The Twin City Thunder and the Connecticut Junior Rangers are two of the highest-scoring teams in the USPHL’s National Collegiate Development Conference.
The Rangers showed their offensive prowess Saturday with a 6-1 win at Chelsey Piers in Stamford, Connecticut.
Connecticut (8-3-3, 19 points) is second in the league with 51 goals, while the Thunder (7-5-0, 14 points) are fourth with 42 goals.
The Thunder focused on defense heading into the matchup.
“We focus on (defensive) zone (coverage) — below the (faceoff circles) and the tops of the circles — but our practice preparation and game preparation didn’t match up,” Twin City Thunder coach Hodge said.
Hodge added that the Rangers scored most of their goals on rebounds in front of the net.
Payton Miller scored the lone goal of the first period, giving the Rangers a 1-0 lead.
Connecticut had a scoring outburst in the middle frame. Jack Arizo and Tamas Toth notched power-play tallies 99 seconds apart to extend the lead to 3-0 seven minutes into the period.
“We took three stick penalties (in a row): high-sticking, tripping and a slash,” Hodge said. “You can’t take stick penalties, those aren’t good penalties, number one, and they capitalized on their power plays. We didn’t do anything on ours.”
The Rangers were 2-for-4 on the man advantage and the Thunder were scoreless on four chances.
Cody Neilsen potted the Rangers’ fourth goal and ended Christopher Jackson’s (17 saves) night in goal for the Thunder. Trey Miller (13 saves) came into the game in the relief effort.
Even after the goalie change, Connecticut continued to find the back of the net, with Schuyler Flansburg scoring to extend the lead to 5-0.
Patrick Last put the Thunder on the board midway through the third period with his sixth goal of the season. Jackson Howell provided the assist.
Robert Barrasso restored Connecticut’s five-goal lead with under five minutes to play in the third period.
Mason Josephy stopped 36 shots in the win for Connecticut.
The Thunder look for the split Sunday when the teams meet again in Stamford, Connecticut.
“I told the guys after the game, we are in it together; we will figure it out together,” Hodge said. “We will get there; we got a good group. I don’t think it’s the effort, it’s mentally preparing for defensive zone battles.”
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