HYANNIS, Mass – The first place New Jersey Outlaws made their 2nd trip to Hyannis in as many weeks and they were cocked and loaded for their matchup against Cape Cod’s Bluefins. Having just acquired Jeff Winchester – one of the Federal Hockey League’s best players – from the 1000 Island Privateers, they were ready to show the Cape the reason for their place at the top of the standings.
It didn’t take long for the visitors to light the lamp when, at 1:09 of the first period Trevor Karasiewicz one timed a pass from Dan McWhinney low to the stick side of Bluefin goalie Wes Vesprini to make it 1-0. At the 14:09 mark the Outlaws again found the back of the net. This time it was on the power play as Anthony Battaglia fired another low slapper which from the left of Vesprini which the rookie goaltender could not get a pad on. Battaglia’s 12th goal of the season was assisted by Travis Kauffeldt and Lawne Snyder.
At 18:27 of the first, the Fins finally drew blood as they scored on a power play of their own. Todd Chinova – a mid-season pick up from Danbury lifted a nifty wrist shot over the shoulder of Jersey goalie Adam Dekker, off the crossbar and into the net. Chinova’s 5th goal as a Bluefin was assisted by player/coach Dan Gordon and Brad Surdam. The Bluefins were 1 for 3 on the power play in the first period and outshot the Outlaws 13-8.
The second period remained scoreless until the 17:38 mark when Jamie Zaleski made it 3-1. After that, the wheels seemed to fall off of the Bluefins’ wagon as New Jersey scored 3 more times in a span of 4 minutes. Goals from the sticks of Kevin Cooper, Travis Kauffeldt and Jason Reese made it 6-1 and with each one the home town crowd grew increasingly quiet. They became lively again when, at 19:52 of the period Cape Cod made it 6-2 when local player Andrew Hutton scored on a low snap shot that Dekker couldn’t save. The goal came on the power play for the second time of the evening and was assisted by Dan Gordon and Stephen Kelley. After 2 periods, total shots were 24 – 18 in favor of the Bluefins.
Bluefins Coach, Mike Nugnes took the second intermission to try and rally his troops and they seemed to respond at the outset of the period pressuring the New Jersey goal relentlessly. He also tried to shake things up a bit by replacing Vesprini with backup goalie, Tyler O’Brien. O’Brien made a few spectacular saves as he did his best to keep the Outlaw lead at 4. However at 7:20, Kauffeldt made it 7-2 as he showed why he is amongst the top scorers in the FHL by netting his 34th goal of the season. The Outlaws didn’t stop there as Reece scored his second of the game and Winchester his first as an Outlaw. It was now 9-2 and the bleeding did not slow as the visitors added one more for good measure making it a final of 10-2. Final shots were 37-30. Again, the Fins out shot their opponents which seems to be a common occurrence.
Including tonight’s loss, the Bluefins play 7 games in 9 nights including 3 times vs the Outlaws. In fact, they have to face New Jersey 5 more times this season, including tomorrow night (2/11) and Tuesday (2/14) both in New Jersey. Let’s hope that St. Valentine shows them some love.
The Bluefins next home game is on Wednesday February 15th vs the Akwesasne Warriors at the Hyannis Youth & Community Center. Comment@prohockeynews.com
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