LEWIS CENTER, Ohio – The offense was out in full force for the Metro Jets Friday night, scoring 11 goals in downing the Columbus Mavericks 11-2 at the OhioHealth Chiller North.
Jason Crossland led the way with three goals and two assists, while Ryan Messing scored twice with three assists and Conner Graham added five assists to back Will Augustine’s 27 saves in goal (pictured below).
The Jets outshot Columbus 53-29.
“We made it a point this week to focus on better results in the first 20 minutes,” said Jets coach-GM Justin Quenneville. “Our guys responded really well. I thought we controlled the game and tilted the ice really well early on again tonight. We scored in a lot of different ways tonight and managed the puck really well. It was fun to watch and another night of balanced offense was a plus as well.
“The guys are hungry for next week’s games (against Toledo) and we look forward to getting ready for them.”
Anders Grongstad popped two goals tonight, Matt Cole and Nick Ceccarini had a goal and two assists each and Will Jentz and Jets captain Matt Cruz tacked on two helpers each.
Cristian Adragna and Luke Blasy also scored in the win.
“My first goal developed off a power-play rebound finding my stick in the slot, my second goal was an entry into their zone, stopped up at the hash marks and just picked a corner, and my last goal was a beautiful pass by Jentz behind the net and I tucked her five hole,” said Crossland (pictured front) of his hat trick. “I thought the mood tonight was good. I think we are starting to take that next step and really put teams away.
“Everyone is walking around with swagger and confidence as we should be as if we are saying, ‘Yeah, we’re here.’”
Columbus goals came from Danny Beebe and captain Deric Richison with goalies Alex Toth and Tyler Dorion combining on a 42-save effort.
The Jets play Toledo next Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
This weekend, the MHC is in Columbus Saturday at 6:30 p.m., and the MJDP plays the Chicago Cougars Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 11:30 a.m.
All games will be streamed on HockeyTV.com.
