MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. – All three Metro Jets teams returned from the USPHL Tampa Showcase and got right back into the swing of things with five games last weekend, four on home ice.
The Jets defeated the Fort Wayne Spacemen and Columbus Mavericks, while the MJDP lost to Fort Wayne and the Jets Elite split with Fort Wayne.
Starting the action Thursday at Mount Clemens Ice Arena, the Jets Elite beat the Fort Wayne Spacemen 4-3 in a thrilling shootout.
Graysen LaPrise tallied a goal and two assists and Grady Smith added a goal, while Braden Graham’s goal at 18:20 tied the game 3-3 and sent it to overtime and then the shootout.
Arnaud Paradis made 23 saves in net.
For Fort Wayne, Tyson Finefrock, Rylan Wempe and Nicolas Cheeney scored and goalie Aiden Karst stopped 32 shots.
“I thought we made the game a little bit harder on ourselves than we needed to,” said Jets associate coach Danny Vanderwiel. “We did a great job sticking with the game and coming back and putting ourselves in position to at least get a point. Glad we finished the job and got two.”
Also Thursday at home, the Jets defeated Fort Wayne 4-1.
Gabe Outman, Sutton Majeske, Aidan Charron all scored, captain Jake Taylor chipped in three assists, Jaxon Stone two helpers, and Philip Hall finished with 26 saves between the pipes.
Nikita Volobuiev netted the Fort Wayne goal and goalie Sumner Wood tallied 32 saves.
Friday afternoon, Fort Wayne shut out the Jets Elite 3-0 and then the MJDP fell 5-1 to the Spacemen.
Finefrock punched in all three goals for the Fort Wayne Elite team, Dylan Davis assisted on all three, and goalie Austin Schaertel stopped all 33 shots fired his way.
Brendan Dreisbach collected 27 saves for the Jets.
“It’s just tough to win a hockey game when you don’t score,” Vanderwiel said. “Have to give credit where it is due. Their goaltender (Schaertel) did his job and it’s going to be things like that down the stretch that will be the difference maker come playoff time.”
In the MJDP game, John Legebokoff netted the lone goal and Cam Cyrus made 33 saves in goal.
Alex Kryukov scored two goals for Fort Wayne, Rex Woolington, Aiden Byler and Antoine Bonin posted one each, and Preston Slater, Xavier Templeton and Collin Nelson had two assists each as goaltender Gleb Rakov stopped 28 shots.
“We had spurts in the game that we were very good, but now we need to put it together for a full 60 minutes,” said Jets associate coach Jake Howie. “Right now, we’re in a little bit of a scoring rut, but we need to find a way to put pucks in the net. Still a lot of hockey left and I like a lot of the things we’re doing, but definitely some things to clean up, too.”
Finishing out the stretch Saturday night, the Jets edged Columbus 2-1 at the OhioHealth Chiller North.
Luka Pivec notched a goal and an assist, while Charron scored a goal and Jakub Obzera made saves between the pipes.
Dennis Horny tallied the Mavericks’ goal and goalie Jonah Little finished with 41 saves.
“The boys were excited to play and you could sense the hungriness to go out and get the job done,” said Vanderwiel. “With that said, I thought we came out a little flat in the first but once we settled in, we were rolling. Big power-play goal (Charron) to get things going always helps.
“Glad to have gotten the two points and excited to get back to work this week for two big games this weekend.”
Next weekend, the Jets Elite and MJDP teams are idle, while the Jets host the Cincinnati Jr. Cyclones Friday at 1:30 p.m. and play on the road Saturday night at 7 p.m. against the Toledo Cherokee from the Team Toledo Ice House.
All USPHL games are available at BlackBearSports.tv.
Photos/Sara Vasseur
