ROANOKE, Va. – Jake Theut made 42 saves on 44 shots and Joe Sova netted his first goal of the season but the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs fell in overtime against the Huntsville Havoc, 2-1, Friday night at Berglund Center.
Huntsville came out firing in a fast-paced first period but could not solve Theut. The Roanoke goaltender faced 16 shots in the opening frame but stopped all of them and kept the game scoreless heading into the first intermission.
The Rail Yard Dawgs rewarded Theut and opened the scoring early in the second period. Jeff Jones gained the zone and left a drop pass for a trailing Sova. He carried it toward the left wing circle and let go a snap shot that beat Max Milosek low on the glove side to make it 1-0.
Huntsville answered about six minutes later while working on the power play. Sy Nutkevitch fed Gregg Burmaster on the back door for a shot that Theut stopped but the rebound was not swept away. Burmaster followed it up and knocked the loose puck home to make the score 1-1.
The two goaltenders continued to duel throughout the rest of the second and the third period and kept the respective offenses off the scoresheet for the remainder of regulation. Just over a minute into overtime, the Havoc gained the zone with a two-on-one rush. Shawn Bates fed Tanner Karty at the right wing circle for a wrist shot that beat Theut high on the blocker side for the game-winning goal.
Theut made 42 saves on 44 shots, Sova netted his first goal of the season and Milosek had 25 saves in the Huntsville net. The Rail Yard Dawgs moved to 1-7-2 with the overtime loss while Huntsville improved to 5-5-1. Roanoke will return to action on Saturday night in Huntsville for the second half of its home-and-home set with the Havoc. Puck drop at the Von Braun Center is scheduled for 8:00 PM and the pregame show on the Haley Toyota Rail Yard Dawgs Hockey Network begins at 7:45 PM.