DANVILLE, IL – For the second consecutive game, the Mentor Ice Breakers were handily outshot on the road against the Danville Dashers, this time by a 39-26 margin. However, unlike Mentor’s 3-0 shutout loss on New Year’s Eve, the Ice Breakers were able to provide offense in support of starting netminder Austyn Roudebush, who was his usual dominant self. The result was a 4-2 Mentor victory that snapped a three-game losing streak.
PHOTO: Jennifer Dilbeck
Defenseman Stepan Jirovec began the scoring with his second goal of the season at 7:33 of the opening period. Jackson Tucker and Blake Naida were credited with assists. Forward Declan Conway handed the Ice Breakers a 2-0 lead under three minutes later off feeds from Steven Fowler and Nate Farrington.
Danville cut the lead in half at 7:27 on the power play on a shot by Ben Boukal before tying things up at 10:14 thanks to Sam Turner’s first goal of the season. The Dashers held a 17-8 advantage in shots during the second frame.
After Troy Murray and Cory Mehl were both tagged for roughing penalties with less than five minutes to go in the third period, Farrington scored unassisted during the ensuing 4 on 4, putting Mentor on top 3-2. Conway put the finishing touch on the win with his second of the night at 19:12 on the power play, making it a 4-2 final. Farrington and Brody Duncan chipped in with assists on the goal, which was Conway’s 24th of the campaign.
For Mentor, Roudebush stopped 35 of 37 shots to improve to 11-10-0-0 while Farrington had a three-point night with a goal and two helpers. Mentor went 1 for 6 on the man advantage and 4 for 5 on the penalty kill. Danville netminder Jesse Gordichuk took the loss after making 22 saves on 26 shots.
By Jared Tennant
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