MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. – The MJDP team earned two hard-fought wins over the weekend at Mount Clemens Ice Arena in defeating the Battle Creek Kernels Friday night and then the Fort Wayne Spacemen in overtime Sunday afternoon.
The Motor City Gamblers started the week with a 7-2 win Wednesday afternoon over the MJDP at Big Boy Arena in nearby Fraser.
Also over last weekend, the Metro Jets downed the Columbus Mavericks 5-2 Friday night at home before falling 5-2 the next night to the Toledo Cherokee, also at Mount Clemens.
In the MJDP win over Battle Creek, Jacques Lavrack, Robert Grasso and Bennett Sheppard (empty net) scored and Andrew Parmentier made 23 saves between the pipes for the 3-1 victory.
“We got our feet moving early and popped one 30 seconds in, and that was really important,” said Jets defenseman Josh Boze. “When we get our feet moving, we’re really hard to defend against.”
For the Kernels, Liam Donnelly started in goal and allowed Grasso’s goal 37 seconds into the first period before departing with an equipment issue. He finished with two saves before Galvin Reagan went the rest of the way and made 34 saves on 35 shots.
Sunday afternoon, Lucas Millmine scored in the sixth round of the shootout to lift the MJDP to a thrilling 4-3 win over Fort Wayne.
“It was a fun hockey game and a good rivalry game between us and Fort Wayne,” said Jets associate head coach Jamie Lovell. “They’re a well-coached team and work hard, but our guys came out on top today in the shootout. It was a good game.”
Pierce Ashcroft, Lukas Nies, and Jackson Hinkle scored in regulation with goaltender Taylor White turning aside 35 shots.
“The two points are huge; we’re chasing Fort Wayne (for first place in the Midwest East Division) and it’s a big win for us,” Millmine said. “Just have to keep climbing.”
Sam Tetreault, Grigory Koryazhin, and Kyle Remo tallied Fort Wayne’s goal and Maxim Zinchenko finished with 40 saves.
Lavrack and Ashcroft scored in the loss to Motor City and Austin Muirhead stopped 49 shots in goal.
Friday night at the OhioHealth Chiller North, Andreas Fleutot went for two goals and an assist, Alex Schaumburger a goal and two assists, and Bryce O’Rourke and Joey Mocnik added goals to back Dylan Eliason’s 21 saves in goal.
Hunter Gentz scored both goals for the Mavericks and Brenden Cobb made 31 saves.
Back home Saturday night, Jets captain Josh German and Tyler Husted scored and Rocco Stolz kicked out 31 shots in the blue paint.
Nick Millhorn scored twice for Toledo, while Connor Garcia, Cameron Reel, and Jacob Ammar added goals. Frank Murphy took the win in goal with 49 saves.
This weekend, the MJDP hosts the Chicago Cougars Friday at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 12:30 p.m., while the Jets are in Toledo Friday at 7 p.m. from the Team Toledo IceHouse and then host the Cherokee Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
All USPHL games are available on HockeyTV.com.
