had the next five shots, but could not get one past Castellucci. The best opportunity came from Landon Cordova, who had a mini breakaway, but had to get a quick shot off as the Patriots’ defensemen were quickly tracking him down.
The game could not be decided in overtime, and to a shootout the teams went. The Whalers outshot the Patriots 6-4 in overtime.
Shootout
Mackling of the Patriots was the first shooter up, and denied by the blocker of Kennedy
Blake Marvici was first up for the Whalers. He went out way wide, cutting back on his backhand to the middle of the ice two feet in front of the net. This forced an opening down low for Marvici to slip the puck through the five hole of Castellucci, and take 1-0 advantage in the shootout.
Cox went second for the Patriots. He came in slow on the forehand and got Kennedy to open the five-hole just enough to slip it in and knot the shootout up at one.
McArthur was shut down by Castellucci. McArthur picked up the puck on the forehand, coming in directly on Castellucci. McArthur elected to go forehand to his backhand, but Castellucci read him well and got the right pad down to make the save.
Svechenko was the third shooter for the Patriots. The left-handed defenseman went way wide to his on-hand side, and tried to shoot it low, but Kennedy was quick with the pads to make the stop.
With the game on his stick, Taryk Filipuzzi sealed the win season and home-opening win for the Whalers. He did not do anything fancy as he came in and riffled the puck from the hash marks to the glove side of Castellucci.
Potomac will be looking to get even as these two teams will meet again Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. at Chilled Ponds Ice Sports Complex.
