Photo courtesy of the Bloomington Bison
5 Top Performances From Friday's Action In The ECHL
The final night of January was a wild one in the ECHL. The first hat trick in an expansion team’s history and three shorthanded goals in a period by another were just a couple of exciting moments. Here are five top performances from the evening.
Patrick Bajkov: Bloomington Bison
It took until the last day in January for the Bison to get the first hat trick in franchise history, and Patrick Bajkov is now the answer to that trivia question.
Even better, Bloomington got a perfect performance by goaltender Yaniv Perets to shut out the Atlanta Gladiators 5-0 on the road.
Bajkov prolonged the suspense until the third period. He scored his first goal on a rebound at 2:47, then added his second on a power play with a wrister outside the faceoff circle at 6:38.
Bajkov completed the club’s first-ever hatty on another rebound at the 13:45 mark.
Reece Newkirk: Florida Everblades
Friday was a special night at Hertz Arena. Not only did the Florida Everblades roar back from a two-goal advantage to overtake Orlando in overtime, but the club celebrated Affiliation Night.
The event marked the Blades’ new affiliation with the NHL’s St. Louis Blues and AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds. The team donned specialty uniforms that were auctioned off after the game. Fans were also able to take advantage of a special 239 deal that included two tickets, a souvenir program and two pretzels for the special price of $39.
Reece Newkirk made the evening extra-special for the sellout crowd of 7,263, scoring the game-winner with 1:18 of the extra period for a 4-3 win over the Solar Bears.
The Everblades came into the game with a +27 differential in the third period, but Orlando scored two goals in the frame to take a 3-1 lead.
Kyle Betts and Sean Allen were determined not to send the fans home disappointed, scoring a goal apiece to knot the game 3-3 and send it into overtime.
Newkirk had just arrived from the Thunderbirds earlier that day, but came through when his team needed him.
Newkirk also picked up an assist in the game.
Matt Koopman: Wheeling Nailers
Just call Koopman ‘Mr. Clutch’ (or Klutch, since his last name begins with a K). It would suit him quite nicely.
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Koopman scored his second overtime game-winner of the season in the Nailers’ 4-3 win over the Cincinnati Cyclones. It was also his third game-winning goal in three weeks and fourth of the season.
Koopman didn’t waste much time. Just 48 seconds into the bonus period, he poked the puck away at his own blueline and broke in all by himself, moving it from his forehand to his backhand and firing it past Cyclones goalie Pavel Cajan.
The goal was similar to one Koopman scored two weeks ago in Worcester against the Railers.
It’s also worth mentioning that Tristan Ashbrook scored a hat trick for the Cyclones in the loss.
Kalamazoo Wings
The K-Wings did something they hadn’t done in the ECHL era: score three shorthanded goals in a single game.
Kalamazoo scored five unanswered goals in the second period, three of them on the penalty-kill, yet it still took a shootout for the 7-6 victory over the Iowa Heartlanders on the road.
Josh Bloom scored the first shorthanded tally at the 15:55 mark of the second period for a 3-2 lead. Drake Pilon scored the second later in that same penalty-kill for his first professional goal. Luke Morgan then added the third shorthanded goal at 18:36 to increase the lead.
Josh Bloom capped off the historic night with the game-winner, the only goal in the skills competition.
It was the first five-goal period for the K-Wings since Dec. 19, 2021, when they scored five in the third period for an 8-6 win over the Indy Fuel.
Tate Singleton: Greenville Swamp Rabbits
Singleton notched a hat trick in his club’s 4-3 victory over the Indy Fuel in the second game of a seven-game road trip.
His first tally came at 8:21 of the opening period to tie the score 1-1 on a five-hole tuck from inside the hash marks.
With 3:25 left in the middle frame, Singleton came through again off a John Parker-Jones shot that Fuel netminder Ben Gaudreau initially stopped. Singlton was there to rifle it in for a 3-1 Swamp Rabbits advantage.
Singleton’s final tally came at the start of the third period. At the 3:54 mark, he raced up the ice on an odd-man rush and took a feed from Carter Savoie, then ripped one past Gaudreau’s glove for a 4-1 lead.
Indy tried to mount a comeback, but Greenville goalie Dryden McKay weathered the storm, saving 26 of 29 shots.
