Indianapolis Racers @ Calgary Cowboys
The Indianapolis Racers start the week heading north of the border to take on the Calgary Cowboys. It’d take a shootout for the teams to settle the score. The Racers would open the scoring 11:22 into the first period when Zander Dennis slammed home a rebound on a Woodrow Olson shot to give the Racers the 1-0 lead.
With the Cowboys on the powerplay due to a Pat Main roughing penalty, the Racers Ron Simmons was chased from the faceoff circle. Tommy Stone would win the draw for the Cowboys and win it back to Leonid Medentsov who put the one-timer in the back of the net for his first goal of the season and to tie it at 1. Tommy Stone (1) and Patrick Esser (1) picked up the assists.
The 2nd period would see both teams swap 2 goals apiece. The Indianapolis Racers would get the 1st of theirs just 31 seconds into the period, with Bob Dale breaking in free and dekeing Jaroslav Skoupy to put it in the net. Pat Main (1) and Luke Matyjanka (1) picked up the assists. Three minutes later, the Cowboys would find themselves once again on the powerplay after a Pat Main roughing penalty. Ondrej Blahuta would score his 2nd goal of the season on a wrist shot from outside, with Chris Peabody (1) and Andrew O’Dell (2) with the assists. At 13:44 Chris Peabody would pick up his 2nd assist of the game when Uliut Ulayuruluk would chase down the loose puck and let one fly from the slow to make it 3-2 Calgary.
The Racers would finally get their own powerplay goal when they’d go on the powerplay after a Cam Little goaltender interference penalty at 18:16 of the 2nd. 24-year-old winger Jim Hindman would redirect a pass past Skoupy for his 2nd goal of the season. Billy Kimball (2) and Pat Main (2) with the assists.
The final 20 minutes would see plenty of chances for both teams but neither would find the back of the net. It’d take a shootout to decide a winner. The lone scorer to score in the shootout would be Jeremiah Beechey for Calgary. Jan-Anders Mattila got the start in net for Indy. The 20-year-old stopped 46 of 49 shots for a .939 save percentage. He moves to 1-0-1 on the season. 34-year-old Jaroslav Skoupy was between the pipes for Calgary and 39 of 42 for a .929 save percentage. It was his first start of the season and he moves to 1-0-0 on the season.
It was a sloppy game for both teams. The game would feature a combined 56 penalty minutes (IND: 35/CAL: 21) including 3 game misconducts, 2 for Indy (Brennan Weeks, 1st period and Paint Main, 3rd period). It was a bad night all around for Racers fans. 22-year-old top-line Matt Hawkins (4.5/5.0) left the game and has been diagnosed with a torn rib cage muscle. He’s expected to miss 2-3 months. The Racers also lost 2nd line left wing Garland Davenport. He’s been diagnosed with a tender shoulder and is out for the next 1-2 weeks. Assistant coach Tony Pope said after the game, “This isn’t the way we wanted to start the season, losing Davenport and Hawkins will hurt but hopefully we can make some moves or tread water long enough for both to come back healthy.” There’s no rest for the weary as the Racers head to Baltimore to take on the 2-1-0 Blades.
Due to the injuries, the Racers have signed 2 left wingers, 25-year-old David Curtis and 26-year-old Ramón Candelaria.
Indianapolis Racers @ Baltimore Blades
The Baltimore Blades would get on the board first to take the 1-0 lead on a Donald Rodgers shot that bounced off the post and in. It’d be his 3rd goal of the season. Francis Audet (3) and Marcus Qvist (1) picked up the assists.
16 seconds later Baltimore goaltender Ales Pejsar would make a diving save but the rebound would come out to Woody White, who would put it past Pejsar to tie it at 1. It was the first goal of the season for White, while Billy Kimball (3) and Luke Matyjanka (2) picked up the assists. After a tripping penalty at 16:08 by Francis Audet of the Baltimore Blades, the Racers would close out the scoring at the 17:40 mark of the first period, when Eric Gustafsson netted his 1st goal of the season. Newly signed Ramón Candelaria picked up the 1st assist, while Woody White picked up the 2nd.
Neither team would score in the second period and they head into the second intermission with the Racers leading the Blades 2-1. The third period would see the Indianapolis Racers outscore the Baltimore Blades, 3-1. The Racers started the period on the powerplay after a Gabriel Messier goaltender interference penalty. The newly signed Ramón Candelaria would add to his great first night as a Racer, when he’d score his first goal of the season, just 1:09 into the final period on the power play. Eric Gustafsson would pick up his first assist of the season on the goal, while Woody White was credited with his 3rd assist and 2nd of the game.
The Blades would claw back to within 1 to make it 3-2 at the 2:23 mark of the period with Alex Tucker scoring his 1st goal of the season. Eugene Haupt (3) and Sidney Guyton (1) with the assists. The Racers would score two more goals in the final five minutes of the game to take home the 5-2 win. Ramón Candelaria picked up his 2nd of the game at 15:53 and Jim Hindman would add an empty netter at 18:37 for his 3rd of the season.
Robin Rohrkemper was awarded the 3rd star and picked up his first win of the season, stopping 36 of 38 shots for a .947 save percentage. Ales Pejsar was in net for Baltimore and stopped 27 of 31 for a .871 save percentage. He moves to 1-1 on the season.
The Blades would outshoot the Racers 12-8 and 19-9 in the first two periods before Indy would hold them to 7 shots in the third period while putting 15 on net themselves. The Blades went 0 for 5 on special teams, while Indy went 2 for 4. After the game, the two teams now sit atop the South Divison. Indy in the top spot and Baltimore is in 2nd.
New Jersey Knights @ Indianapolis Racers
For the hometown Racers fans, they’d have to wait a while longer to see their Racers pick up a win on home ice as they’d lose tonight 5-2 inside Market Square Arena. The New Jersey Knights would score two goals within the first three minutes of the game. The Racers Brennan Weeks would take a holding-the-stick penalty just 1:05 into the game. Gary Terry would put the Knights up 1-0 just over a minute later when he’d one time a shot past Jan-Anders Mattila for his 2nd goal of the season. Millard Righton & Peter Persson would each pick up their 3rd assist of the season on the goal. 38 seconds later Dave McCarthy would redirect a pass into the slot past Mattila to give the Knights the 2-0 lead and his 3rd goal of the season.
The Indianapolis Racers would finally gain some momentum at the 4:00 mark of the period when Woody White would score his 2nd goal of the season. Luke Matyjanka (3) and Zander Dennis (1) picked up the assists. But that momentum wouldn’t last long as Millard Righton would score his 4th of the season 5:18 into the period. That goal would be enough to chase the Racers starting goaltender Jan-Anders Mattila from the game. His final stat line for the night is one he’d like to forget. He played only 5:19 while giving up 3 goals on 6 shots.
The Racers would play a much better 2nd period as both teams would be held scoreless in the middle twenty minutes. However, the Racers would allow the Knights to 2 more goals and could only score 1 themselves in the final period. For New Jersey, Marvin Fuchs would score his 2nd 2:54 into the period, while Millard Righton score his 5th at 8:17. Sandwiched between those two, Brennan Weeks would score his 1st of the season for Indianapolis.
The Racers could not stay out of the penalty box, as they’d end the game with 18 penalty minutes compared to just 4 for New Jersey. Emil Nilsson was in net for New Jersey, stopping 35 of 37 shots for a .946 save percentage. Robin Rohrkemper came in and played the final 54:41 and stopped 30 of 32 for a .938 save percentage.
Indianapolis Racers @ Toronto Toros
It was at least a more competitive game from the Indianapolis Racers tonight but they’d still come up short as they’d lose 4-3 in overtime. Both teams would swap goals in the opening twenty minutes. With Toronto on the powerplay, Dmitry Molotkov would score his 3rd goal of the season when he’d pick up a rebound and put it in the back of the net. Bob Maynard picked up the lone assist, his first of the season. The Racers would tie it at 1 with just under 4 minutes left in the 1st period when Woody White redirected a Billy Kimball shot from the point past goaltender Toros goaltender Steve Lawrence.
Indianapolis would score two goals in the second period. David Curtis scored his first of the season with the Racers on the powerplay at the 4:00 mark. Pat Main scored his second of the season at 9:34 of the second period when the Racers crashed the net and he was able to put the rebound in the back of the net. David Curtis picked up his third assist of the season and Brennan Weeks picked up his second of the season.
The Toros would score two goals of their own in the final period to tie it at 3 after regulation. Bob O’Donnegan with his first of the season on the power play and Ryan McAuliffe with his fourth of the season with the team’s even strength.
Jan-Anders Mattila was in net for Indianapolis and stopped 25 of 28 for a .893 save percentage. Steve Lawrence was in net for Toronto and stopped 31 of 34 for a .912 save percentage.
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