PHN’s Best Shots of the Game: Havoc Shut the Door on Fayetteville during 3-2 Win Friday Night

HUNTSVILLE, AL – The Havoc score two in the second and outlast the Fayetteville FireAntz 3-2 at the Von Braun Center on Friday night.

“I think right after that 7-1 loss, everyone has had this date circled on the calendar,” said head coach Glenn Detulleo. “It’s a dogfight right now for all the teams heading to the playoffs and you have to expect a battle. The teams making less mistakes are the ones winning the games.”

The first period started off with the FireAntz scoring the game’s first goal for the second in the last two weeks against the Havoc. But, after giving up the goal 8:31 into the opening frame, Huntsville came back to tie the game at one just 48 seconds later. Eric Witzel walked into the slot ready to receive a pass from Jordan Wood for his third in as many games. Havoc newcomer Blake Hietala received the secondary assist on the goal.

“I finally got my wind back,” said Witzel. “The hardest thing when coming back from an injury is to get your legs back but the extra work I have been putting in helps.”

With Huntsville seeing a tie game after one period of play for the second time in their last four, the Havoc came out firing the second. A period that has proved to be their best period of the season saw two goals from two separate players. The first was Ben Kramer, who walked into the right-wing circle, blasted a shot over the outstretched glove of the Fayetteville netminder at 4:31.

The third Havoc goal of the night came 11:44 into the second when Eddie Nolan registered his first career goal. The Dorchester, Mass. native saw an opening in the slot with traffic in front to blast home the goal to give Huntsville a 3-1 lead.

But minutes later, while on a power play, Fayetteville got within one just 1:55 remaining in the second period.

“We knew coming in Fayetteville is a good team and we might see them in the playoffs,” said Witzel. “But tonight, we wanted to show that we are not a team that rolls over and die but a team who wants to win.”

In the third, the Havoc, spearheaded by goaltender Adam Courchaine, shut the door on the FireAntz. The period started off with Huntsville killing off a penalty with the Kanata, Ont. native stopping eight total shots in the frame to register his 14th win of the season.