MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. – The Metro Jets and MJDP teams were in action Saturday, and each picked up two points with victories in their respective games.
The MJDP finished off a home-and-home sweep of the Fort Wayne Spacemen with a 5-3 win at the SportONE/Parkview Icehouse.
Robert Grasso and Steven Miller scored two goals apiece and Carson Finney added a goal and two assists in the victory as Freddy Soderberg made 29 saves in goal.
“It wasn’t pretty, but we will take the two points,” Jets associate head coach Jamie Lovell said. “Freddy was huge for us again in net. We have a lot to work on. Our puck management was extremely poor in both the ‘D’ zone and neutral zone. We’re going to have to clean up those areas if we want to have success next week in Boston.
“Nice to see (defenseman) Jonathan Martin back in the lineup for us after being sidelined from an appendectomy. He was very solid all weekend.”
Martin had been out the past five weeks but returned for the Fort Wayne games and did not look out of place.
“Obviously, it feels good that we managed to get four important points this weekend after two tough losses last week,” said Martin, who had two assists Saturday night. “It wasn’t our best game, but we got off to a good start that we knew we would need, which gave us an important 2-0 lead. After that, we started to be sloppy and let them come back into the game, but Freddy had a great game in goal which led to the win.
“I think this weekend will give us a confidence boost ahead of our big showcase next week.”
Blake Ferris scored twice, and Austin Buck had a goal and two assists for Fort Wayne. Goaltender Mikhail Melnikov finished with 26 saves in taking the loss between the pipes.
On home ice at Mount Clemens Ice Arena, the Jets downed the Columbus Mavericks 5-1 behind two goals and an assist from Chad Noetzel, including a penalty shot midway through the first period.
“It was kind of surprising they called a penalty shot, honestly,” Noetzel said. “I don’t think I’ve had one before. I can’t give any secrets out, but luckily my move worked so it was a good goal, and we could feed off that the rest of the game.”
Seth Francois, Kam Hellman and Cristian Adragna added goals for the Jets and Dakota Kott and Braydon Lewis had two assists apiece to back Daniel Miscavish’s 23 saves in goal.
“It wasn’t one of our best games, a little sloppy in all three zones, but the players stuck with it and still manage to play through the adversity and find the back of the net,” said Jets associate coach Dan Pszenyczny. “Danny came up with big saves when we needed him to, and the 5-on-3 penalty kill for two minutes early in the second period was a big moment in the game for us.”
Ethan Bishara netted Columbus’ lone goal and goalie Frank Murphy stopped 40 shots.
Next weekend, both the Jets and MJDP head to the Islanders Hockey Club Showcase in suburban Boston.
The Jets, who finish the weekend with a 4:30 p.m. game Sunday against the Wooster Oilers at Alice Noble Ice Arena, play the Islanders Thursday at 6:30 p.m., followed by the Philadelphia Hockey Club Friday at noon, Northern Colorado Eagles Friday at 8:50 p.m., and wrapping with the Charlotte Rush Sunday at 10 a.m.
The MJDP will play the Springfield Pics Thursday at 8:20 p.m., the PAL Junior Islanders Friday at 1:30 p.m., the Connecticut Junior Rangers Friday at 9 p.m., and then the Jersey Whalers Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
All USPHL games are available on HockeyTV.com.
