Josh Welte earned his first win of the season Saturday night making 24 saves in a 3-2 win. Newcomer Max Schwartz (1) scored his first of the season and Brendan Pepe (2) scored on a 4 vs 3 power play to give the Hitmen an early 2-0 lead. The Islanders chipped away at the lead and tied the game up early in the third period. With 2 minutes remaining in regulation time, defensemen Nick Grinvalds (3) intercepted a pass in the high slot and beat the Islander goalie blocker side for the game winning goal.
In game two, the Hitmen grabbed an early 1-0 lead on a one timer off an in-zone faceoff. Brendan Pepe (3) capitalized on a clean draw and a nice feed by his fellow partner Nick Grinvalds. It was Pepe’s 2nd goal in back to back nights capitalizing on a one timer off an offensive zone face-off. The lone goal was all the Hitmen needed, giving Pepe the game winning goal. Nick Modica was brilliant in net making 37 saves for his 1st shutout of the season. Modica improves his record to 8-4 and is among the league leaders with a 1.74 GAA and a .949 SV%.
In their first 20 games the Hitmen are 10-11-1, but have started to play much better recently winning 4 out of their last 6 games.
Head coach Dan Henningson on the weekend, “It was nice to see our guys compete for the entire weekend. Our goaltending was there when we needed them; it was a total team effort!”
UP NEXT
The Hitmen welcome the Portland Pirates to the Ice Vault for a two-game weekend series. The Hitmen are 1-1 this year against the Pirates this season. The Hitmen will be tested once again as the Pirates sit in second place in the USPHL standings.