Barrow’s Hat Trick Burns Biloxi (2/6)

BILOXI, MS - After a disappointing Georgia tour last weekend, the Breakers were excited to return to home ice to kick off a 6 game homestand. On Law Enforcement Weekend, Breaker Bay was excited to welcome their largest crowd of the year (2,654) with the hopes of kickstarting a playoff push. Unfortunately, Tyler Barrow’s Hat Trick would spoil all the fun as Columbus cruised to a 7-2 victory. 

In period 1 the teams went back and forth trading shots with neither Borodkin or Roy looking to budge. Biloxi was able to draw some powerplay time around the midway point, and needed to find a way to cash in. As has been the kryptonite all season long, at 11:13 Tyler Barrow picked up a loose puck off a turnover and was off to the races shorthanded. The reigning FPHL player of the month was able to cash in on the breakaway with a glove side wrister to make it 1-0 Dragons. 1:05 later, Brandon Lucchesi fired a near side pass to Trey Fischer that was one-timed home for his 6th of the season to tie the game at 1. The fun would last less than 3 minutes, as a bad bounce of the glass on a clearing attempt was collected by Columbus and sent in front for Alexander Jmaeff to redirect home his 5th of the season to put Columbus back ahead at 2-1. Through 20 minutes, the Dragons had a 1 goal lead, outshooting the Breakers 18-13. 

Period 2 was all River Dragons. Coach Jerome Blanchard must’ve lit a fire under the Dragons because they became a well-oiled machine, dominating from start to finish. After killing off the rest of Tyler Barrow’s double minor, at 2:49 Skate Skalde fired a wrist shot past Borodkin on the blocker side to extend the lead to 3-1. The Breakers seemed sloppy, and with Columbus playing a clean period there were no opportunities to take back any momentum with a powerplay. Across the midway point, at 12:14 Tyler Barrow lit the lamp again, with the assist belonging to Cody Wickline for his 200th FPHL point. Trailing by 3, the Breakers needed a late goal to climb back in. Held to just 7 shots in the frame, they just couldn’t get anything going. Instead at 17:05, Scott Docherty potted a goal from just outside the blue paint in his first game back as a Dragon after an ECHL stint with South Carolina. Columbus took their 5-1 lead to the room after outshooting Biloxi 22-7 in the middle chapter.

Period 3 had a slow start offensively for both sides, but Columbus continued to tilt the shot totals in their favor. At 9:19, Tyler Barrow struck again with a hat-trick goal, his 25th of the season to make it 6-1. Less than 2 minutes later, on the powerplay Alexander Jmaeff redirected a Scott Docherty snapshot home to extend the Columbus lead to 7-1. Moments later, Biloxi went shorthanded again. However, at 12:35, Carter Thornton scored a five-hole goal shorthanded on a breakaway to cut the lead to 5. In the closing minutes, although the game was all but over, Brendan Spinale and Skate Skalde shed the mitts for round 2 in as many weeks. Spinale won definitively with a handful of strong rights to give the largest crowd of the season one last pop before the clock hit triple zeros with Columbus earning a 7-2 win. 

Columbus wins their 7th straight, improving to 22-11-3. They’ll head home to host the PeeDee Ice Cats tomorrow night at 6:05 CST. Biloxi falls to 6-28-1, and will get set to host the Baton Rouge Zydeco tomorrow night at 7:00 once again inside Breaker Bay.