DIMONDALE, Mich. – The Metro Jets opened the 2019-20 USPHL season with a resounding 6-2 win over the Lansing Wolves Friday night at The Summit Sports and Ice Complex.
Jesper Svadang posted a hat trick in his debut and Anthony Cinato (pictured) and Nolan Turi added three assists each on the night.
“We had more speed than Lansing and our forwards did a really good job getting pucks past the defensemen,” said Svadang. “And the forwards did a good job screening the goalie, so it made it easier for me to shoot.”
“We were really happy how we controlled the play in the first period,” added Jets associate head coach Jamie Lovell. “We generated a lot of scoring opportunities, but it was disappointing only converting on the one power-play goal.
“Just seemed like one of those games where the other team’s goalie is making big saves and at any point, we could make a mistake and have it end up in our net. Sure enough, all of a sudden, we’re down 2-1 despite feeling like we were carrying the play. The atmosphere on the bench was still positive and we kept doing the things that we’ve tried to focus on in practice for the past 10 days. What was most satisfying was when we did eventually score, they were good ‘hockey goals.’ Nothing lucky or off of big mistakes. We made simple plays, got pucks to the net with traffic, and earned them.”
Brodie Thornton, Zach Rais (against his former team) and Cameron Conover also scored.
Justin Song and Josh German picked up a pair of assists to help back Machus Turner’s 11-save outing in goal.
Dakota Hitts scored both goals for the Wolves and Andrew Kelly stopped 36 shots in goal.
The two teams rematch Saturday night at Fraser Hockeyland for the Jets’ home opener at 7:30 p.m.
“We’re excited about the group we have, and we expect to build off of tonight into tomorrow,” Lovell said. “It’s never easy to beat the same team on back-to-back nights, so we need to make sure we’re prepared for a battle.”
“I think the game tomorrow will be tough because they are more hungry to win against us now,” Svadang noted. “Tomorrow, we play on a smaller rink so it will be a faster game.”
Saturday’s game will also be broadcast on www.HockeyTV.com.
