ROANOKE, Va. – The Rail Yard Dawgs (25-12-8) had their chances on Saturday night, but couldn’t overcome the Knoxville Ice Bears (16-25-4) in a 2-1 overtime loss at Berglund Center. Alex DiCarlo had the lone goal for Roanoke, as the Dawgs outshot Knoxville 43-25 in the loss.
The Ice Bears had a much better start to the first period than they did on the previous night, and an early power play blast from the blue line by Seth Ensor pushed Knoxville ahead 1-0 at the 7:01 mark. Each team had three power play chances in the first period, but the Ice Bears were able to slow down Roanoke’s attack in the opening frame. Knoxville led by one at the first intermission.
The second period saw Roanoke blitz the Knoxville zone, tying a franchise record with 24 shots on goal in a single period. The Ice Bears were able to get some big saves from goaltender Riley Morris, and made enough plays to maintain their lead. A late penalty by Knoxville’s Dawson McKinney would give the Dawgs a power play at 19:49, and Roanoke took that man advantage into the third period with the score still at 1-0 for the visitors.
Both teams had their fair share of chances in the third period, but it was a shot by Stephen Alvo that was helped along by CJ Stubbs that set up DiCarlo’s rebound chance, and his composed finish tied the game at the 8:20 mark of the third period. Two late penalties killed by the Dawgs in the frame would force overtime, the 17th time in 45 games this season that a game has gone to post-regulation for Roanoke. In the overtime period, it was a left-wing snipe by Knoxville’s Troy Murray that rattled in at 2:06 to give Knoxville the second point.
Austyn Roudebush stopped 23-of-25 shots for Roanoke, while Morris saved 42-of-43 shots faced in net for Knoxville. Roanoke went 0-for-4 on the power play, while Knoxville went 1-for-5 on its chances.
The Rail Yard Dawgs will hit the road on Friday night, March 8, to take on the Knoxville Ice Bears.