Max Ellis records hat trick, 4 points for Abbandonato, in Liiga debuts
Max Ellis records hat trick, 4 points for Abbandonato, in Liiga debutsLiiga’s regular season began on Tuesday and two North American players had particularly memorable debuts for Mikkelin Jukurit, who defeated visiting HPK from Hämeenlinna 7-3.
Max Ellis – a 24-year-old Notre Dame graduate and former Toronto Maple Leafs prospect from Plymouth, Michigan – had three goals and one assist. Linemate Peter Abbandonato – a 26-year-old center from Laval, Quebec and former prospect of several NHL teams, including his hometown Montreal Canadiens – had a goal and three assists. Ellis scored both the game’s first goal and last goal on the power play.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgMPmHvQ-cw[/embed]
In addition to Ellis and Abbandonato, Jukurit also got two-point efforts from Aleks Haatanen, Sakke Hämäläinen, Niilo Romppanen and Kim Johansson. Washington Capitals prospect Ludwig Persson had an assist.
Jukurit led 5-0 entering the third period before three quick HPK goals – two on the power play – cut the deficit to two before the home team pulled away again.
“We got a good and energetic start, which was what we were looking for,” said Jukurit head coach Marko Tuomainen. “We were efficient at the beginning and even a little lucky. We got away with it a bit easily. However, I am really satisfied that we could see what we went through in training camp and pre-season and what we were aiming for in this first game. We won’t be in peak form for a while, but as I told the team, we were ready enough to win the first game.”
Last season, Jukurit finished fifth in the Liiga regular season and lost in the quarterfinals. It was the team’s second-best season since being promoted to Finland’s top league in 2016.
Last season Ellis had 16 points in 30 games for the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. Abbandonato also played in the AHL, notching 26 points in 45 games split between the Chicago Wolves and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
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