ROANOKE, Va. – The Rail Yard Dawgs (0-0-1) had plenty of chances and mounted a late comeback on Opening Night, but were just edged out 3-2 in overtime by the Fayetteville Marksmen (1-0-0) at Berglund Center on Friday. Mac Jansen got the Dawgs on the board and Timmy Kent tied the game 68 seconds later in his pro debut, but 52 saves on 54 shots faced by Fayetteville goaltender Ryan Kenny paired with Reggie Millette’s game-winning breakaway goal proved to be the difference.
The first period featured a tug-of-war over both the game’s momentum and the contest’s overall quality. As expected, both teams were sloppy throughout the first 20 minutes of action, with 33 combined shots on goal in the frame. A half-breakaway for Fayetteville forward Mason Emoff allowed him to open the scoring from the right wing at the 10:37 mark. That score held into the first intermission, with the visitors ahead 1-0.
A Fayetteville power play chance that carried over from the first period came up empty to open the middle stanza, but the Marksmen quickly got a second power play chance. A flubbed clearance by the Dawgs during the penalty kill left Fayetteville’s Tyler Barrow wide open at 4:31 to double the advantage to 2-0. From then on, the Dawgs outshot the Marksmen 28-9 the rest of the way, including several golden chances in the second period. Despite outshooting Fayetteville 24-7 during the frame, Roanoke trailed by a pair entering the final 20 minutes of regulation.
Roanoke continued to pepper Kenny and the Fayetteville defense throughout the third period, and it appeared that the Marksmen might be able to stave off the 50-plus shots that the Dawgs would end up racking up on the night. Finally at 13:46, Jansen redirected a shot in front of the net that came via defenseman Johnny Macdonald at the left point to make it a 2-1 game. Just over a minute later, a cross-ice pass by defenseman Billy Roche found Kent at the left wing circle, and the rookie’s heavy shot made it through the traffic to tie the game at 2-all at the 14:54 mark. Overtime would be needed to separate the two squads, and Roanoke captain Nick Ford quickly teed up a great look for Kent. Kenny made his 52nd save of the night to deny Kent, and a long clearance found Millette all alone on a breakaway for the game-winning tally just 38 seconds into the extra period.