KNOXVILLE, Tn. – The Rail Yard Dawgs were dominant and aggressive all night in a 4-1 win against the Knoxville Ice Bears in Game One of their first round series in the President’s Cup Playoffs.
The physicality was on full display from the opening puck drop between these two rivals, with plenty of big hits and big chances in the first frame. Roudebush was pressured on one or two occasions, but the Dawgs pushed the tempo for most of the period with a 10-7 shots on goal advantage. At 9:46, Tommy Munichiello found a loose puck in the left-wing circle and snapped a pass to the front of the Knoxville net. Gallagher was able to receive the puck and roof his shot under the crossbar to give Roanoke a 1-0 lead.
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It was a wild pace of play that headlined the second period, with the two teams combining for 37 shots on net. Out of those, the Dawgs had 23 of those looks, and would add on to their lead on their second power play of the game. A missile from well above the left-wing circle by O’Dea at 4:54 doubled the advantage for Roanoke to 2-0. After a clutch penalty kill for the Dawgs, the game completely broke open into a crazy up-and-down affair. Roanoke would be the only squad to capitalize again, as Stanko squeezed an improbable shot from all the way in the right-wing corner of Knoxville territory to make it 3-0 at 17:19.
A centering feed by Carson Vance found Jimmy Soper at the back door to make it a 3-1 game at 9:33. Knoxville continued to pressure the Roanoke defense, but Roudebush and company kept their composure time and again to see the game out for the Dawgs. With just under 20 seconds left, a defensive zone faceoff won by Stanko would be sent the length of the ice by Valerian on the empty net to seal the 4-1 victory. Roanoke leads the best-of-three series 1-0, with a chance to sweep Knoxville back at Berglund Center on Friday night in Game Two.
The Rail Yard Dawgs will host Game Two against the Knoxville Ice Bears on Friday at the Berglund Center. Puck drop is slated for 7:05 p.m.