USPHL Premier: Hampton Roads Whalers vs. Potomac Patriots Game Recap | 09/14/2024

The Potomac Patriots Premier went into Chilled Ponds Ice Sports Complex and spoiled the Hampton Roads Whalers home opener with a 5-3 victory over the home team Saturday night. Despite giving up three goals, Potomac’s goalie Kirill Guryev stole the show with a 46-save performance in the winning effort. Whalers’ Timo Johner will skate away with the loss with 32 saves of 37 shots, but this loss does not fall on him at all.

The story of the game for the Whalers was the lack of net-front coverage and soft play in front of their own net, which was the reason for quite a few goals given up. On a positive note, however, the team was tremendous offensively, but just were not able to solve a hot goaltender in Guryev.

First Period

Early in the game, the Patriots put on the pressure, peppering Johner with 3 shots and he stood tall on them all.

The Whalers would draw the first penalty as the Patriots’ Sergey Kolesov was called for slashing at 2:59. On the ensuing powerplay, the Whalers had a flurry of shots, but Guryev was up to the task and stopped every shot he faced on the kill. Potomac did a solid job keeping Hampton to the outside, and was a big reason they were able to come away without allowing a goal.

At 7:14, it was Potomac’s turn on the powerplay as Nikita Zozulia was called for interference. Potomac had some great opportunities, but a great kill led to an opportunity for the Whalers. Out of the penalty box, Zozulia notched his first goal of the season on a breakaway opportunity. Bryson Ehn was able to find a streaking Zozulia silently coming out of the penalty box and hit him with a perfectly placed pass. The left-hand shot faked to his forward, and quickly got the puck on his backhand to beat Guryev on the glove side.

At 18:08, the Whalers took a late penalty as Gregor McNish took a hooking penalty, giving Potomac a 5-on-3 powerplay. It took Potomac all of 18 seconds to convert and tie the game up as Matvei Naumov tallied his first of the season. Potomac was able to gain possession right off the faceoff. With the puck, Bowen Lopez was able to find Naumov sitting all alone backdoor and fed him a beautiful seam pass through all three Whalers’ players, with Naumov making no mistake firing the one-time shot into the back of a wide-open cage.

At the end of the first, the score was deadlocked at one. Shots were tied at 12 a piece. Potomac went 1-for-3 on the man advantage while the Whalers were 0-for-1.

Second Period

Early in the second period, Johner was tested with two shots right in front of the net, but was able to stay calm under pressure and stop both, creating a defensive-zone faceoff.

At 2:28, the Patriots went back on the penalty kill as Clement Roulet was called for slashing, preventing a scoring opportunity for the Whalers. The Whalers began the powerplay firing from every angle through the first 20 seconds. Some were stopped, but others flew over the net. Guryev was stellar for Potomac in the net during the kill, stopping all five shots he faced. With a ton of traffic in front of him, he found a way to battle and find the puck to keep it out of the back of the net.

At 8:00 of the period, the Patriots had a tremendous opportunity to take the lead. Dominykas Jurnevas was all alone at the top of the circle when he received a pass from down below the goal line. Johner came out to cut down the angle, getting his shoulder on the puck, and keeping it out of the net to keep the game tied.

Potomac took it’s second penalty of the period as Naumov was called for boarding at 9:08. Looking to build off the last powerplay, which was fantastic, the Whalers won the ensuing faceoff and went right to work. They created two good opportunities, but were unable to convert. Zozulia had a great opportunity with a perfect shot from the right-wing side, but was unable to beat the post.

With the momentum of killing the penalty, Potomac used that to create a solid chance, but Johner was there to make the stop, keeping the game 1-1. At 12:12, Roulet would be called for cross-checking, giving the Whalers their third chance on the man advantage. It started out well with a jam play in front of the net, but Guryev was stellar yet again. Off the faceoff at 12:30, Zozulia collected his second goal of the game off a shot that cleanly beat Guryev to the glove side, giving the Whalers their well-deserved first powerplay goal and lead.

The Whalers would head to the penalty kill at 14:02 of the middle frame as Noel Wargloo was called for slashing. Again, Potomac made the Whalers pay for their mistake as Jurjevas collected his first goal of the season, and Potomac’s second powerplay goal of the night. Puck-watching and a lack of coverage from the Whalers allowed Jurjevas to bat home a rebound from Naumov, who collected the primary assist. Illya Biesiedin collected the secondary.

Just 48 seconds later, Potomac tacked on another from Nikolay Kharinov’s first of the season. Yovanni Flores drove the puck to the net off a turnover he created, which caused Johner to be unable to control the puck. N. Kharinov was on the correct side of the defense for an easy poke at the puck to put it in the net.

At 15:40, the Whalers generated a solid scoring opportunity as Curren Stukey found a loose puck and threw it on net. The Russian goaltender was able to smother the shot for a defensive zone faceoff.

Christian Williams, a 6-foot-9 defender for Potomac, was called for elbowing. Needing to get the game back to level, the Whalers quickly got a shot off from the ensuing faceoff win. At 17:35, the Whalers’ Zane Price had a beautiful tip opportunity that ultimately missed the net, but not by much. At 18:15, Zozulia had another perfect scoring opportunity from the right-wing side on the powerplay, but Guryev was not to be beaten. At this point in the game, Guryev had already seen 20 shots, stopping 19 of them.

Potomac took a 3-2 advantage into the second intermission. The Whalers led the period in shots 20-14 for the period and 32-26 for the game. The Whalers went 1-for-4 on the powerplay in the period, while the Patriots went 1-for-1.

Third Period

The beginning of the third period was very sloppy from the Whalers. No passes were clicking, and they struggled tremendously to clear the zone cleanly. It eventually cost them as Potomac would extend it’s lead to two with a goal from Flores. A lack of defensive coverage and lost battle in front of their own net led to Flores getting an easy tap in goal off a feed from Kharinov. Kolesov recorded the secondary assist.

At 7:44, Potomac again put one on the board. A turnover along the boards and terrible defensive coverage again allowed for an easy bury for Kolesov to collect his first of the season. Kayden Suy and Dominik Budka collected the assists.

At 8:30, Potomac’s Bowen Lopez took a penalty for slashing. Whalers’ head coach Colton Teubert used his timeout to regroup his team and talk over the powerplay unit. It turned out to be an immaculate timing to do so, as right off the faceoff, Wyatt Teubert notched his first goal of the campaign at 8:40, just 10 seconds into the powerplay.

With the game already having been full of penalties, Potomac took another at 12:34 as Alexander Kharinov was assessed a minor for charging. Down by two, the Whalers needed to capitalize on the opportunity. In the first minute, Potomac read what the Whalers wanted to do, and made their lives difficult. Potomac was successful this time around killing the penalty and keeping their two-goal lead in tact.

At 15:40, Price had two great opportunities in front of the Patriots’ net. Guryev, from his back, was able to somehow keep both shots out of the net, continuing his dominating play between the pipes.

With the goalie pulled and a 6-on-5 advantage for the Whalers, the had a number of chances. Potomac did everything they could to keep their lead, and they did just that. Hampton held the shot advantage in the third by a 17-13 margin. It went 1-for-2 on the powerplay, while Potomac did not have a powerplay.