Another frustrating night for the Mentor Ice Breakers’ offense resulted in a disappointing result as the visiting Port Huron Prowlers rolled to their eighth straight win, topping the home team by a 4-2 final. With the loss, the Ice Breakers finish their season-long six-game homestand with a paltry 2-4-0-0 record, with the four losses coming against Port Huron and the Carolina Thunderbirds.
The Prowlers penalty kill was again a significant factor as the unit went 7 for 8, including 3 for 3 in the second period. Port Huron also netted its second power-play tally in as many games against Mentor. Entering the weekend, the Ice Breakers had the second-best penalty kill in the league at 87 percent.
The Ice Breakers broke a 65-minute scoreless drought against Prowlers netminder Chris Paulin early in the opening period when Jackson Tucker netted his third of the year. Paulin lost control of the puck and Tucker took advantage of an uncovered net with assists being credited to Richie Pinkowski and Joe Keenan.
Under three minutes later, Jonathon Juliano tied the game on the man advantage following a cross-checking call against Blake Naida. Zachary Zulkanycz and Dalton Jay factored in with assists.
At 2:43 of the second frame, Haytham Oeid put Port Huron on top before the Prowlers went up 3-1 on Justin Portillo’s 11th goal of the season with 22 seconds left before the second intermission. In four games against Mentor, Portillo has scored four times and has an assist for five total points.
Portillo was called for hooking just seconds before the second period buzzer sounded, handing Mentor a power play to open the third frame. The Ice Breakers were finally able make Port Huron pay for a penalty when Tim Perks fired a wrist shot through traffic that may have been deflected past Paulin. Brody Duncan and Steven Fowler picked up the asissts with Fowler playing in his first game since a lengthy absence due to injury.
With time running out, Port Huron made the Ice Breakers work hard to pull starting netminder Austyn Roudebush with a relentless offensive attack. When Mentor was finally able to gain possession and pull Roudebush, the Prowlers wasted little time as Matt Robertson put the finishing touch on a 4-2 win with a shot from the red line into the empty net at 19:08.
Juliano was named the first star of the game with a goal and two helpers while Portillo took home the second star with a two-point outing (one goal, one assist). For Mentor, Jackson claimed the third star after netting his third goal as an Ice Breaker.
Paulin moved to 8-5-0-0 with another outstanding performance, stopping 38 of 40 Mentor attempts (.950 save percentage). For the Ice Breakers, Roudebush saved 34 of 37 that came his way but fell to 10-9-0-0.
Mentor is back in action from Danville, Illinois with a matchup against the Dashers on New Years’ Eve. Puck drop is set for 8:05 p.m. EST as the Ice Breakers look to overcome their current struggles.
by Jared Tennant
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