BREWSTER, NY – The Demolition and the Bulldogs both came into Monday night’s game without a single victory on the weekend – Dayton coming off three losses in Berlin and Danbury; the Bulldogs off two losses against Danbury and a postponed game against Berlin due to weather issues.
Both teams showed desperation to avoid another loss. Also at stake was the 5th place position in the FHL, which Brewster held by a hair.
In the 1st period both sides played cautiously, not knowing what to expect out of the other side. Defensive battles and goaltending consistency highlighted the period. Dayton would break the scoreless tie at the 14:32 mark, with Artem Pestriakov scoring his 4th of the year to give Dayton a 1-0 lead.
Brewster responded 2:51 later, as Cory Giroux snapped a long goal scoring drought to tie the game with his 7th goal of the season. The period ended in a major penalty to Easton Oliver for a collision with Dayton’s Jacques Lamoureux. Mike Dolman retaliated and earned himself a double minor for roughing to all but wash out the call.
The 2nd period saw even more penalty action, as Lamoureux earned a double minor and Miles McCauley another penalty soon after. Dayton allowed a go-ahead goal to Brewster. At 9:08 Artem Pestriakov added a 2nd goal – his 5th of the year – to give Dayton the lead once again.
This time, Dayton would stay ahead and for good measure, Scott Kozlak would bury at the 12:58 mark to make it 3-1, and for Kozlak, he would keep up his goal a game pace, with 9 goals in 9 games. The Bulldogs would finally score on a power play at 15:37, and it was Nikolai Okhlobystin finishing off a deflection to make it 3-2, Nikolai’s 17th goal of the year. Scott Kozlak would score a 2nd goal and his 10th in 9 games just 84 seconds later to give Dayton another 2 goal lead.
The Bulldogs would arguably have their best 3rd period of the season. At the 3:53 mark, Terry Watt scored his 1st as a Bulldogs off a brilliant set up in front to make it 4-3. Before Dayton could respond again, Nikolai Okhlobystin would score again, only a minute and 12 seconds later, to make it 4-4.
The next 9 minutes would see end to end rushes and chances for both sides. Nikolai Okhlobystin would finish his hat trick with 5:19 to go to give Brewster a 5-4 lead off of his 19th goal of the season, also giving him the team’s goal scoring lead. The Demolition were given a late power play and pulled Jo St. Pierre for a 6 on 4, and with 30 seconds left, Dustin Jesseau, channeling his inner Mark Messier, buried a 180 foot shot into the empty net to give Brewster a 6-4 lead and the game would end under the same score.
For Brewster, Nikolai Okhlobystin would earn first star honors with 3 goals and 2 assists. Terry Watt, Dustin Jesseau and Cory Giroux added a goal each. Assisting on all 3 Okhlobystin goals was MJ Graham, and also with 3 assists was Jan Salak. Jeromy Semtner made 38 saves on 42 shots for the victory.
For Dayton, Scott Kozlak and Artem Pestriakov had 2 goals each. Brett Wall, Martin Uhnak and Michael Lipari had 2 assists each. Jo St. Pierre stopped 42 of 47 shots for the loss.
Text and photo courtesy of official FHL press release
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