The Atlanta Mad Hatters Premier defeated the Southeast Showcase hosts, Hampton Roads Whalers, by a 2-0 final score, despite being dominated by the Whalers. Hampton Roads was unable to solve a red-hot Noel Friedman as he stopped all 40 shots he faced throughout the contest. Timo Johner picks up another loss in net for the Whalers, allowing two goals on 17 shots.
Atlanta was able to capitalize on one of their three powerplay chances throughout the game, while killing off all six powerplay opportunities the Whalers had.
First Period
The Whalers would go on an early penalty kill as Sam Pfeiffer was called for hooking on a play away from the puck. Just a minute later, at 12:07, the Mad Hatters capitalized on their first powerplay chance of the game. An innocent shot from the point by Indy Wright found it’s way past four players, off the post, and into the back of the net. Ethan Fredricks recorded the lone assist.
At 7:12 of the first period, the Whalers had a great chance to knot the game up at one as a puck flip into the neutral zone bounced over the stick of an Atlanta defender, allowing for Zane Price to collect the loose puck and spring on a breakaway. Instead of doing anything fancy, he released a shot from just above the hashmarks, beating Friedman, but not able to beat the post, which bailed the netminder out.
A fast-paced and physical first period came to an end with the Mad Hatters up 1-0. The Whalers held a 7-6 shot advantage through one period of play. The Mad Hatters capitalized on the only powerplay opportunity.
Second Period
Much like the first period, the first four minutes of the second period had high physicality, and a fast-paced style with more back-and-forth action. Neither team could hang on to the puck for long stints. At 5:13, Robbie Rajnys was called for goaltender interference as he lost an edge trying to quickly escape from running into Friedman, but got enough of the goaltender to trip him up. On the ensuing powerplay, Atlanta had a hard time keeping possession in the offensive zone, and allowed the Whalers to easily kill the remaining time off.
At the 14:45 mark of the middle frame, Friedman came up with a huge save to keep Atlanta with a 1-0 lead. Hayden Barr located the puck between his legs, spun around, and got a shot off that was heading five-hole on Friedman. He was quick to get down in the butterfly and shut down the grade-A chance right in front.
The score remained 1-0 Atlanta through two periods of play. Both teams went 0 for 2 on the man advantage, with the Whalers outshooting the Mad Hatters 15-8 in the period.
Third Period
Despite having had control of the puck for most of the third, the Whalers were struggling to solve Friedman as he was stopping everything they were throwing at him, and time was winding down on them. With 2:45 to go, the Whalers went on the powerplay for the third time in the period. Still trailing by one, they needed to find a way to solve the defense and goaltending. A very costly turnover by Nikita Zozulia in his own zone allowed for an easy shorthanded goal as Boaz Sochaczevski picked the puck off, fired it on net, and found a streaking Francis Perham, who deflected the puck into the back of the net to all but seal the win for Atlanta.
Despite being completely outshot 18-3 in the final period, Atlanta looked solid defensively, keeping the Whalers to the outside and not allowing high-danger chances.
