MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. — It was a two-win week for the Metro Jets, while the MJDP lost twice and the Jets Elite squad went 1-1-0.
Starting the action Wednesday afternoon at Mount Clemens Ice Arena, the Jets scored once in each period and topped the Battle Creek Kernels 3-1.
River Lewis, Harry Dembowski and Jack Schnur found the net and Jets goalie Andrew Parmentier made 20 saves.
For the Kernels, Zane Wobig broke Parmentier’s shutout bid at 6:03 of the third period and Lennart Critzmann finished with 40 stops in net.
Then Thursday afternoon on home ice, the Jets Elite team defeated the Motor City Gamblers 5-2 using five different goal scorers.
Tyler Dix, Johnny Tackett, Jarrett LaGrow, Cory Anderson and Brody Jamruk scored, while Landon Graham and John Legebokoff chipped in two assists apiece.
Jets goalie Cam Cyrus made 29 saves.
Luc Hill and Ronald Oyer scored for the Gamblers and Phillip Tate stopped 25 shots between the pipes.
The triple header at Mount Clemens Friday saw the Jets Elite and MJDP teams fall to the Fort Wayne Spacemen and the Jets shut out the Toledo Cherokee.
In the Jets Elite game, Robert Gross’ goal 16 seconds into overtime gave the Spacemen a 4-3 win.
Aidan RaCosta scored two goals — on his 19th birthday — and Sean O’Connor posted two assists.
Anderson also scored and goalie Brendan Dreisbach made 32 saves in goal.
For Fort Wayne, Nicolas Cheeney had a goal and an assist, Hayden Stratman and Cooper Angelili scored one each, and Dylan Davis tacked on two assists.
Spacemen goalie Cole Butler finished with 27 saves.
“Grateful to get the two points against Motor City; I thought we played well,” said Jets associate coach Danny Vanderwiel. “We came out really well against Fort Wayne. Unfortunately, we kind of took our foot off the gas for a little bit and they took control of the game. We made a great push in the third to put ourselves in a spot to win the game. We did not close it out but happy to at least get a point.”
Chris Otero and Raphaël Belley-Pelletier each recorded a goal and an assist in the MJDP’s 4-2 setback to Fort Wayne.
Eliot Duerr made 31 saves between the pipes.
Alexis Toussaint, Ivan Khyrsa, Thomas Cheeney and Jack Backstrom scored and goalie Chris Gingras made 23 saves.
Against Toledo, goaltender Rostislav Efremov stopped all 41 shots he faced in a 3-0 win.
Evan Cote, Donovan Ascencio and AJ Zaccagni scored for the Jets.
Toledo goalie Caleb Kril made 31 saves.
“Fun game, fun atmosphere to be a part of,” said Jets associate head coach Jamie Lovell. “It felt like a playoff game for obvious reasons with the standings being so close between the two of us. Can’t say enough about our goaltending tonight. Rosti was incredible, especially in the third period when we got into penalty trouble. We got big goals when we needed them from Cote and ‘Donny’ and everyone else contributed in their own way, which is what you need in games like these.
“This is an exciting time of year. Each game matters and every opponent has gotten better.”
Finishing out the weekend, Toledo defeated the MJDP team 6-2 Saturday night at the Team Toledo Ice House.
McKenna Baker and Chase Martin scored and goalie Ethan Carlone finished with 33 saves and an assist on Martin’s goal.
Jace Weimer had a goal and an assist for Toledo, Cooper Brackett and Caden Glamkowski each chipped in two assists, and Landon German (penalty shot), Carson Muglia, Bryson Balina, Brendan St. Julian and Anthony DiFlora added goals.
Between the pipes, Austin Nowak collected 22 saves.
“When you look at the scores from the weekend, your first thought would be it was a bad weekend (for the MJDP), but it’s actually quite the opposite,” Jets associate coach Jake Howie said. “Couldn’t be happier with the group’s fight this weekend and 60-minute efforts both nights. Those are two good hockey teams we played and we gave ourselves a chance to win both nights.
“That’s the beauty of the game of hockey, some nights you get the bounces and calls and some nights you don’t. I have no doubt if we keep giving ourselves a chance to win hockey games, we’re going to be cashing in on those opportunities.”
Next week, the Jets host the Columbus Mavericks on Wednesday at 1:45 p.m. and are on the road Friday against the Cherokee at 7 p.m.
The MJDP team hosts Motor City on Wednesday at 11:15 a.m. and Toledo on Saturday at 7:15 p.m.
The Jets Elite hosts Motor City on Thursday at 12:30 p.m.
All USPHL games are available at FloHockey.tv.
